3/11/2011 5:47:44 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The enemy’s message
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Kings 19:1-4
Message
of the verses: “1 Now Ahab told
Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with
the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the
gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of
them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And he was afraid and arose and ran
for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his
servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and
came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he
might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am
not better than my fathers.’”
Warren Wiersbe entitles this
eleventh chapter of his commentary on 1Kings “The Cave Man,” as chapter 19 of
1Kings describes the depression that Elijah went through, and how he ended up
living in a cave for a while.
Elijah had just provided a great
victory for the Lord, as he defeated 400 priest of Baal, and showed the people
of Israel that the Lord was the true God and not Baal, but now he gets a letter
from the wicked king’s wife Jezebel that she is out to kill him and he runs
away. Dr. Wiersbe points out that in
diagnosis of today we would say that Elijah was suffering from “burnout.” This is probably true, but Elijah was also
suffering from a lack of food, and also from the effects of feeling very sorry
for himself, and all of this led him into a depression, and a prayer that not
only he would pray to the Lord, but one that Moses and Jonah would pray to the
Lord when they were depressed, and that is just take my life for I can’t handle
what is going on and I would be better off dead.
Dr. Wiersbe writes the
following: “When God’s servants get out
of God’s will, they’re liable to do all sorts of foolish things and fail in their strongest points. When Abraham fled to Egypt, he failed in his
faith, which was his greatest strength.
David’s greatest strength was his integrity, and that’s where he failed
when he started lying and scheming during the Bathsheba episode. Moses was the meekest of men, yet he lost his
temper and forfeited the the privilege of entering the Promised Land. Peter was a courageous man, yet his courage
failed and he denied Christ. Like Peter,
Elijah was a bold man, but his courage failed when he heard Jezebel’s message.”
Dr
Wiersbe goes on in another paragraph and writes the following, “The safest
place for any child of God is the place dictated by the will of God, but Elijah
didn’t stop to seek God’s will.” Elijah
would run off to Judah and the place where much Jewish history was made, the
city of Beersheba, for the patriarchs all visited Beersheba. I want to talk a bit about the ‘Juniper
tree,” as it grows there in the area where Beersheba is located. It is more of a flowering shrub than a tree
and people would sit under it for shade like Elijah did at this time. There is a note in the end of this chapter of
Dr. Wiersbe’s book that speaks of the Juniper tree and what it means, “Sitting
under the juniper tree’ is a common English phrase that describes a person who
is angry at God, sick of life, embarrassed by failure, and ready to call it
quits.” I am not sure that I have ever
heard this before, but I think that I have experienced it a time of two.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I would
like to think that one of my strongest points in my walk with the Lord is
faith, and I know that when I get into trouble through sin or through feeling
sorry for myself that I surely forget my faith in the Lord to accomplish great
things in me to bring glory to God. I
truly believe what the Bible says, all of it as the direct Word of God, and
have a great desire to follow what it says and to continue to learn truths from
the Word of God so that I can tell others all about it.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust the Lord
to give me great wisdom as to whether or not to buy this motorcycle.
2. Be ready to tell
Craig “Agent” the truth of God’s Word concerning his life.
3. Give myself to
the Lord for worship and service.
4. Continue to
learn contentment. 3/12/2011 7:32:14 AM
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