“You can give everything you have to God’s service and come away exhausted.” Henry Blackaby had nailed exactly where I found myself.
I guess that is why his devotional was so powerful for me at the moment I read it. He captured my frustration level when he said that “Kingdom work” can be challenging.
It has been clear to me that God has me in a place where I am to minister to someone who is dear to me, but that person is not accepting, listening to, or positively engaging with the gospel-focused messages I am sharing. I do this sometimes verbally and other times through serving in physical ways.
Blackaby’s sharing of Elijah’s words to God about the Israelites struck a familiar chord in me – “’I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts”, he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:14)
At the point when God came to Elijah and they had the above exchange, God had just used Elijah to call down fire from heaven in a spectacular display of divine power. I love the whole story of Elijah’s showdown with the Baal priests over whose God was true and powerful. (It’s a great passage at 1 Kings 18:16-40)
And Elijah perhaps thought that the dramatic display of power at Mount Carmel – the “fire of the Lord” falling and burning up not only the sacrifice but the wood, stones and soil around it — would change the hearts of the nation. Or at least the radical display of God’s judgment against the priests of Baal following the vindication at Mount Carmel would change the hearts of the Israelites. Nope, didn’t happen.
In fact, as Blackaby noted, Elijah’s exhilaration was soon replaced by strenuous work followed by death threats which caused him to flee for his life. At that point, Elijah “was alone, exhausted, and discouraged.” The problem? Elijah’s focus had shifted from God to God’s enemies and he was disoriented to God and feeling alone.
But it was different this time – God came not in a loud, spectacular way, but in a still, small voice. Elijah was exhausted and God brought him comfort. God encouraged him – provided Elisha for him as a helper, friend and companion. And most importantly, God removed Elijah from the activity for a time so he could rest “and spend time with God” as Blackaby describes it.
I love the scripture around this event – God’s voice came to Elijah when he was standing at the mouth of a cave to which he had fled, and God asked him “What are you doing here, Elijah?” and Elijah responded with the passage above saying what he had done and how poorly the Israelites had responded. When I am on that same track of thinking, I look back and call it the “poor me” frame of mind.
But God ministered to Elijah, strengthened him and then gave him something to do. That is an important point I need to remember when I get to the “poor me” stage. I usually recognize that happening when I am out of patience and “barking” at others with my frustration showing. When the Israelites next see Elijah, he was as Blackaby describes it “rejuvenated and refocused on God and His assignment.”
I so need Blackaby’s extraction of wisdom from Elijah’s experiences in these passages. And I need to recognize the “poor me” pattern when it shows up so I can allow the Lord to give me what I need and bring me closer to Him.
Here’s Blackaby’s wisdom: “If you are overwhelmed by kingdom work so that your focus is no longer on God but on all that there is to do, let Him comfort you. Listen to His gentle voice. He will encourage you and provide exactly what you need to prepare you for what comes next.” Yes, I need to sit and soak in that a bit – and perhaps more quickly come back to this wisdom in those times when I feel alone, exhausted and discouraged.
The promise we have is that God will know exactly how to encourage us – we just need to let Him do it. He may remove us from our work for a time or give us a friend or helper. I know I just need to trust Him enough to place it all fully in His hands and listen to Him and let Him in. How about you? May we all let Him in to do His work in us!
