Break Forth Journeys

10/23/2026

GREAT LEADERS PREPARE SOMEONE ELSE TO CARRY THE MANTLE
Dear Friend,
Elijah's story didn't end with him clinging tightly to his position.
God brought Elisha into his life.
Elijah found him plowing a field and:
“Threw his cloak around him.” — 1 Kings 19:19
Eventually, Elisha would carry on the prophetic ministry after Elijah was gone.
That's one of the great tests of leadership.
Can we prepare someone else to do what we do—even if they eventually do it better?
Parents spend years preparing children to build lives of their own.
Business owners should develop leaders rather than merely employees.
Pastors should raise up people who can carry ministry beyond them.
Grandparents have wisdom worth intentionally passing on.
And mature leaders eventually stop asking only:
“What can I accomplish?”
They begin asking:
“What can I place into others that will continue after I'm gone?”
Elijah's final journey wasn't simply about finishing his own race.
It was about ensuring someone was ready to keep running.
Perhaps that's one of life's greatest privileges:
To finish faithfully while helping someone else begin courageously.
Who are you intentionally encouraging, mentoring, or preparing for the future?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte

10/22/2026

DON'T BELIEVE THE LIE THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE
Dear Friend,
Elijah became discouraged enough to tell God:
“I am the only one left.” — 1 Kings 19:10
But he wasn't.
God told him:
“I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal.” — 1 Kings 19:18
Elijah's feelings were real.
His conclusion was wrong.
That's worth remembering.
Discouragement has a way of shrinking our world until we think we're carrying everything alone.
“No one understands.”
“No one else cares.”
“Everything depends on me.”
That's dangerous thinking for leaders.
Healthy leaders build teams.
Wise parents accept help.
Strong bosses develop people.
Good pastors don't try to become the entire church.
And mature Christians recognize that God is working through people we may never even see.
You are important.
But you are not indispensable.
Neither was Elijah.
God had 7,000 others.
Sometimes one of the most freeing prayers a leader can pray is:
“Lord, remind me that this is Your work, not mine.”
Where do you need to stop carrying something as though everything depends on you?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte

10/21/2026

GOD ISN'T ALWAYS IN THE NOISE
Dear Friend,
Elijah had seen God answer with fire.
Perhaps he expected God always to work dramatically.
But on Mount Horeb, Elijah experienced something very different.
There was a powerful wind.
An earthquake.
A fire.
But Scripture says the Lord wasn't in them.
Then came:
“A gentle whisper.” — 1 Kings 19:12
We often look for God in the spectacular.
The breakthrough.
The conference.
The miracle.
The huge opportunity.
The dramatic answer.
But some of God's most important direction comes quietly.
That's why leaders need space to listen.
Parents need it.
Pastors need it.
Bosses need it.
We all do.
If every moment of our lives is filled with notifications, meetings, television, podcasts, music, conversation, and activity, perhaps the problem isn't that God has stopped speaking.
Perhaps we've forgotten how to become quiet enough to listen.
When was the last time you deliberately sat before God without asking for anything—just listening?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte

10/21/2026

10/19/2026

DON'T LET YOUR LAST FAILURE DEFINE YOUR NEXT DECISION
Dear Friend,
One of the most remarkable things about Elijah's story is what happened after he became discouraged.
Elijah had run from Jezebel.
He had collapsed beneath a broom tree.
He had told God he'd had enough.
He had even convinced himself that he was the only faithful person left.
Yet God wasn't finished with him.
After meeting Elijah in his exhaustion, God gave him another assignment:
“Go back the way you came…” — 1 Kings 19:15
I love that.
God didn't say:
“Elijah, you had your chance.”
“You failed.”
“You were courageous once, but now you're finished.”
God restored him and sent him forward again.
A bad chapter doesn't have to become the final chapter.
That's important for parents who wish they'd handled something differently.
For leaders who made a poor decision.
For marriages that have been through a difficult season.
For Christians who look back and think, “I should have trusted God more.”
Learn from it.
Repent where necessary.
Receive God's grace.
Then get up and keep walking.
God's grace doesn't merely forgive our past. It gives us courage for what comes next.
Is there a past failure you've allowed to tell you that God could no longer use you?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte

10/19/2026

SOMETIMES COURAGE MEANS STANDING UP FOR SOMEONE ELSE
Dear Friend,
Elijah's courage wasn't only displayed when he defended his faith.
He also used his voice to defend someone who had been terribly wronged.
King Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard.
Naboth refused to sell the inheritance that had belonged to his family.
So Jezebel arranged for Naboth to be falsely accused and killed. Ahab then went to take possession of the vineyard. — 1 Kings 21:1–16
God sent Elijah to confront him.
“This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?” — 1 Kings 21:19
Elijah could have remained silent.
He didn't.
There's a leadership lesson here we desperately need.
Leadership isn't merely using our authority to accomplish things. It's using whatever influence we have to protect people who may have less power than we do.
A good boss doesn't ignore mistreatment because confronting it is inconvenient.
A good parent teaches children to stand up for others.
A good leader doesn't become so impressed by powerful people that truth becomes negotiable.
Sometimes courage means speaking when silence would be much easier.
Who around you may need someone willing to stand beside them and speak up?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte

10/18/2026

DON'T DESPISE THE SMALL BEGINNING OF AN ANSWER
Dear Friend,
Elijah had prayed for rain.
But when he sent his servant to look toward the sea, there was nothing.
So Elijah told him to look again.
And again.
Seven times.
Finally, the servant returned and said:
“A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea.” — 1 Kings 18:44
That was all Elijah needed.
A tiny cloud.
After years of drought, God's answer didn't begin with a thunderstorm. It began with something almost insignificant on the horizon.
We often want God to show us the finished answer.
But sometimes He gives us only a small beginning.
A conversation.
A new opportunity.
A slight change in someone's heart.
One encouraging report.
One open door.
One small sign that something is beginning to move.
Don't dismiss something simply because it starts small.
Parents know this. Leaders know this. Anyone who has prayed for change knows this.
Sometimes the first evidence of tomorrow's rain is only a cloud the size of a hand.
Is there something small happening in your life that you may have overlooked because you were waiting for something bigger?
— Arlen & Elsa Salte