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 stood at the cave entrance. 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.”
A severe 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 provides patient care, including symptom management, emotional support, spiritual support, and psychosocial intervention.
But it is essential 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 six months. In 2017, hospice care patients, on average, lived for 76.1 days.
Repair and restoration are always possible when it comes to spiritual, emotional, and relational problems. They are not terminal. They can be mended and restored with the proper guidance, encouragement, and willingness to do the hard work to recover.
Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
It is much like recovering from a severe accident or surgery. After the medical intervention, recovery takes time, effort, and often physical therapy. But recovery is doable. This is possible for children of the King because of His supernatural activity in repairing and rebuilding hearts and spirits.
Many often give up hope and want to throw in the towel in our day and time. 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 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 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 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 and heartsick and hiding in a cave. He spoke with a gentle, almost silent whisper. Can you imagine what Elijah heard? Perhaps only one word was repeated as necessary: “Elijah.” He was being called out of the doldrums of despair.
The still, small voice could be literally translated as a voice/sound of calm, soft/quiet (UBS). The phrase has been rendered “a gentle whisper” (NIV, NLT), “a soft murmuring sound” (NJPSV), “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 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. The Father still had work for Elijah to complete. He was gentle and gracious. 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 and get over his pity party. He had to return the way he had come and pick up where he had 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.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
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© Dr. H 2023
Dr H Reflections 