As we read through the accounts of the lives of Elijah and his successor Elisha, we see amazing things happen. The sick are healed, people are provided for in amazing ways, the dead are raised and many other miracles are done.

And yet, in the New Testament, the apostle James describes Elijah as a man who was ‘just like us’. The point is a simple one. The amazing things that we read about didn’t happen because of anything extraordinary about Elijah, but rather because of something extraordinary about God.

Unlike the other so-called gods that were worshipped in Elijah’s day but were impotent to act or to speak, Elijah’s God (and ours) is the living God. He is not distant but close, and is ready to act in power and love and to pour out his blessings through people just like us.