Can I just tell you how much I love the Old Testament. I was just reading from 1 Kings and I must say I get so hooked! I start reading about all the kings and their successors and I can't stop. So I finally got to Elijah's story this morning and as I read I came to this particular moment in Elijah's life.
Elijah had just won this victory over all of Baal's followers and yet when Jezebel says she is coming after him he flees without thinking about how God is in control of the situation. We did a series on this back at Mt. Horeb in our youth group and we mentioned how Elijah was kind of cowardly and how he had little faith, but as I read today I just thought about how exhausted he was. He thought by God defeating the pagan gods that there was victory. I am sure he imagined that Ahab and Jezebel would turn back to God and everything would be good again, but it wasn't. There were still battles to fight and Elijah couldn't handle it at that moment. He actually prayed that God would just take his life right there, right then. He needed rest. So God gave him that. God let him retreat and comforted him, but when it was time to fight again He gave him some encouragement...there were others waiting to fight alongside him.
I really emotionally connected to this passage today. I actually thought of Elijah as this real man that was in such a desperate time instead of just some Bible character that I could color in a coloring book like a Barbie Doll. He prayed to the God that we pray to. He cried out to our God and he was given peace by our Father.
We have a personal relationship with the God that rescued Elijah. What do you need to be rescued from? What are you crying out to God for? Do you need rest? Know that God is going to give you the peace and rest you need, but it is only to keep you going for the rest of the fight. And he has some encouragement...He has others to fight alongside of you. It is okay to be desperate and hurting, but remember you have the all-powerful God guiding you through it.
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