Elijah has become one of my biggest biblical heroes lately. This man's life challenges and inspires me like no other. More than that, who he was resonates deeply within my soul. His story has been teaching me a lot lately, so I want to share a bit of it with you.
If you've never read 1 Kings 18 and 19, go read it. Before you read any further here. Done? Alright. Quite the story, huh? So much can be taken from both chapters, but I want to focus on the latter part. So, to sum it up, basically God works through Elijah to totally destroy the priests of Baal and show Israel who's really on the throne; then within 24 hours Jezebel gets so mad she sends word to Elijah saying she's gonna kill him. Nice lady. Elijah gets scared and runs into the desert, completely hopeless and frustrated.
Story. Of. My Life. God does something absolutely incredible in my life or through me - something tangible, something that leaves me speechless at His utter awesomeness. Then within a day, the enemy attacks and leaves me feeling hopeless and helpless. And what to I do? I run into the desert. I get frustrated and my perspective gets wayyy off base. I throw a pity party. Seriously. Happens All. The. Time.
And every time it does, I have this idea in my head that God's probably looking at me, shaking His head, saying "Really Andrea? Did you not see what I JUST did not even a day ago? Have you forgotten already? Come on, girl. Get your priorities straight. Fix your perspective." That's what I thought when I read Elijah's story the other day, too. In fact, I expected that to be the outcome; never mind the fact that I've ready this story probably a hundred times. But guess what? That's not God's response at all. When Elijah first collapsed under the broom tree in the desert, after telling God he may as well die because his life is worthless, God does the opposite of what Elijah deserved. He sent an angel to bring him food and tell him to rest. For two days food was provided and Elijah rested. Sometimes all we really need is to rest. I get teased about it a lot sometimes, but one thing this semester has taught me is to value my rest. There are times that I skip social events, church events, and yes, even class once in a while, simply because I need the sleep. I know I can function on low amounts of sleep, but everyone around me pays for it. And it's not fair for them to have to put up with my short temper and wild emotions just because I'm tired. It's amazing how often I'll go to bed near tears for whatever reason, and after a decent night's sleep, will wake up with a completely different attitude.
After Elijah had rested, God came and asked him what was going on. Still frustrated, Elijah basically said "Dude, I'm sick of all of this. I'm trying my best to live for You, but it's not worth it anymore. I'm the only one left serving You, and now the queen's after my life too! What the heck did You put me here for?!" And once again, God didn't get on his case and correct him. He simply said "Come outside, because My presence is passing by." Wow. How quick we are to forget that His presence is truly ALL we need. In His presence is fullness of joy, and that joy is our strength. We're made whole in His presence. Our fellowship with Him is restored. We are made righteous by touching His holiness. It just amazes me that God didn't even say "Get your attitude right, and then come into My presence." He just said "Come." I know that it's His presence that makes us right again, but I still struggle with the mentality that I have to clean myself up before I can approach Him. But He simply wants me.
And when Elijah did enter into God's presence, he still found no condemnation. God asked him again what was going on, and Elijah said the exact same thing. Yet instead of correcting Elijah, even now that they were together, God simply restored Elijah's vision and purpose. He told him where to go and what to do - He also showed Elijah that he wasn't alone in serving God. And here too I see a parallel in my own life. When I am in God's presence, my vision is restored. He shows me the plans He has for me, and gently redirects my focus onto what really matters. And very often He'll send people along to encourage me. But there's never condemnation. "There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
Now, does that mean that we shouldn't strive to remember and stand on God's past faithfulness? Of course not. That very practice is foundational to our ability to stand in the hard times. And I'm not saying God never disciplines us. The only way to be made holy is to have what's unholy stripped away. What I am saying is that we need to remember to run to His presence when we're frustrated. And never, ever feel like you should be feeling or thinking differently. God will take care of that, too. And with no condemnation - instead, He'll completely restore your fellowship with Him.
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