Laodicean Church
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Weary and prostrate, Elijah sits down to rest. He is discouraged
and feels like murmuring. He says. “Now, O Lord, take away my
life; for I am not better than my fathers.” He feels that life is no more
desirable. He expected after the signal display of God’s power in the
presence of Israel that they would be true and faithful to God. He
expected that Jezebel would no longer have influence over the mind of
Ahab and that there would be a general revolution in the kingdom of
Israel. And when the threatening message from Jezebel was delivered
to him, he forgot that God was the same all-powerful and pitiful God
that He was when he prayed to Him for fire from heaven, and it came,
and for rain, and it came. God had granted every request; yet Elijah
is a fugitive far from the homes of men, and he wishes never to look
upon man again.
How did God look upon His suffering servant? Did He forsake him
because despondency and despair had seized him? Oh, no. Elijah was
prostrated with discouragement. All day had he toiled without food.
When he guided the chariot of Ahab, running before it to the gate of
the city, he was strong of courage. He had high hopes that Israel as
a nation would return to their allegiance to God and be reinstated in
His favor. But the reaction which frequently follows elevation of faith
and marked and glorious success, was pressing upon Elijah. He was
exalted to Pisgah’s top, to be humiliated to the lowliest valley in faith
and feeling. But God’s eye was still upon His servant. He loved him
no less when he felt brokenhearted and forsaken of God and man than
when, in answer to his prayer, fire flashed from heaven illuminating
Carmel.
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Those who have not borne weighty responsibilities, or who have
not been accustomed to feel very deeply, cannot understand the feelings
of Elijah and are not prepared to give him the tender sympathy he
deserves. God knows and can read the heart’s sore anguish under
temptation and sore conflict.
As Elijah sleeps under the juniper tree, a soft touch and pleasant
voice arouse him. He starts at once in his terror, as if to flee, as though
the enemy who was in pursuit of his life had indeed found him. But in
the pitying face of love bending over him he sees, not the face of an
enemy, but of a friend. An angel has been sent with food from heaven
to sustain the faithful servant of God. His voice says to Elijah: “Arise
and eat.” After Elijah had partaken of the refreshment prepared for