“I have had enough LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” I Kings 19:4b (I Kings 18-22:40) This is a story worth reading!
Baal was the god of Jezebel. Her weak husband Ahab, king of Israel, saw no problem with the One True God sharing a little space in the temples, just to keep peace in his household. These two gods were believed to have power over fertility, land, the weather. It is not random that God chose a drought as the consequence for Israel’s great sin. This adulterous worship involved temple prostitution among all genders and ages. Infant sacrifice was common. After God brings rain and ends the drought in Israel and the surrounding areas, Elijah has all 900 prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth, who were child molesters and murderers, killed.
Elijah lived on the run, surviving on God’s miraculous power and provision. He was fed by ravens, and a jar of oil and flour that did not empty. He raised the dead, called down thunder and lightening from Heaven, and brought rain to a barren land. All of this failed to turn Ahab and Jezebel toward correct behavior. Jezebel’s anger sent Elijah running once again. He fell exhausted, under a broom tree. There, angels ministered to him with rest and food.
When Elijah was able, God called him to the same mountain top where Moses had received the Law. There, Elijah confessed, “I’ve done no good, Israel still doesn’t believe. Now I’m all alone and they want me dead.” Instead of declaring Elijah washed up and worthless, God gave him a higher calling, a hope for the future. He sent him to anoint, not only the next king of Israel, but the king of a neighboring country as well. And best of all, Elijah ordained his successor, Elisha.
Don’t ask more of yourself than God does. He knows your limits and doesn’t exploit them or your resources. Being tired doesn’t mean done. Lacking spiritual vision doesn’t imply the absence of a call. God would say, “Get some rest, let’s talk in the morning, for the best is yet to come!”
Love,
Gretchen