Running
on Empty
King Ahab
told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all
the prophets of Baal to death.
A few
weeks ago when we started this series on Elijah, we looked at a very busy day
in the life of this great prophet: ...... he
summoned 450 prophets of Asherah and 400 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel................. Many of these would have been personal
friends of Jezebel who had introduced Baal and Asherah worship to her husband
Ahab and he, in turn had promoted it throughout Israel..... On Mount Carmel, they had each prepared their
own sacrifices and asked their God to light the fire...... Of course, the prophets of Baal and Asherah
were unsuccessful and Elijah’s sacrifice, even after being drenched in water,
is consumed by the fire of God....... Elijah
then has the 850 prophets put to death, and then he prays to God to end the
drought which has been going on for over three years....... A huge storm develops from over the
Mediterranean and Elijah ends his day, which can probably be described as a
very good day in the ministry, by running ahead of Ahab, who is in his
horse-drawn chariot and beating him back to Samaria.
All the
above is what King Ahab would have told his wife Jezebel. She...is not amused!
She sent
a message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I
don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets.”
Even
though the awesome power of God has been displayed, she remains unchanged. This is a sad but recurring truth, namely
that awesome displays of God’s power do not always lead people to faith, and as
we see, especially in the New Testament, when miracles do lead to faith, it is
often a faith which doesn't endure. The
greatest faith is the faith which believes without seeing, which believes even
if it can’t stick its fingers into the holes in Jesus’ hands and side. That
is faith, and that is a faith which will endure. But...Jezebel is unchanged. “I’m going to get you Elijah.”
Elijah
was afraid and fled for his life;
Did you
hear that?......Elijah......Afraid!!!!
Elijah......fleeing
for his life!!!!!
Elijah, the great prophet
of God, no doubt full of the Spirit of God...how else could he have done what
he did on Carmel? ......and here he is having a very serious panic attack; overcome
with anxiety, full of fear, and all he can think to do is run for his life.
Many of
us...more than we would like to admit it, have often felt the same way. Do you ever feel afraid? ...do you ever
suffer from anxiety,......or panic attacks...you’re in good biblical company if you
have...remember that Elijah was a person just like you and me.
Perhaps a more important question is: Do you allow yourself to be anxious or
fearful or do you say to yourself, “I’m a born-again Christian, I shouldn't feel like this” and suppress the way you feel?
Do you allow other Christians to be fearful and anxious,
or do you load them up with guilt for feeling that way?
What does it mean if Christians are
afraid?
Previously, I have preached on
the fact that fear is often a sign of a lack of faith, which it often is, but I
would struggle to say that Elijah lacks faith, so there must be someting else at play here, just as there often is something
else at play in us when we are afraid.
1 John 4:18 can be helpful here:
There is
no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been
made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.
Here a
connection is made between fear and love. When the love in us is
perfected...then there is no reason for fear because it drives out fear.
Is the love in you perfected.
For us as Methodists, Christian perfection,
the goal of the Christian life, is nothing more and nothing less than to love
perfectly. Perfect love can be summed up
by the great command Jesus gave, “Love the Lord your God and love your
neighbour as you love yourself.” So the
obedient Christian life is not so much one that is full of what I can do and
what I can’t do, which always leads to long lists, usually followed by a long
list of exceptions...No, the obedient Christian life is a life which lives by
this one “rule”...Love.
There is no fear in love; perfect love
drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is
afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.
Jezebel
says she is going to kill Elijah; he is afraid of this threat and because he
can’t go to the chemist and get put onto some pills which would help him
overcome his anxiety and deal with the stress in his life at that time...he
runs away...tells his servant to stay behind (sometimes we just want to be
alone don't we?)...he wants to run away from life...and he does.
Elijah
walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of
a tree and wished he would die. “It's too much, Lord,”
he prayed. “Take away my life; I might as well be dead!”
How many
of us have not felt that way at some time in our life? How many of us...feel that way right
now? All you want to do is just roll up
into a ball and...go to sleep...or even wish...... that you were dead? Years before, the Psalmist had gone through a
similar feeling of running on empty and wrote Psalm 42. Maybe this Psalm helped Elijah, maybe it’ll
help you and me this morning – it describes how we so often feel.
As a deer is
drawn to a stream of water, so I am drawn to you, Lord my God.
I have a thirst
for the living God, O where can you be found?
Day and night I
am sustained by tears, people mock: “Where is your God?”
I used to lead
people in worship, my enthusiasm overflowing.
Why am I now in such a depression? What is it that is disturbing me?
I know I should trust in God, someday I will praise
again.
God’s pure love
reaches out every day, surely my life is still in God’s hands.
Hymns echo in my
head all night, songs that I still enjoy to sing.
Why does God
feel so very far away? It seems the
world is against me.
They see me
dying a slow death, mocking: “Where is your God?”
Why am I now in such a depression? What is it that is disturbing me?
I know I should trust in God, someday I will praise
again.
Be my advocate
in these evil times, take my side against the ungodly.
Rescue me from
their deceit. Save me from wickedness.
God, I have
always relied on you, why have you rejected me?
Why should I be
mourning? Enemies oppressing me.
Why am I now in such a depression? What is it that is disturbing me?
I know I should trust in God, someday I will praise
again.
Let your truth revealing light come, to guide me
into your presence,
Joyful at the alter of my God, I will praise with
the harp.
He lay
down under the tree and fell asleep.
And what
does God do? How will God react to this
fearful prophet, running for his life, curling up in a ball and wanting to
die? How will He react to you and to me
when we feel this way?
Suddenly
an angel touched him and said, “Wake up and eat.”
Notice
God didn't feed His exhausted servant bitter herbs in order to punish him. He didn't beat the already beaten man with a
ministry stick and say, “On your feet you stupid coward; go and share the four
spiritual laws with Jezebel.” The Bible
simply says that God touched Elijah with the loving words, “Get up and eat,
this is too much for you.” When we lose
our perspective in life, we often lose our perspective on God Himself. At such times we need to try and be still, feel His loving touch
and hear Him say: "Go to sleep, rest a while, the journey is too long for
you." Many of us believe we need
permission to go to sleep, to rest...to relax.
When we are like this, the journey, life, can be too much for us....in fact, it will become too much for us.
He looked
around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and
drank, and lay down again. The Lord's
angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, “Get up and eat, or the
trip will be too much for you.”
There is
a great truth in this verse, which we ignore at our peril. Listen again: Get up and eat, or the trip
will be too much for you. Notice that
God’s answer to Elijah’s dilemma was a physical one. My own tendency when I go through times like
this one in Elijah’s life is to open my Bible and look for spiritual food. But sometimes He says: "Put away your Bible
and go to sleep. We’ll talk about this
later."
We must
be careful not to look for spiritual answers to physical problems. God is always
concerned about both, because He knows that if we neglect either...the trip will
be too much for us.
The trip will be too
much for you – perhaps you are already feeling it is too much for you right
now...what you still have to do today will be too much for you......what God has planned for you to do in this
week, the good works He has already planned for you and me to do, will be too
much for you and me...the journey that God wants you to make from now on, your
pilgrimage from now on will be too much for you...walking in God’s way will be
too much for you,..... living obediently to Him and His Will, will be too much for
you,.... growing in holiness, perfecting your love, will be too much for you......... if you
don’t rest in God, and if you don’t eat from God and if you don’t drink from God.
Elijah
got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days
to Sinai, the holy mountain.
Friends,
I don’t know where you or I have to walk this week...in our homes, our work
places, our schools...in our faith walks and in our growth in holiness and our growth in
perfect love. What I do know is that the
trip is too much for us, and what I mean by that is that we cannot do it in our
own strength...we can actually do nothing in our own strength...not even drive
home after this service.
But we
can do all things in Him who strengthens us.
If we don’t look to Him in all things
for strength, the trip will be too much for us...is too much for us, right now
you might think you’ll manage, but you won’t.
You might think you are managing...but you’re not...and deep
down...you know it.
But come to the
One who said:
Come
to the One who said, “I am the Bread of Life” ....and eat...and you will find
strength for the trip.
Come
to the One who said, “If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink”...and you
will find strength for the trip.
Wherever
you are right now, perhaps at a high point like Elijah was at Mount Carmel,
perhaps at a low point like Elijah was at soon afterwards...wherever you are,
come to Jesus and find strength for the trip.
Come
to Him now... in worship as we sing “As the deer.”
Come
to Him now... in prayer.
Come
to Him now... through the words of the Scripture as you read your Bible.
Come
to Him now... in rest as you perhaps commit yourself to...resting.
Come
to Him and eat and drink, otherwise the trip will be too much for you.
