“The Lord enlivens”
See, thy son liveth. —1Kings 17:23
Read 1 Kings 17:19-24
Elijah did not answer the widow’s accusations immediately. In-stead, he prayed. When we are perplexed by the Lord’s work in our lives, prayer is the only remedy. So Elijah, in solitude and sadness, brought the dead little boy before the Lord in prayer, pleading with Him to restore the life of this child. This was a little boy he had known for over a year.
In praying for the boy’s life, Elijah asked for something he had never before experienced. Up to this point in the Old Testament we do not read of anyone being raised from death to life. Elijah, however, is confident that the Lord is able to do this, for He alone is able to kill and make alive again.
And so the Lord restored this young boy’s life. His mother experienced the truth and trustworthiness of God’s Word; it makes life worth living. Are you alive or dead to the living God? If you confess with all your heart that the Word of the Lord is true, then you will also know that by nature you lie dead in sins, but that God has the power to make you alive through His Spirit. The joy in heaven over one sinner saved will be even greater than the joy the widow had when her dead son was raised. You will be able to confess with even greater conviction than the young boy, “The life that I live is all because of the Lord!”
“The life that I live is all because of the Lord.” What does this mean?