Scripture Reading(s)
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
19:2 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 like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
19:3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
19:5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”
19:6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
19:7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”
19:8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Reflections
Sometimes God’s plans and our plans are slightly askew. Elijah has ran away into the wilderness to hide from Jezebel who wanted to kill him because he showed up the prophets of Baal. After a hard journey he decided to lay down and take a nap. He was so tired from running that he even asked to just die rather than run.
He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
He thinks he’s safe to nap but God has to change his travel plans by sending him an angel to wake him up and tell him to keep going. God even had someone prepare food for him to revive him for the journey. But after eating the food Elijah decides to go bad to sleep rather than continuing the journey. So God had to send the angel a second time to wake him and urge him to move on. Elijah just wanted to sleep and even death. However, God was not done with him. Not only was he to continue his journey but he was about to go 40 days and nights in the wilderness without any food until he reached mount Horeb.
Like Elijah sometimes we just want to do our own thing and God has to send someone to provoke us to go the correct way. While God is persistent to prod us we must also remember that God will not force us to do the right thing. Elijah was persuaded twice by the angel but God was not about to keep sending that angel if Elijah did not follow. God is patient with us but we must take on the responsibility and do the work of God because He won’t continually ask us to follow. Eventually he will do like He will cut down the tree bearing bad fruit and find a tree bearing good fruit. Let obedience to the calling be your trademark.