Waiting on the LordIsaiah 40:25-31; I Kings 19:1-10 In I Kings 19, we find Elijah. He needed to wait on the Lord for his strength to be renewed like an eagle. However, instead of sounding like a future flying eagle, he sounds like a person wishing they were dying. Although Elijah is afraid of those desiring to kill him and yet wants to die, God chose not to respond right then. Elijah had run a long ways. He was very tired. (Verse 5) Instead of dying under the juniper tree, Elijah slept. God sent Elijah an angel. The angel woke him up to eat some food and drink water. (Verse 6) Still God chose not to speak directly to him yet. Elijah lay down to sleep again. A second time, in verse 7, the angel of the Lord woke Elijah up to eat and drink. Verse 8 tells us that in the strength of that food, Elijah traveled forty days and nights to the mountain of God. There the word of the Lord comes to Elijah. In verse 10, Elijah answers God’s question, speaks of his great zeal, his feelings of being the only faithful one and concern over those seeking to kill him. When Elijah answers the same way to God’s repeated question in verse 14, God had two responses. First, I have something for you to do, “go anoint various people king (verses 15-16), and I have 7,000 who have not bowed down to the idol worship of Baal" (verse 18). Through this whole experience of resting, eating food and drinking water as well as God’s Word to him, Elijah's strength was refreshed like an eagle. However, his waiting on the Lord involved a process. Sometimes, the most spiritual thing we can do to renew our strength is to lie down and rest. Our whole person, body, soul, and spirit need the proper rest of our bodies. We need the renewal that comes by rest as well as by good food and water. Too often, we ask God to renew our strength as we wait on him prayerfully. Sometimes, we get really angry with God if he does not answer our prayers and our sense of being burned out right then. However, God chooses not to respond directly to you while he waits for you to lie down and rest as well as received needed nourishment. According to the creation story in Genesis, your body is considered good for God made it. In the New Testament, we learn that as a Christian, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Today, medical science is learning the biblical truth of how interconnected you are as a whole person, physically, spiritually, emotionally, nutritionally, and intellectually. As 1 Kings 19 opens, I hear Elijah saying, “I can’t stand this situation. It’s terrible. The context of my life is so horrible and awful. I’ve worked so hard for the Lord. I’m the only one left of the whole nation of Israel. So, please God let me die?” Instead of letting Elijah die, he provided him with an opportunity to rest. Notice that it is only after Elijah is rested and physically refreshed does God speak to his unsound outlook on life and himself. I think sometimes that God chooses to not speak to your outlook on life and yourself until you have waited on the Lord by resting and receiving solid nourishment. To see another aspect of waiting upon the Lord, let’s pretend that God asked Elijah seven questions instead of one question twice. The first question, “How much of your emotions is connected to fact based thoughts?” Well, the idea of his life being in danger was supported by fact that Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah by the next day. We are not told anything to support the idea that God should take his life because he is not better than his fathers were. Also, God rebukes the idea that Elijah was the only faithful Israelite left by saying 7,000 are still true to the Lord. Therefore, only one-third of Elijah’s ideas supported his feelings of deep despair. The second question, “Do the ideas that support how you feel, help protect your life and health?” Two out of the three ideas he states in connection with his feelings do not protect his emotional health but help lead him to despair. Only the idea of Jezebel threatening to kill him helps him protect his life by running away. The third question, “Are your thoughts helping you achieve his present and future goals?” Only one of the three ideas is helping him in terms of his goals by leading Elijah to protect his life. The other two are actually hindering him achieve his present and future goals. The fourth question, “Do your thoughts prevent unwanted conflict with others?” Only one of these thoughts is keeping Elijah out of conflict with Jezebel. However, the other two thoughts are not preventing unwanted conflict inside of Elijah. The fifth question, “Do your thoughts help you to feel the way you want to feel Elijah?” Overall, the answer would be no. The sixth question, “What are the factual ideas of this immediate situation and what God has done in your life over the years?” Well, immediately, it is a fact that Elijah’s life is in danger. Elijah also has many facts of what God has done to think about. God fed him by a brook after telling king Ahab the Lord said it would not rain unless Elijah said so. God raised up a widow’s son from the dead through him. God worked through Elijah to defeat 450 prophets of the false god Baal at Mt. Carmel. The seventh question, “As you think about Jezebel’s threat along with the fact that 7,000 Israelites are still faithful, and all that the Lord has done in and through you, how do you feel now?” I can’t imagine Elijah’s response being as full of despair as what we read in 1 Kings 19. No, I think his response would have included realistic fear of the threat but also realistic hope in God who had done so much for and through Elijah. It is obvious to me that God’s questions and comments to Elijah in the rest of 1 Kings 19 deals with how fact based his ideas are than answering his despairing request to die. Note that God does this only after Elijah has slept and received enough nourishment to regain his strength and help him go to a much safer location. In this story of Elijah from 1 Kings 19, I see three lessons about waiting upon the Lord for you today. First, your fears are often born of physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion. Second, you need to wait upon the Lord to renew your strength by giving your body adequate rest and nourishment for the rest of the journey. Third, you will find even more of your strength renewed as you examine the thoughts and feelings of your soul with the help of the Holy Spirit. Then, with both your body and your soul having waited upon the Lord, you will gain new strength. You will rise up with wings like a mighty eagle. You will walk and not be weary. You will run and not faint.
The Rev. Dr. John Marshall Crowe is married to Donna Crowe. They have two boys. Along with his church health page, he is also editor of the Goldsboro District Newsletter in the North Carolina Conference of the UMC. His doctoral work on church health and experience with mental illness in his family led him to advocate for mental health. In appreciation for his efforts, Dr. Crowe received the 2002 Mental Health Association in North Carolina President's Award. He answered God’s call to the ordained ministry during his sophomore year in college and was very active in campus ministry. In 1979, he received a B.A. in Sociology with minor in History from East Carolina University. After completing a M. Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1983, he began pastoral ministry. Eighteen years later, God opened the doors for him to fulfill the long-term goal of earning a Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2001. |