I have had enough LORD

I have had enough LORD

Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime, until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. – Isaiah 46:3-4

1 Kings 19:2-18

 2 Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.

 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!”

 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

 7 Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

 8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

 9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the LORD said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

 11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

 18 Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

A serious illness can be overwhelming for the entire family. Hospice care was created to provide assistance. Hospice offers individualized care to patients and families in their homes. It offers patient care including symptom management, emotional support, spiritual support and psychosocial intervention.

But it is important to know that hospice is not curative but palliative. It is focused on the patient’s quality of life on their journey to end-of-life. It is for terminally ill patients who typically live less than 6 months. In 2017, hospice care patients on average lived for 76.1 days.

When it comes to spiritual, emotional, and relational problems, repair and restoration are always possible. They are not terminal. They can be mended and restored with the proper guidance, encouragement, and willingness to do the hard work to recover.

It is much like recovering from a serious accident or surgery. After medical intervention, it takes time, effort, often physical therapy to recover. But recovery is doable. For children of the King, this is possible because of His supernatural activity in repairing and rebuilding hearts and spirits.

In our day and time, many often give up hope and want to throw in the towel. They wish they were dead. So it was with Elijah. He was tired, hungry, worn out, fearful, and emotionally and physically drained. He literally ran away from his problems.

The Father nurtured him back to physical, emotional, and spiritual health. First, He sent an angel. He himself was also came and spoke directly to Elijah. Earlier He sent ravens to provide food for him (1 Kings 17:4-6).

REFLECT & PRAY

It is not over until the Father says it is over! He calls us out of the doldrums of despair.

Father how many times have I lost all hope, thrown in the towel, and literally or figuratively run away from it all. Strengthen me and encourage me to run the race You have set before me, and finish well.

INSIGHT

The Father took care of Elijah’s physical depletion. Often, but not always, physical restoration precedes spiritual restoration and service.

1 Kings 19:7-8

 7 Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

 8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

The Father refreshed Elijah’s vision in a totally unanticipated personal, calming fashion. Before He spoke, there was a rock shattering powerful wind. It was followed by a tumultuous earthquake and then a consuming fire. But the Father was not in any of these spectacular displays of His power. It is so natural to ask for and expect a dramatic sign from Him. But His ways are not our ways.

“There followed a faint whisper, a voice quiet, and hushed, and low. Elijah knew it instantly. It was God!” (EBC). It was the sound of a gentle, soft, whisper (1 Kings 19:12)

The Father knew exactly what Elijah needed, being so broken, heartsick, and hiding in a cave. He spoke with a gentle, almost silent whisper. Can you imagine what he heard? Perhaps it was only one word, repeated as necessary, “Elijah.” He was being called out of the doldrums of despair.

The still small voice could be literally translated a voice/sound of calm soft/quiet (UBS). The phrase has been rendered “a gentle whisper” (NIV, NLT), “a soft murmuring sound” (NJPSV), and “a gentle breeze” (CEV), and even “a sound of sheer silence” (NRSV) (UBS).

This phrase is translated from three Hebrew words qol demamah daq. Qol – voice, noise, sound; demamah – still, whisper, calm, silence; daq – thin, low, small, fine, soft with a sense of being quiet and soothing.

When the Father spoke, His first words were a question.

1 Kings 19:13 “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah could have said, “I am tired, frightened, and had enough; I am totally over it. I just cannot take it anymore.” But instead Elijah just complained and whined about how tough things were, but in the midst of it all he tried to remain faithful. On top of that, he felt that he was all alone.

Elijah was off-track. But the situation was not terminal and could be repaired. The Father did not entertain or comment on Elijah’s self-pity, self-justification and rationalizations. He was gentle and gracious. The Father still had work for Elijah to complete. He gave him new marching orders and specific instructions as to what to do. And most of all, He assured Elijah that he was not alone.

In order to get back on track with his spiritual life and responsibilities, he had to change his way of thinking, get over his pity party. He had to go back the way he had come and pick up where he left off.

You see all he needed was a gentle reminder of who he was and Whom he served.

1 Kings 17:1 As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand

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