Reading: I Kings 17 - 19
My Verse: "As he lay asleep under the broom or juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said to him. Arise and eat" (19:5).
What a sweet beautiful picture! Here is Elijah, so spent and dejected, that he asks for death. "Oh LORD. take away my life." Yet, You LORD God do not get angry with him. You send an angel to minister unto him. A ministering angel brought Elijah nourishment and encouragement. After Elijah eats and drinks he lies down again. And the angel comes again. "The angel of the LORD came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you" (19:7).
We are shown how Elijah, that towering figure of the Bible was capable of fear and depression just like the rest of us. LORD God, You show us that Elijah, a great servant of Yours, was also a fallible man, especially when he forgot to look to You.
You miraculously provided Elijah safety and provision at the brook of Cherith. A raven brought him food and water twice daily.
You had him go to Zarephath where a poor widow and her son expected to die of starvation because all she had was a small handful of meal and a little oil. Yet when asked by Elijah to share this with him, she did and You LORD God miraculously fed them from that for many days. "She did as Elijah said, And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the LORD spoke through Elijah" (17:15,16).
The widow's boy sickened and died. Elijah cried unto You LORD God to "let this child's soul come back into him." And You did this, the child lived.
Elijah stood up to Baal's and Asherah's prophets, 950 of them! He challenged them in a sacrificial dual. "you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the One Who answers by fire, let Him be God." He mocked them when their god would not respond to them. Finally, he called on You LORD God to consume his sacrifice after dousing it with water. You responded! "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench" (18:38). Elijah then through the power You gave him slew all 950 of the prophets!
Yet after all this Elijah was filled with fear when Queen Jezebel threatened him! "Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life" (19:2,3). Previously, he only gone where You, LORD God directed him. In this case he blindly fled some 120 miles south to get as far away from the Queen as possible. And so we are brought to him sitting under the juniper tree, exhausted and afraid, asking for death.
It does not seem to matter the heights we go to in our relationship with You, LORD God. We are ever capable of crashing and burning as Elijah did here. He was a towering embodiment of what a follower of You could be and yet all it took was a threat to his life and he fled in deathly fear when he took his eyes off You!
Oh, LORD God, thank You for this story. This story of Your deep abiding love for Your own! When I fail and am in need You send a ministering angel to touch me, encourage me and bring me along.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "As he lay asleep under the broom or juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said to him. Arise and eat" (19:5).
What a sweet beautiful picture! Here is Elijah, so spent and dejected, that he asks for death. "Oh LORD. take away my life." Yet, You LORD God do not get angry with him. You send an angel to minister unto him. A ministering angel brought Elijah nourishment and encouragement. After Elijah eats and drinks he lies down again. And the angel comes again. "The angel of the LORD came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you" (19:7).
We are shown how Elijah, that towering figure of the Bible was capable of fear and depression just like the rest of us. LORD God, You show us that Elijah, a great servant of Yours, was also a fallible man, especially when he forgot to look to You.
You miraculously provided Elijah safety and provision at the brook of Cherith. A raven brought him food and water twice daily.
You had him go to Zarephath where a poor widow and her son expected to die of starvation because all she had was a small handful of meal and a little oil. Yet when asked by Elijah to share this with him, she did and You LORD God miraculously fed them from that for many days. "She did as Elijah said, And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the LORD spoke through Elijah" (17:15,16).
The widow's boy sickened and died. Elijah cried unto You LORD God to "let this child's soul come back into him." And You did this, the child lived.
Elijah stood up to Baal's and Asherah's prophets, 950 of them! He challenged them in a sacrificial dual. "you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the One Who answers by fire, let Him be God." He mocked them when their god would not respond to them. Finally, he called on You LORD God to consume his sacrifice after dousing it with water. You responded! "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench" (18:38). Elijah then through the power You gave him slew all 950 of the prophets!
Yet after all this Elijah was filled with fear when Queen Jezebel threatened him! "Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life" (19:2,3). Previously, he only gone where You, LORD God directed him. In this case he blindly fled some 120 miles south to get as far away from the Queen as possible. And so we are brought to him sitting under the juniper tree, exhausted and afraid, asking for death.
It does not seem to matter the heights we go to in our relationship with You, LORD God. We are ever capable of crashing and burning as Elijah did here. He was a towering embodiment of what a follower of You could be and yet all it took was a threat to his life and he fled in deathly fear when he took his eyes off You!
Oh, LORD God, thank You for this story. This story of Your deep abiding love for Your own! When I fail and am in need You send a ministering angel to touch me, encourage me and bring me along.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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