What Christians Can Learn From Elijah
The story of Elijah can be found in 1 Kings 17-19, 21 and 2 Kings 1-2. It was a time when Ahab a king of great wickedness was further made more evil when he willfully took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal to be his wife. The whole northern kingdom of Israel was under the plague of Baal worship which was a religion that involved human sacrifices (especially infants), prostitution and even cannibalism. It was a wicked time indeed when the Baalite couple ordered the deaths of the prophets of God and replaced with the play prophets of Baal (or false prophets).
However God raised up Elijah to confront both Ahab and Jezebel in their wickedness. He was a man of God who put his trust in God and was ready to trust God to get him out of the most difficult of circumstances. A demonstration of his faith was when he believed God would supply his needs during the drought God inflicted on the northern kingdom because of the sin of Baal worship.
Elijah indeed waited for God's timing which most Christians hardly do and make bigger mistakes. When it was time to challenge the false prophets, he showed up just RIGHT ON TIME. He had a stand that if Baal be God then the people should follow Baal or if Jehovah be God then the people should follow Jehovah. His strong sense of faith could also be seen when he had a trench created, filling it with water during the time of drought and knowing that God will answer his prayer, he was confident in carrying out the task God had for him. He also displayed a strong sense of justice when he had the prophets of Baal killed for their murderous deeds, executing God's judgment as requested (1 Kings 18).
However after the challenge, Elijah felt discouraged after a moment of pride at Mt. Carmel when Jezebel attempted to kill him which happens when anybody can feel too confident after a victory. But he displayed tremendous faith in God when he after God rebuked him of his cowardice, got out of his shell to resume his duties as a prophet (1 Kings 19) which would have included the situation of confronting Ahab (and presumably Jezebel was there) about Naboth's vineyard. This is an illustration when a Christian stumbles in the faith, only God can bring them back and because they're already saved, God's work is never done until in the believer until it's done. The road ahead is bumpy but like Elijah, Christians should only look up to God especially if they are being discouraged.