“I have had enough, Lord,…” 1 Kings 19:4b
Have you ever come to the point in your life where you’re just done “adulting” for one day? Perhaps the challenges at work, or the mounting house work, or the endless “to do” list has all just gotten the better of you…and you have had enough? Have you been there? I would imagine many of us have had those days where you contemplated why you even got out of bed. Some days are just life that, and it seems the entire world wants a piece of you. Rest assured, there will be better days. All of us have experienced bad days and even bad years. Life is certainly challenging and it isn’t always puppy dogs and rainbows, no matter how much we wish it were. But the encouraging thing is life, and all that happens to us will eventually pass, and we have a God who journeys alongside us. We are never alone in our struggles…and our bad days. Another important thing to note is that our perspective on things always makes a difference. Having a bad day? Will you allow it to affect your spirit and the eternal joy God has given you? I hope the answer is “no”…that we will keep on keeping on despite the bad days, the trials and the set-backs.
The prophet Elijah certainly had his fair share of bad days. The funny thing is he had just had a monumental victorious day, when he challenged all the prophets of Baal. (see 1 Kings 18:16-46) Elijah, called down fire upon a completely soaked altar and God made Himself known thereby defeating these false prophets and their fake god Baal. You would thing this great victory would have lasted for a while, but instead Elijah is on the run and afraid for his life. King Ahab and wicked Queen Jezebel want him dead. Elijah is worn and weary, emotionally and physically spent, he lays down under a boom bush in the wilderness and asks God if he could just die. He even says to God, “I have had enough…” Imagine that! One of the most powerful Prophets of ancient times asking to die because life had become extremely hard. He felt defeated. He felt alone. He thought it would be better to be taken to heaven than live another day on earth.
We experience days like this from time to time. Perhaps not to the extreme of Elijah…but perhaps some of us have. When those days come, I pray that like Elijah, God will encourage you, strengthen you and remind you that you are most certainly not alone!
Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray for those who are struggling today. I ask that you place a hand of encouragement upon them. Lord, I too struggle with these days, thank you for reminding me of your constant presence and that I am given strength that is not my own, but yours. Protect me from the evil one who tries to remind me of my many failures and discourages me from carrying on. Shine your light of hope into my life today, and fill me with your peace even amidst the many storms of life. Thank you dear Lord for being here for me!
-Amen
It’s the word ‘Submit’…as in submit someone else.
Submission to God means we can finally become all that God knows we can be. There is this potential within all of us, but it can only be accessed and fully realized when we completely submit ourselves to God’s will. This is probably the most difficult thing we will ever do. Full submission to God doesn’t mean that we will lose our identity, no, it means that we will finally have our full identity. We are called sons and daughters of God…when we finally submit to Him, this title becomes our identity. The difficulty is letting go and trusting Him. It requires us to say, “Lord, my life is in your hands!” When we submit in this way, the temptations of the evil one will diminish and we can resist sin – through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Of course on a day like Valentine’s day, the expressions are everywhere – in the stores, in the flower shops, on commercials…you can’t go anywhere without seeing the evidence of love. Unfortunately you can go many places and also see the void that love leaves. This emotion, expression and way of living can be broken. Many have experienced the brokenness of love – and it deeply hurts. It happens when we become vulnerable to someone else. It happens when we allow ourselves to trust someone and that trust gets broken. Love, at times truly bites!
goodness for God’s persevering, perfect love, because He made a way for us to get back to Him in the most outrageous and compassionate way – His Son. Jesus died in our place. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). This kind of love came at an extreme cost – Death on a cross…the shedding of blood (Holy blood)…the sacrifice of the Lamb for we the hopeless, unfaithful, and broken sinner. THIS is the love that bites. This is the love that lasts…this is the love that Christ brings to you and me – an undeserving, love full of grace and mercy.
I cannot stress how important it is for leaders of all positions to listen to those who are actively engaged on the ground in the fight!
We cannot afford to have polarizing visions when we should all be seeking to remain mission minded and focused. There’s no time for that! Leaders who listen and then lead have a better chance at successfully navigating and accomplishing their objectives in mission! If leaders only dictate from their offices that are tucked away from mission we will fail because administration can only meet mission when it has its ear to the ground and a heart to serve in the capacity of servant-leader. Enough with the old guard of “my way or the highway” brass! Yes be strict on mission-mindedness but compassionate on leading and shepherding! Be a shepherd first and listen!
I think sometimes what keeps us in our bubbles is the fear of what leadership might do if we try new things that don’t necessarily “look Army”. Is there fear of reprisal and punishment for not maintaining the status quo? Perhaps it’s time to pop the bubble!
Sometimes we don’t get a choice with which giants we have to face. We have to press onward and actually face them, because if we don’t they won’t just go away and we will be powerless and frozen in our fears. Facing the giants also means reliance on a strength that isn’t our own. God will provide you the strength that you need, but it also requires us to admit that we need help and that we cannot do it on our own. When we let go of this nothing of going it alone, we are freed from the shackles of self-doubt and self-reliance.
Don’t let hate rule you.
I would imagine most of us would say “no”.
this transformation to take place within our minds – change happens. We check the box to follow God again. We are then able to filter what we allow into our minds which bleeds over into our actions. Without this transformation of the mind and the inclusion and fellowship of God into our lives, we will live but live unfulfilled, empty lives. This sounds stark and cold, but the reality is that we were created with this very relationship in mind. If we either consciously or subconsciously unfollow God, we break this relationship and in our hearts we acknowledge that there is something missing, but we can’t quite put our finger on it. If you’re there right now, perhaps its time to reconnect with God. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge the many distractions that have taken His place. We can try and try to fill that void with other things, but nothing will fill that God-shaped hole. 
There are many other places in scripture where people have left their landmarks so that others who came after them would know of this great God. Some landmarks commemorated great grief and loss, while others commemorated great victory and joy. All of these served to provide a means of safer passage to the next generation. This makes me wonder what sort of landmarks we are constructing in our own lives. How are we paving the way for our children and our grandchildren? What sort of legacy are we leaving behind for others to follow? Will they commemorate an honorable holy disciple of Christ through the testimony of our lives, or will they use our story us as a warning? I pray that we desire to pave the way through a life of godly living and in so doing, leave legacy that others wish to follow as they ascend this path of holiness.
Pastor's Ponderings 