Eat Cake
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Psalm 34:1-8 / 1 Kings 19:4-8
Coming off a victory
Coming off a victory
Elijah had been a thorn
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
1 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”
It had been 3 years with no rain
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
God had won a great victory
36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. 41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”
Elijah Ran
1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
We cannot know all that was in Elijah’s mind, but we know he was a man the same as we, and that the very real threat against his life shook him. We may be tempted to compare Elijah here to Peter taking his eyes off Jesus, and that seems to fit, but we also should see that Elijah’s fear was real and he (like many of us today) could not seem to shake it.
The realities of exhaustion
The realities of exhaustion
Physical - over do or malnourish
Mental / Emotional
Spiritual
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
The type of exhaustion, or how specifically it manifests in an individual’s life matters little. What we know is that it is real. It is not healthy in any realm of health, and perhaps more importantly, it distracts us from our God-called purpose.
Eat Cake!
Eat Cake!
God’s provision is always right
God’s provision is always on time
Manna -> Cake -> Jesus
We cannot forget that God is always aware of both the triumphs and defeats in our lives, and He has promised to never leave us through either. We see this in action throughout the life of Elijah; even in his vulnerable times.