It\u2019s a pitiful picture\u2014Elijah under a juniper tree praying\nto die. How did he get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahab had become king of Israel, and he was a bad actor,\ndoing \u201cmore evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.\u201d His\nwife, Jezebel, was a good match for him\u2014wicked through and through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elijah enters the scene, a mighty prophet sent by God to\ninform Ahab there would be no dew or rain for a few years. After Elijah\nconfronted the king, the Lord told him to hide in a ravine east of the Jordan\nRiver. He\u2019d ordered ravens to feed him, and he could drink from the brook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the brook dried up from lack of rain, the Lord told\nElijah to relocate to Zarephath of Sidon, where he had commanded a widow to\nprovide him with food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huge problem: the widow had no bread and only a handful of\nflour and a little oil. She planned to make a meal for herself and her son,\nexpecting they would then die. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elijah instructed her to make a small cake of bread first\nand bring it to him before making something for herself and her son. \u201cFor this\nis what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: \u2018The jar of flour will not be used\nup and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the\nland.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The widow did as the prophet said, and every day Elijah, the\nwoman, and her family had food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, in a surprising turn of events, the son died! While\nthe mother\u2019s heart blamed the man of God, Elijah carried the boy to the room\nwhere he was staying and cried out to God to let his life return. And that\u2019s\nwhat happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pretty incredible stuff, don\u2019t you think? And Elijah just\nkept making a name for himself. You\u2019ll want to read the story (1 Kings 17-19),\nbut here\u2019s the short version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord sent Elijah back to Ahab with another message: \u201cI will send rain on the land.\u201d Jezebel had been killing the Lord\u2019s prophets, unaware that Obadiah\u2014who was in charge of the palace and a devout believer in the Lord\u2014had hidden 100 prophets and provided them food and water.Brave Elijah, thinking he was the only prophet left, called on Ahab to summon 850 prophets of his false gods to Mount Carmel for a test to determine whether those gods were true. The prophets would prepare a bull and put it on wood on an altar but not set it afire. He would do the same. He said, \u201cThe god who answers by fire\u2014he is God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From morning till time for the evening sacrifice, the prophets called on their god. \u201cBut there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Elijah did could be called overkill. After building an altar to the Lord, he dug a large trench around it, cut a bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. He then commanded the people to bring four large jars filled with water and pour on the offering and the wood\u2014three times. Water ran down and filled the trench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time to call on his God. \u201cO Lord, God of Abraham,\nIsaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I\nam your servant and have done all these things at your command\u2026Then the fire of\nthe Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil,\nand also licked up the water in the trench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, \u2018The Lord\u2014he is God! The Lord\u2014he is God!’\u201d Elijah commanded them to seize the prophets, bring them to the Kishon Valley, and slaughter them. He told Ahab to expect rain\u2026and soon a heavy rain fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Ahab told his dear wife what Elijah had done, she sent\na messenger to Elijah saying he would be dead \u201cby this time tomorrow.\u201d What did\nthis mighty spokesman do, this prophet who had just won a major victory\ndeclaring the power of God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cElijah was afraid and ran for his life.\u201d In the desert he\nsat under a juniper tree praying. \u201cI have had enough, Lord\u2026Take my life\u2026\u201d Then\nhe fell asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A pitiful picture. But Elijah isn\u2019t frozen in that scene, like Jonah under the withering gourd vine (see last week\u2019s post https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=928).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An angel awakened him and told him to get up and eat. He saw\na cake of bread and a jar of water. After his meal, he took another nap. Again\nthe angel awakened him and said, \u201cGet up and eat, for the journey is too much\nfor you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He traveled forty days and nights to Horeb, the mountain of\nGod, where the word of the Lord came to him, giving him another assignment. He\nhad more work to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you had that conversation? \u201cI\u2019ve had enough, Lord!\u201d Sometimes the journey is too much for us. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Have you had that conversation? \u201cI\u2019ve had enough, Lord!\u201d Sometimes the journey is too much for us. We\u2019ve been faithful, following the Lord wholeheartedly, only to be left baffled by the outcome and weary of the task. Enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve had that feeling\u2026but here\u2019s what I know. God is God. And he\u2019s doing something that will ultimately work for my good. When my way seems dark and confusing, I can wallow in despair or I can keep moving forward, trusting the voice that assures me, \u201cWhether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’\u201d (Isaiah 30:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve staked my life on that assurance. And the Lord has never failed me. Or forsaken me. Isn\u2019t that what he promised?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNever will I leave you; never will I forsake you\u201d (Hebrews\n13:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what are you doing under that juniper tree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Scriptures from NIV<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would you tell me about your experience under the juniper tree? Please leave a comment. And I’d appreciate your sharing this with your friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a pitiful picture\u2014Elijah under a juniper tree praying to die. How did he get there? Ahab had become king of Israel, and he was a bad actor, doing \u201cmore evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.\u201d His wife, Jezebel, was a good match for him\u2014wicked through and through. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[339,9,40,338,337],"class_list":["post-932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-ahab","tag-dianne-barker","tag-discouragement","tag-god-promised-i-will-never-leave-or-forsake-you","tag-whats-elijah-doing-under-a-juniper-tree-praying-to-die"],"yoast_head":"\n