TRUST #7

What does trusting God look like when I am not just short on resources—but short on me; when I do not have enough of myself left to keep going?

1 Kings 19:1- (Chapter 19) 1 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So 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 (KJV calls this a Juniper 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.

There is a heart shift that we need to move to, directing people to trust God when they are depleted rather than simply telling burned-out people to try harder is a biblical practice we often forget.

VIDEO

Elijah crashes out immediately after one of the greatest spiritual victories of his life.

Elijah has just confronted the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, seen God answer by fire, witnessed Israel acknowledge God, prayed for the drought to end, and then outrun Ahab’s chariot. Then Jezebel threatens him, and suddenly the man who stood before hundreds of false prophets runs for his life.

He ends up under the tree essentially saying, “I have had enough.” God does not initially meet Elijah with correction, rebuke, another assignment, or a sermon. God lets him sleep and gives him food.

Then the angel acknowledges the journey is too much for him (1 Kings 19:7).

That does not mean Elijah has ceased to trust God, nor does God leave him in that depleted state. But it does show that Scripture makes room for the reality that a person can be faithful, obedient, spiritually active, and genuinely depleted.

Before we go any further, I want to define this word clearly before we get into it so we don’t misunderstand the direction we are headed.

Burnout is a state of prolonged physical, emotional, mental, and sometimes spiritual depletion that develops when the demands we are carrying repeatedly exceed our ability to recover.

I am not singling out anyone specifically, I am not saying this directly reflects my current state but I do need you to understand the gravity of this situation, whether you resonate with this or not, ignoring it leads to immense struggles.

Burnout is not always evidence that we have stopped trusting God. Sometimes it is the place where we finally discover how much of life we have been trying to carry in our own strength.

Burnout is not always the result of rebellion. Sometimes you have simply been running for a long time.

God does not shame Elijah for reaching his limit. He met him at his limit.

Being tired means I need rest. Burnout means I have been spending myself faster than I have been recovering for long enough that depletion has begun affecting how I think, feel, respond, and function.

I need you to hear the potentially NEGATIVE BUT INSTINCTIVE religious response to burnout (this is not what I am stressing here but what I have heard all my life from the churches perspective): pray harder, fast more, work harder, become more spiritual. * I think this is the inherent issue in this list

Are most of these things good, yes, is this how God dealt with Elijah, no!

In this moment, God's first provision for Elijah is remarkably ordinary: you sleep, you eat, You drink, and you rest.

Trusting God does not always mean pushing myself harder. Sometimes trust means admitting that the journey has become too much for us and we slow down long enough to receive what God provides before we try to take another step.

And I would preserve the Trinitarian direction you've established:

The Father knows our limits. Jesus does not demand that we manufacture strength we do not have. The Holy Spirit supplies strength that cannot be produced through sheer effort.

A few weeks ago we asked the question, “Can I trust God when what is in my hands doesn't feel like enough?” But sometimes the thing that doesn't feel like enough isn't what's in my bank account or what's sitting in my pantry. Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough of me left.

1 Kings 19:9-18

9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. The LORD Speaks to Elijah 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.” 15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. 16 Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! 18 Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

The last two verses of this passage are odd, Hazael will bring judgement with a sword, Jehu will bring judgement with a sword, Elisha, he brings judgement with the prophetic word and the word of God… and bears, not a sword. This is important to this message because God is seeing a spiritually exhausted Elijah and he is saying You are not the only one left, you are not responsible for fixing Israel by yourself, and I already have people and plans in motion that you cannot see.”

This thing we call burnout does not necessarily mean you stopped loving God, stopped caring about your calling, or became unfaithful OR that God is done with you. Sometimes it means you have been carrying real weight for a long time, and eventually your body, mind, and emotions begin telling the truth about your limits.

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