When the Angel of the Lord becomes the Home Help
God's response to Elijah's exhaustion
I have been led to think about the prophet Elijah, exhausted after his confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Running for his life, Elijah sits and asks God to take his life away. Sounds like fatigue and disappointment to me (1 Kings 19:4, ESV). But the angel of the Lord comes—the one who speaks both for God and as God.
I am particularly comforted by the way the angel of the Lord comes——
“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God”1
The angel of the Lord doesn’t demand Elijah get back to work or snap out of his depression. Neither does he exhort Elijah to have more faith. The great and mighty angel of the Lord becomes the home help and cooks.
The apostles are out fishing, struggling to catch. Jesus stands on the beach, gives simple instructions, and then invites them to eat with him. Jesus loved enough to make them a meal, to create space for them to fellowship together. The eating is both physical and spiritual—it’s the communion with the Lord which nurtures them and sets them up for the long run.
Now is a good time, as a pastor, to remind myself it’s okay to stop trying to hold everything together, to stop trying to pour wine from empty wine bottles, and to allow an intimate Saviour to serve what is needed.
Not every act of service done by Jesus in scripture is immediately followed by a challenge to go do likewise. Sometimes it’s included in the story to remind us of who we’re following.
“[pastors] ...don’t wait till the job is done to rest. Work hard, serve people, trust God, and rest well. God will be working while you rest, and the work he’s assigned you will always be there when you wake up. You can sprint into a marathon, but you can’t sprint the whole way. So get oriented, stay hydrated, and take the long view. Leaders, pace yourselves” 2
For further reflection on the topic of resting well, I recommend Simon Murphy's series titled "Singing Our Way Through the Sabbath":
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1 Kings 19:5-8, ESV
David Gundersen, "Leaders, Pace Yourself During the Quarantine," March 31, 2020 (TGC).