I Don't Need Rest! Do I?

I got a chance to rest recently.  I needed it.  I have been feeling like I’m teetering on the edge of burn out.  I could tell because any time I would run into a situation that I could normally handle with determination and minimal stress, I would, instead react with panic, fear, and emotional duress.  What brought it about was a combination of a number of things, many totally out of my control, but some I had put on myself or accepted not knowing the pressure they would add to me and my emotional/physical being.  They included extra responsibilities in different areas that I saw as good and had accepted for myself, some were even ministry opportunities.  Some were personal projects stacked one upon the other, that I truly wanted to do, however not realizing the stress and pressure that always accompany such endeavors.  Anyway, I had come to realize that I really needed some rest.

Getting rest was not that simple, however.  I had used up my available time off from work, due to slow business and taking care of my Father.  I didn’t think I could afford unpaid time off due to my wife still being unemployed.  So, there I was, feeling really in need of rest, but stuck in not seeing a way I could accomplish it… then I got it.  During the week of July 4^th, work was so slow that I had absolutely nothing to do.  The boss had hinted at us taking time off during the holiday week, but again, I had no available vacation, but I volunteered to take it off anyway.  I did so for two reasons; one, as I said, I needed it, and two, I had been impressed by an Old Testament story of a guy who got rest and replenishment when he didn’t expect it or even know he needed it.

I Kings 19

 ¹Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

³ Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night.

I have read this account many times.  I’m sure I’ve preached on it more than once.  It’s funny how we look at Elijah in this account.  We wonder how “did he end up here?”  He had just come from one of the greatest showings of God’s power to mankind; the fire from heaven burning up the sacrifice, the wood, the water, and even the stones of the altar in the face of the failing prophets of Baal.  Instead of riding high on the glory of that great spiritual victory, we see Elijah running for his life.  The man who so strongly believed in God’s power somehow lost his nerve at the threats of Jezebel.  The faith and trust that brought the fire down from heaven in the presence of an adversarial mob was now, not strong enough to stand up to one angry queen. 

I will deal with the whys and the wherefores of this in another writing, but for now let’s just look at the account and how it unfolds.  For whatever reason, one of God’s most faithful finds himself beat down, bedraggled, and in the dumps.  Man, was he in the dumps.  He ran for his life and was trying to commit suicide.  Some may not realize it, but Elijah was trying to commit the equivalent of what I would call Hebrew suicide.  He ran to the wilderness, left his servant and went a full day’s journey deeper into the wilderness, whined a lot and laid down to die.  He didn’t take his own life per se, but put himself in a situation where his life would be drained from him with no food, no water, and no one to save him.  As he did this he cried a prayer of despair which basically put the responsibility of his actions on the Lord.

If Elijah had died, would it have been the work of the Lord as he had asked?  “Oh, well, God let me die so it must be on His hands.”  Duh!  Elijah had put himself into a situation akin to a modern day person taking a load of pills and asking the Lord to take his life.  God, in this situation, really had nothing to do with his hope for death.  If I were God, which I definitely am not, I would be saying, “Don’t you put this on me.  You’re the one trying to kill yourself.”  Of course, I am not God and it’s probably a good thing.  God acts differently than I would in this case.

What does God do?  Does God get all up in his face and say something like, “And I thought you were a man of God.”  Or, “Get up you loser and get back to work.”  No, God realizes that Elijah was in no shape physically, emotionally, or spiritually to even face and/or hear from God at this time.  So, God does not judge him or deride him.  God does not even speak a Word to him.  God does something that seems out of character with the false god that many of us were raised with, God gives him rest, sustenance, and recovery.  God let him sleep and not willing to let him starve, gave him food.  I see this as God giving him recovery.

It seems obvious from the account that this is what Elijah needed.  He had spent much of his ministry butting heads with King Ahab and especially the one who wore the pants in that family, Queen Jezebel.  When a person is in a state of constant struggle and fight, it wears on them.  Elijah was definitely a hero of faith or he wouldn’t have continued to the point of the big clash on Mount Carmel, but Elijah wasn’t immune to exhaustion, physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  He shows that as he begs for release through death in the wilderness.  God knew his child and knew he needed recovery first and he gave it to him.

After recovery, Elijah needed more from God.  Recovery only brings us back to normal.  God knew Elijah needed more, so God gave him more.  God gave him more rest and more food because God was not done with Elijah or the ministry He would bring to His world through Elijah.  The Angel of the Lord who brought the food also brought a word, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 

Yes, the journey is too much for us sometimes.  The journey gets too much many times when we are trying to make the journey in our own strength or even not relying fully on God’s power and strength.  (I will deal with this in another writing in which I plan to deal with the I’s and You’s of the story.  It’s interesting to look at.)  The story goes that Elijah did get up and eat and drink and with the rest and the food given him, he made a forty day journey to meet the Lord, deliver his complaint, here God’s word, and have his call renewed and redefined. 

None of this was possible in his previous state.  There are times when we are so worn out and beat down and bedraggled by what we have been going through that we cannot serve God any more.  We get to a point to where all we can see is the forces and the obstacles against us.  We get to the point that we can’t even recognize God and we cannot hear a word from God.  At these times we too often despair.  God knows that and God knows what we need.  We need rest.  We need sustenance.  We need recovery.  We need building up.  We need strength.  And God is there to give it to His child.

I would advise any reader to hear this story from this light and ask yourself, am I worn out?  Am I beat down?  Am I running on empty?  Am I like Elijah and need rest, sustenance, recovery, building back up and strength?  Let God, the loving Father give it to you.  Accept it from Him.  You may be of little use to Him until you do.