God gave you a body that not only needs to sleep, but also needs to eat.
So, like Elijah, when you are under duress, the most ‘spiritual’ thing you can do at times is to get some sleep.Īll 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. It’s true, we can’t compartmentalize our spiritual needs and our physical needs because we are spiritual-physical beings-not only spiritual beings nor only physical beings. “The point is that as human beings our mind, body, matter, spirit all work together and if you push yourself to the limit you are inviting depression, breaking down, and looking at the world through dark, gloomy habits, and then the godliest thing you can do in universe is GET SOME SLEEP!” Carson weighs in on the importance of sleep: The reality is that you just can’t think clearly or function properly with a lack sleep. Secondly, it’s important to get some sleep. “Take my life I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. Spend some time alone, process, pray, and seek fellowship with God in your confusion, disappointment, and pain. Likewise, when you go through particularly trying times, run to the refuge of God’s promises for you. It was a favorite place of abode of the patriarchs, and it essentially represented the gateway of entering into God’s promises and rest. Beersheba means ‘well of oath,’ and Abraham first dug it when he established a pact with Abimelech, marking what would be the southernmost border of the Promised Land. But where does he run? Beersheba, and I don’t think that’s insignificant or coincidental at all. 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.Įlijah gets the death sentence and runs for his life. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Take refuge in God, and spend some time alone.Let’s look at Scripture, and then dive into some applications. Overall, I think this story shows us 8 main things we can do when we face especially hard times. We see exactly how Elijah responds to suffering-and even more importantly-we see who God is to Elijah in his suffering. But what happens next in 1 Kings 19 is quite a reversal. The anxiety caused him to panic the panic caused him to flee and the fleeing caused him to become depressed. Even after seeing God back him up in front of 450 ready-killers, Elijah was scared to death of this next assassin. In chapter 19, an evil queen, Jezebel, threatened to kill Elijah, and Elijah figured he was as good as dead. But then in chapter 19, he hit rock bottom. I think the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 provides us a good template for what we ought to do when we go through especially trying times.ġ Kings 19 essentially conveys Elijah’s greatest season of suffering but what’s interesting is that it immediately follows chapter 18, which recounts Elijah’s greatest spiritual accomplishment: namely, defeating the 450 false prophets of Baal. The question is, what do we do when we face particularly difficult circumstances? Our responses can range all over the spectrum, too, such as withdrawal, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, grieving, and desperation-or often times, a dark mixture of them all. However, there are some things we go through in life that especially hurt. It touches every aspect of our being and extends to every dimension of our living. Suffering is an inevitable part of the broken, sinful world we live in.
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