“He prayed that he might die.” 1 Kings 19:4 NKJV
When you are through with your options, you are ready for real solutions.
My thoughts and comments today ask “out of options?”
Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” The verse is a bit shocking; “[Elijah] prayed that he might die.” 1 Kings 19:4 NKJV. He was full of fear and tired. This prophet had been powerfully used by God on Mt. Carmel. Kings feared him; a nation revered him; but a queen despised him. “[Elijah] ran for his life . . a day’s journey into the wilderness.” You can never run fast enough or far enough to get away from your fear and despair. Really, if Elijah wanted to die, Jezebel would gladly have accommodated him.
So soon after a great victory, he no longer had the will to live. Extreme highs and severe lows are not always far apart. Elijah felt alone in his task, his life threatened by Jezebel. He was exhausted physically, wrung out emotionally and mentally, and weary and confused spiritually. He had nothing left. Read 1 Kings 19:1-4/10. Elijah was running on empty, literally. Elijah didn’t feel he could face another day. Life had become more than he could bear.
Let’s be practical; God always is. The recovery of Elijah began simply enough, with rest and nourishment. This was not the time for further depletion. Before you try to figure it all out with worry-filled days and sleepless nights, give yourself a time for recovery. Then God provided supernatural sustenance for forty days, until he finally came “as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.” See verses 5-8. Elijah ran from Jezebel, but at least he ran toward God. Along the way and at Horeb, God met Elijah, quieting his inner turmoil long enough to hear a fresh assignment. God has more for him. His life wasn’t over; a new chapter was yet to be written. See verses 11-18.
When you have gone as far as you can go with the strength you possess, what do you do? Inevitably, that is a common dilemma. From that point, your success or failure is found in your answer to that question. There will be a moment when what you’ve been doing is no longer working, when what you have is no longer enough, when what you know is not what you need to know. Sometimes, life seems to offer a dead end; going back isn’t an option and going forward doesn’t feel possible. Ever hear someone describe their situation as being “between a rock and a hard place?” Sometimes God allows you to get yourself into tight places until you will turn to Him. Ever been where you think you are out of options? When you are through with your options, you are ready for real solutions. God is your best option.
Out of options? You are in good company. The Apostle Paul described an experience when he was, “. . burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NKJV. Maybe what he learned from that personal experience convinced Paul to pray for the Christ-followers at Ephesus, “to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man . . to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Read Ephesians 3:16-20 NKJV.
My prayer for you today is that you find God when you are searching for answers.