Some days the text is so clear and the message so obvious.
So much so that you wonder how you even missed it before.
Because hadn’t I been studying the life of Elijah and hadn’t we just wrapped up a season of celebrating his victory there atop Mount Carmel?
Ahh yes… the overwhelming victory following a 3-year drought.
A mighty rainstorm. One that he would declare hearing long before it was evident to the human eye.
But then something happened. As the tendency is sometimes.
Defeat. Anxiety. Discouragement.
Ahh… victory doesn’t always make you victorious.
And just a few verses over we see Elijah hiding in a cave, ready to quit. Oh and not just ready to quit, but worse yet… ready to die.
Temporary success in the eyes of this God-fearing man. And perhaps a sense of pride rearing its ugly head again.
And I wonder how different we really are from Elijah?
He brings restoration in one season… and in the very next we find ourselves in fear and isolation.
He sees us to victory in one season… and in the very next we’re cowering in defeat as a victim.
And then the words there in 1 Kings 19:5 come not as a calm reminder, but as a roaring charge… “Get up and eat!”
Because we serve a loving God who doesn’t leave us in our mess.
He’d asks Elijah just a while later, “What are you doing here?”
And I love those words because I can feel the love of a Father when I read them.
“What are you doing here?”
You don’t belong here.
I didn’t call you to cower.
You were not meant to live in defeat and discouragement.
I have so much more for you.
But you must do your part.
“Get up and eat!”
You’ve got what it takes.
I’ve already provided.
Victory is Mine, He says, but living victorious is up to you!
Now… get up and eat!
Strengthen yourself!
Remember who you are!
Remember Whose you are!
The choice is yours.
Stop wallowing in your self-pity and in your doubt and in your confusion and in your sadness and in your overwhelming circumstances and in your fear.
YOU were made for SO MUCH MORE than this!!!
Get up and eat!
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