31. Have a rest

God saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. By His mighty deeds He delivered them. They were in awe of Him and sang His praises, rejoicing in His holiness and wonder! Then He led them away from the Red Sea and into the Shur desert. They continued on, probably still singing in their hearts, praising God for delivering them. But on the first day they didn't find water, but they didn't let that deter them, they continued. But on the second day when they still didn't find water their resolve began to crack and on the third day when the only water they could find was bitter, they cracked.

'Then the people turned against Moses, "What are we going to drink?" they demanded.' Exodus 15:24

How quickly they returned to being their old self again! Amazing. It is actually very sad. They hadn't fully realized that they could depend on God for everything. They fell in a slump so quickly after God's miraculous deeds and felt very sorry for themselves.

The same happened to Elijah. In 1 Kings 18 he had a contest with 450 Baal prophets and at Mount Carmel he proved to the whole of Israel that God was their true God and that Baal was just a statue with no power at all. He, with God's power, defeated the 450 Baal prophets and had them all killed. It was a major spiritual victory and God revealed His mighty power to Israel once again.

But right after this victory, Jezebel, the wife of Israel's king Ahab, heard of this and she wanted to kill Elijah. She sent a message to him telling him that she was coming after him and will kill him. Now one would think that after such a victory and display of God's power that Elijah will laugh at her and not be afraid. God had protected him from 450 Baal prophets; surely He would protect him from just one woman? And did Elijah stand strong in the faith? No he didn't, he was afraid and fled for his life. He even wanted to die.

"I have had enough, Lord." He said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." 1 Kings 19:4.

Wow. After such an amazing victory he fell into such a slump that he even didn't want to live anymore. He was totally depressed.

And we can learn from this. Sometimes after a wonderful spiritual experience we might feel down afterwards. We might feel depressed and lonely. I have had the same experience after some wonderful revelations from God. Sometimes I think that the Lord wants to test your faith and see whether you will still believe when things are not going so well, and sometimes I think after a highly spiritual experience one can feel emotionally drained and then you are an open target for the devil too.

Whatever the reason, we need to deal with it. And how did God deal with the Israelites? He made the bitter water sweet and later brought them to Elim where there were twelve springs with wonderful water to drink! And how did He deal with Elijah? He gave him food and water and allowed him a time to rest.

God looks after us in the natural and after such highly spiritual experiences, allow yourself a time to rest and recuperate. Spend time alone in the presence of God. Build yourself up spiritually and physically and you will see that you will be right to go on with God's work in no time.

Thank you Lord for looking after us. You are so amazing and so wonderful! Thank you that You understand that we need our physical needs met too before we can continue our work for You. Help us to make the most of the opportunities that come our way. Amen

1 comment for “31. Have a rest”

  1. Gravatar of LouinaLouina
    Posted Friday, 30 November 2012 at 1:42:36 PM

    Thank you, this spoke to my heart!










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