Ice Cream Dilemma

By Michelle Lim –

There is nothing more difficult for my five year-old than standing in front of the ice cream counter and being asked to choose a flavor.

Superman ice cream, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookies n’ cream—the list of choices is daunting.

Hands pressed to the glass he looks down at the flavors. “Superman. No, chocolate.”
He wavers back and forth until I finally require an answer.

It struck me the other day how much that sounded like how God feels about our choice to serve Him. He desires from each one of us unwavering faith.

But just like in Bible times it can be a challenging step. Defining moments come in our lives and we often don’t realize their import until they are gone.

In one such moment in the book of 1 Kings the prophet Elijah reminded Israel to be decisive in its faith. At that time the Kingdom of Israel was under the rule of King Ahab, one of the wickedest kings in all of Israel’s history.

The children of Israel were worshiping Baal and other gods right along with the one true God. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel encouraged the evil that continued to happen in the name of various religions.

Elijah issued a challenge to King Ahab to show all of Israel the one true God. King Ahab was to invite all of Israel to see the display on Mount Carmel. Two altars were built, one to Elijah’s God and one to Baal.

The prophets of Baal tried to call down fire, but their sacrifice remained cold. Elijah had more faith than I could possibly imagine. His faith didn’t waver. He called out to the people of Israel to quit wavering between religions, but to believe and serve only the one true God.

Dousing his sacrifice with water over and over, Elijah ensured that there would be no doubt about the hand of God. God consumed the sacrifice with fire.

When I watched my son try to pick ice cream flavors, I was reminded of how easily we can be distracted by other things in our lives, choosing them almost as if they had God’s place in our lives.

It’s amazing how something as simple as picking ice cream can challenge a heart.

“Elijah came near to all of the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people did not answer him a word” (1Kings 18:21 NASB).