While it’s not a total departure, today’s edition does depart a bit from our usual format. In the midst of the hectic days following our recent travels, we started this post for the next segment of our “Wilderness” series, and didn’t notice that the scheduling would fall on Memorial Day weekend.
When we realized the oversight, it was significantly problematic because the pre-planned post included no reference to this very special holiday. I hadn’t offered any expression of gratitude or praise in honor of those courageous men and women, including some in our own family, who sacrificed so much on our behalf. That realization brought with it a sense of regret that demanded a better response . . . but what was I to do with the “Wilderness” series that was about to be interrupted yet again?
A Fresh Perspective ~
As I wrestled with options for potential last minute adjustments and pondered how an unplanned diversion might affect the series, God graciously intervened. He introduced a different and provocative possibility by unveiling a perspective on the “wilderness” episode that we had originally planned to explore. As it turns out, the prophet, Elijah, the primary character in the wilderness event on tap for today, illustrates an approach to Memorial Day that we believe to be both relevant and foundational to everything we’re celebrating this weekend.
So, in recognition of this holiday that is sacred to so many, and in lieu of the material we had previously planned, we’re inserting a brief , but ‘related’, Memorial Day interlude. And in that interlude, we’re inviting the prophet, Elijah (who also is the main character in our
upcoming episode ‘next’ week, as well) to present a Memorial Day message of his own in the form of a demonstration. Elijah displayed a pattern of behavior that not only honors the heroes who fought for our country, but that also issues a call for all of us to step up and join their ranks. Elijah didn’t fight for his people in the same way that most of our modern warriors did. He didn’t sign up to join a military unit or put on a uniform. Elijah never wielded a sword or led troops into battle, but he went to war for his people, nonetheless.
And to offer a basis for that assessment, we turn to the New Testament where James gives us a condensed version of Elijah’s story and provides a glimpse of how it all began. James wrote this:
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17–18 NKJV)
In this brief mention, we learn a few compelling things about this heroic prophet.
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- Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He was just like us, an ordinary guy with no unusual skills and no particular claim to fame. He was not a superhero with a chiseled body who ran around in tights saving people.
- He prayed earnestly. That simple comment indicates at least two things that are very important and relevant.
- Elijah prayed with passion. Prayer wasn’t just a ritual with him where he regurgitated some familiar religious words and checked off his list of spiritual obligations.
- Elijah prayed to the Living God only. His people were surrounded by idol worshippers who prayed to all kinds of supposed deities, but Elijah would have none of that. The daily “Shema” prayer that he always included reminded him that there was only one true God, and Elijah’s allegiance was to Him and Him alone.
- And it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. Clearly, God heard Elijah and responded to him, but why the drought? It was because Elijah was asking God to prove Himself by doing what He said He would do. Among other warnings God had given to His people in Sinai, He had said this:
I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. (Leviticus 26:19–20 NKJV).
Qualities Worth Embracing ~
All of that led, of course, to the famous confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and to the victories that followed. But the Memorial Day message
for us as God’s representatives today is to embrace the qualities Elijah demonstrated that were foundational to Israel’s redemption and spiritual revival. Here are a few observations and suggestions:
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- Elijah didn’t look at his people and evaluate their status through the lens of politics, tribal or racial association, or cultural and religious customs. He looked at his people through the lens of the God who had made them a nation and claimed them as His own.
- He refused to turn a blind eye to the rampant idolatry or to the way his people had accepted and normalized the widespread debauchery that was associated with it.
- He recognized the true enemy of His nation and acknowledged that the initial battlefield where this enemy had to be engaged was spiritual, not physical.
- He took both the situation and his responsibility both seriously and personally. He didn’t treat the spiritual assault on his nation as a sideline topic to occasionally complain about in social gatherings. The threat this spiritual assault represented to him and his people was real and existential. If victory wasn’t achieved on that level, everything they represented would be lost, and Elijah didn’t wait for some iconic figure to lead the way.
- This ordinary man who was just like us went to war for his people. This ordinary man loved his people enough to approach the Living God directly and pray some extraordinary prayers. And God heard him. More than that, God called him and partnered with him to achieve redemption, inspire revival, and restore the relationship with His people.
More Elijahs Needed ~
Our encouragement as we approach this Memorial Day is to be like Elijah – not necessarily the Elijah we see on Mount Carmel, but the Elijah pouring out his heart to God for the people he loved. We need Elijahs who will honestly look at the all-out spiritual and moral assault on our people and who grasp the dreadful implications if God doesn’t step in and respond. The moral and spiritual state of his country drove Elijah to his knees before the only One who could intervene and bring deliverance and revival – and it’s time for us to do the same thing.
Elijah’s personal time with God eventually led to a public challenge to God’s people both individually and collectively. He called on them to make a clear choice. If the temporary pleasures of the fictional deities they had come to love were worth sacrificing their nation, their security, their freedom, and their eternal souls, Elijah openly called on them then to stop pretending to serve God and openly choose them over God Himself. BUT, if the One who loved them, delivered them from bondage, gave them their land, made them a nation, and called them His unique treasure is the God who really exists, then his call was to abandon the idols and serve Him. Obviously, that choice is the one before our own people – here, now – but Elijah didn’t begin with a dramatic public ultimatum. It all began when he honestly, personally, intensely, and desperately called on God to do what he could not do alone.
Our challenge today, then, is to begin where Elijah began, to join him in calling on the Living God to do for us what He did for Elijah – to partner with us, as ordinary people, too,
and use us to discredit and humiliate the lying idols who are seducing our people and destroying the heart of our great nation. God has already shown His power to use people like us to frustrate those who have mocked Him, and through those Jesus followers, to restore righteousness and justice in the land. May He do it again in our day – and may it begin now.
So – Thank you, Father God, and thank you, America, for all the heroes you’ve given us in the past and for those ordinary men and women who go to war for us on their knees. May God use us all to bring our enemies to theirs.
Happy Memorial Day 2026, America . . .
“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the pull quotes below. Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .
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- The threat this spiritual assault represented to Elijah and his people was real and existential. If victory wasn’t achieved on that level, everything they represented would be lost. Elijah didn’t wait for some iconic figure to lead the way. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- This ordinary man loved his people enough to approach God directly and pray some extraordinary prayers. God heard Elijah. More than that, He called and partnered with him to achieve redemption, inspire revival, and restore the relationship with His people. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- Our encouragement is to be like Elijah pouring out his heart to God for the people he loved – . Elijahs who will honestly look at the all-out spiritual and moral assault on our people and who grasp the dreadful implications if God doesn’t step in and respond. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- The moral and spiritual state of Elijah’s country drove him to his knees before the only One who could intervene and bring deliverance and revival – and it’s time for us to do the same thing. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
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