“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” (1 Kings 19:4-5)
It strikes me that the wilderness was a day’s journey away. Getting to that place where you lay down under the tree so empty you just want to sleep takes time. Elijah is discouraged that he hasn’t been able to do any better than his ancestors. He is ready to throw in the towel and just fall asleep.
But getting to that place takes time.
And even as the angel meets him and feeds him, the restoration takes time as well. The angel feeds him several times. He doesn’t get up and go back to work the first time.
As I think about my own stuff, I can see the journey to the broom tree. I know that desire to fall asleep, because the work is too much and the impact is too small and the future trajectory doesn’t look any better than the ancestors’ history.
But God doesn’t leave Elijah in the wilderness under the broom tree. And God hasn’t left me in those wilderness places either.
“Eat something.”
The angel touched him. The angel spoke to him. The angel nourished him. Eat something. Now eat something again. And then get up and go back to work. It was a day’s journey into the wilderness to the solitary broom tree. But the angel gave him something to eat…several times. Restoration is sometimes a journey of its own.
So, God…in all these things…remind me to eat. Help me to be patient with the journey…to the broom tree and back again.