It is enough

Can you think of a time in your life when you felt completely overwhelmed by the problems, situations and responsibilities you are facing? Perhaps someone’s actions have made you angry and you are struggling to forgive them?

Maybe you are under pressure at work, under pressure with your finances, and under pressure from your family members and you have no clue how to deal with all these problems? Have you ever felt like you’ve had enough, you can’t handle any more and you don’t want to go on?

Maybe you’re feeling this way at the moment.

This is how the Prophet Elijah felt in our Old Testament reading today. He had achieved a great victory on Mount Carmel. The Israelites had been worshipping the false god Baal, they had strayed away from their covenant with Yahweh, the true God.

They were hedging their bets, worshipping God on the Sabbath, paying lip service to the commandments He had given them. But they also worshipped the god of the Canaanite people they lived amongst. Rather than trust God for a good harvest, they would pray to Baal, a fertility god, for rainfall and good crops. They would also pray to him for a healthy pregnancy, childbirth and baby. They would offer child sacrifices to him for success in battles and harvest and would engage in ritual sexual practices that were forbidden by the God of Israel.

The cult of Baal was becoming more and more popular under King Ahab who, under the influence of his wife Jezebel, had turned away from God.

In the middle of all this, Elijah organised a showdown with the prophets of Baal. In front of the people, he proved once and for all who was the true God. God answered his prayers by sending fire down from heaven after the prophets of Baal’s prayers went unanswered. In front of the people of Israel Elijah destroyed their faith in Baal and the false prophets.

But immediately after this massive victory, Elijah fell into a deep depression. His actions had angered Jezebel and the King and they were now threatening his life.

Elijah instantly went from being bold to feeling terrified and running away. He went a day’s journey into the wilderness and sat down under a solitary tree. He felt so overwhelmed by the enemy who was intent on his destruction that he wanted to die.

He said to God: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”

God responds by sending an angel to Elijah with a simple instruction: Eat something. The angel gives Elijah two meals. He encourages him to eat the second meal and tells him that, if he doesn’t eat “the journey will be too much for you.”

Elijah obeys, eats both meals and then, in the strength of that food, is able to go on a forty day journey to Horeb the mount of God.

I think we can learn a lot from this passage about what we need to do when we are at our lowest points.

Sometimes, despite knowing the truth about who God is, we can forget to apply that knowledge when we are going through difficult times.

Like Elijah, we can tell others about the power of God, we can share the Gospel and tell people about the love of God. We can believe it and know it with all our hearts, and yet… and yet… circumstances in our lives can lead us to despair despite what we know about God.

Like Elijah we can start to isolate ourselves from the people who might be a source of support. We can go and sit under our own solitary tree and want to give up, to go no further on our journey. We might say to God, like Elijah, “It is enough”, I’ve had enough. I can’t take anymore.

But it is at these times that God offers practical and spiritual help.

He tells us to “Get up and eat.”

He gives us time to rest. He tells us to eat and drink again.

He tells us that though we think that “it is enough”, He knows that this low place is not the end of our journey. He isn’t mad at us for being low. He doesn’t berate us for being exhausted from the fight. He just tells us to rest, eat, and build up our strength, because he has a future for us.

We see that in the strength of the food the angel provides him with, Elijah is able to travel for over a month until he reaches Horeb, the mount of God.

God had an appointment to meet with Elijah at Mount Horeb. The food God gave Elijah empowers him to get through the wilderness, to pull through the depression, and to get to a place where he can meet God face to face.

Well, today if you are in a wilderness place, if you feel isolated and alone, God sends the same message to us as he sent to Elijah. “Get up and eat.”

He has provided food: Jesus the Bread of Life, whose body was broken for us. And He tells us that “whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…” In our Gospel passage today, Jesus explains that He is “the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Our salvation, our receiving of the Bread of Life, gives us a new spiritual life. It gives us a new birth. Like Elijah, we can rest in this food, this salvation that is not from our own efforts or works but a free gift from God.

But also, like Elijah, God gives us a second meal to empower us for the journey he has planned for us as we walk in the new life we have been given.

He gives us His Holy Spirit. He knows that we do not have the strength to continue in our Christian walk unless we constantly allow the Spirit to fill and refill us.

In our lives we will inevitably face trials, fears, and problems that can cause us to feel weak, alone and exhausted. But we can be encouraged, like the Psalmist, that God will deliver us when we are afflicted.

And, as our passage reminds us, when we are in our wilderness periods, if we call on God and share with Him our feelings, our despondency, our fears and our despair, He won’t berate us for our lack of faith, He won’t punish us for not trusting Him enough. Instead He will send food. He will refuel us. He will send someone to us with an encouraging word. He will send someone to give us practical help we need at just the point when we feel all hope is lost. He will send someone to refresh us when we are exhausted.

God will send what we need to give us the strength to endure the wilderness. And He will lead us through the wilderness to a closer encounter with Him. A place where God will show us our reflection, He will show us the areas of falsehood in our dealings with people. He will challenge us on the anger we have allowed to fester in our hearts. God will point out the ways we use our words to slander and tear down other people instead of building them up.

Because, when we have a close encounter with Him, we experience His kindness, His tender heart, His forgiveness, His sacrificial love.

When we are through the haze of the wilderness, we remember again what we already know about God. That we are His beloved children, and that He calls us to imitate Him, to be kind instead of malicious, to be tenderhearted instead of angry, hard-hearted and unforgiving.

He reminds us that when we feed on His Word daily, He will empower us to “be imitators of God” and to “live in love” with the people in our lives, especially with those who challenge and provoke us the most.

So today we have hope.

No matter what we are going through: whether we are in a time of victory and boldness, or whether we are living through a period of despair, wilderness and isolation – God will not leave us alone.

We may think we have had enough, but God will come to us and He encourages us today that we can “Get up and eat” so that the journey with Him will not “be too much” for us. He will send His message to us in a song, a Psalm, a Bible verse that lifts our spirits; He will send His touch in the shape of a friend, a neighbour, or maybe even an angel.

Today God urges us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good;…” because He promises that “happy are they who trust in Him!” We are His beloved children and He will accompany us on our journey, drawing us closer to Him even if the path leads through the wilderness.