When The Going Get's Tough, Look For Angels

I can most certainly feel what Elijah may be going through in today's passage from 1 Kings 19:4-8. Let me set up the passage with what comes just before it. Elijah decides to come out of hiding and presents himself to Ahab. Ahab, who was the king of Israel at that time, was very unhappy with Elisha, blaming him for the 3-year drought the land was currently in. Not to worry, though, because God has told Elisha that the rains are coming and the prophet is there to give the king the good news.

But first Elisha must battle the prophets of Baal. A big battle between 150 of them and 1 of Elisha ensues and, no surprise, Elisha's god wins and is hailed as the Lord God. Then, for whatever reason, Elisha orders all the prophets of Baal killed.

Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, is not happy that the prophets of her god have been killed and pledges to have Elisha killed in the same way. That brings us to today's passage. Elisha has decided to run for his life and goes to a safe place. Just outside (okay, a day's journey outside) of this safe place Elisha finds some solitude and tells God he can't go on because he's no better than all of his ancestors. Elisha is thinking himself a failure, unable to represent God in the way God deserves.

Yup, been there. If you've been there raise your hand. We've all felt that way at some point in our lives. We all know the feeling of letting someone down, of feeling like a failure towards the people or person we love the most; or to ourselves. Most likely we did what Elisha did and stopped our lives, asking a force larger than us to just make it stop, letting that force know we don't want to do it anymore.

It's at this point in our lives, when we feel the lowest and just want life itself to end, that God comes to us to remind us that there's no such thing as letting God down. God's love for us is unending, period. Just as God did for Elisha God will also send us an angel to pull us out of our depression. All we need to do is recognize when that angel has come and accept that angel's help. The only way to do that is to know, with absolute truth, that God is always there. Always.

So, the next time you're under your "broom tree" deciding whether or not it's worthwhile to go on just remember you are not alone and  somewhere very close to you is an angel from God, ready to lift you up and give you all you need to keep on going.