Message
Elijah must have used up a lot of stored-up spiritual energy when he prayed, and fire fell from heaven in . After that, he drew upon the same reservoir of spiritual energy to summon rain from heaven. It had not rained for three and a half years, and the sky was absolutely clear, but he put a significant demand on his reservoir of spiritual energy by praying until it started raining (). Furthermore, he used even more spiritual energy to run faster than the king’s chariot () for a distance that some Bible scholars estimate to be about seven kilometres. After doing all these, he hadn’t rested or taken time to recharge his spiritual energy when he received news that Queen Jezebel was after his life. His spiritual energy had been grossly depleted, so he ran for three days and nights to save his life. By the time he got to the juniper tree in today’s Bible reading, he was so weak and spiritually drained that he prayed to God to end his life. As soon as he said this prayer, he fell asleep because he had not slept for more than three days. The angel of the Lord came to wake him up to eat, and after eating, he fell asleep again, even though he was aware that Queen Jezebel was still after his life. The angel of the Lord had to wake him up a second time to eat again because he needed strength for the great journey ahead of him. You must also take time out to rest and recharge your spiritual energy if you want to run the race ahead of you successfully.
In , the Bible describes how God created one thing after another. It was a lot of work, but as the account progressed to , which is today’s memory verse, you will see that God rested. Beloved, you cannot be wiser than God. If God Himself rested after creation, then you must also create time to rest from time to time. Do not finish one demanding task after another without taking time to rest. Many people have overworked themselves to the point of exhaustion, but this is not God’s plan for anyone. He wants you to know when and how to take rests so you don’t burn yourself out.
Beloved, I pray that the Almighty God will shower you with His wisdom so you will know how to preserve your strength, in Jesus’ name.