The word of the Lord came to Elijah; he did not seek to be the Lord’s messenger, but the word came to him. God always has men to whom He entrusts His message. His Spirit moves upon their hearts and constrains them to speak. Stimulated by holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong upon them, they enter upon the performance of their duty without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word which the Lord has given them. But the servant of God is soon made aware that he has risked something. He finds himself and his message made the subject of criticism. His manners, his life, his property, are all inspected and commented upon. His message is picked to pieces and rejected in the most illiberal and unsanctified spirit, as men in their finite judgment see fit. Has that message done the work that God designed it should accomplish? No; it has signally failed because the hearts of the hearers were unsanctified. {5T 299.2}

Herrens ord kom til Elias; han forsøgte ikke at blive Herrens budbringer, men ordet kom til ham. Gud har altid mennesker, han betror sit budskab til. Hans Ånd bevæger deres hjerter og tvinger dem til at tale. Stimuleret af hellig iver og med stærke guddommelige tilskyndelser over dem, går de i gang med deres opgaver, uden at beregne konsekvenserne køligt, at tale det ord til folk, som Herren har givet dem. Men Guds tjener bliver hurtigt klar over at han har risikeret noget. Han finder sig selv og hans budskab gjort til genstand for kritik. Der kommenteres og holdes nøje øje med hans metoder, hans liv og hans ejendomme. Hans budskab pilles i stykke og forkastes i smålighed og uhelligt, som mennesker i deres begrænsede dømmekraft ser for godt. Har det budskab gjort det arbejde, som Gud havde tænkt det skulle? Nej; det har tydeligvis svigtet, fordi tilhørernes hjerter var uhelligede.