Monday meditation: Learning to know when enough is simply enough
It had been quite a day for Elijah (1 Kings 18).
He had stood up to the sneering horde of prophets sold out to a lifeless god.
He had confronted evil personified by a God-denying king.
He had waited for God to show himself by answering his prayer.
God did respond, with overwhelming power. And Elijah obeyed God’s direction to slaughter the pagan prophets who had led God’s people to worship Baal.
What an ordeal. Victory can be as exhausting as defeat, even more so when your satisfaction was as short-lived as Elijah’s. The king’s wife, Jezebel, was enraged at all that had happened and vowed to kill Elijah in retribution. After all his effort, after all his faithfulness, after his stunning triumph, Elijah fled in fear for his life. He had given his all, but his problems weren’t over yet.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Like Elijah, like a business owner struggling for survival, like a harried parent whose kids wake up today with the same problems they faced yesterday, caregivers may feel that enough is never enough.
Elijah had trouble taking the focus off himself. It was all too much. He was ready to die. “Take away my life,” he told God, before collapsing in sleep. When he awoke, he saw God had sent an angel with the food he needed for strength to take the next steps.
We may never have seen an angel. I don’t think I have—certainly not one who looks like the winged figure in today’s art.
But maybe God sent me an angel in the form of a caregiver telling me, “Go. Get away. Take a walk. Do something for yourself.”
Maybe my angel was a friend who sent me a gift card for a restaurant where I can retreat and relax.
Maybe my angels are my support group members or a therapist or several friends who listen and encourage.
None would call themselves angels, but God has used them to help me understand this: When we’ve given our all, we must find a way to take a break from giving.
Sometimes we need to take a nap.
Sometimes a good meal will help us set our spirits straight.
Sometimes we must find a way to turn off the siren song ringing in our ear, “Produce. Produce. Accomplish. Accomplish. Do. Do. Just keep doing.”
Sometimes we need to acknowledge our exhaustion or fear or frustration and step away from trying so hard. Sometimes we need to give it all to God and just wait.
Read the end of this story, and you’ll see Elijah talking a lot about all he had done for God. Instead of congratulating him, God showed himself again to remind Elijah that his power, not Elijah’s, was the key to his future.
Our stories are not as fantastic as Elijah’s. But his God is our God, waiting to act for his glory through us. Sometimes we do well to sit down and listen for his “low whisper” to show us how that can happen.
Read: 1 Kings 19
Pray: I’m tired, God. I’m doing my best to honor you with my service to the person in my care. Continue to work through me here but help me realize it doesn’t all depend on me. Give me a break, Lord, and help me see how you will provide when I rest as well as when I work.
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