The Journey is too Great for You

1 Kings 19:4-5

“And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

Elijah is potentially my favorite old testament prophet. He tends to remind me of myself a lot, and probably for some of ya’ll it’s the same. If you don’t know the context of this verse, no worries, I’ll be talking about it extensively throughout this blog. Why am I writing this? Very simple, I was Elijah last night and God did this very same thing to me this morning.

Let’s start with the context of that verse. Elijah is a dope prophet of God! That is a rare sentence to read, trust me. The prophets of God rarely had a dope (awesome, for some of ya’ll that are confused by that words new definition lol) job. The majority of them had to do weird, awkward, and suckish jobs but Elijah was able to do some pretty awesome things. In this scenario, the literal chapter before, Elijah is challenging the priests of Baal. Israel has been split in their belief between the God of Creation and Baal the false god of fertility. Elijah comes and tells them, to stop being confused and pick one. In chapter 18 verse 21 of 1 Kings, Elijah states this:

“if the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

The number of Baal prophets was 450, whereas God had only one which was my man Elijah. Thus a challenge broke out. It’s a good read, and spoiler alert, The Lord wins by a major landslide. So what happens between that awesome, confident, Elijah to this now scared and depressed Elijah? Fear. Fear is the difference here. After this awesome moment, and him running faster than a horse in full sprint, Elijah was notified that the queen would be coming for his head. The queen at the time was known for absolutely obliterating the prophets of the Lord most High! Which explains why the only one remained. 

Elijah had JUST witnessed God rain LITERAL fire from heaven, igniting a soaking, totally drenched, altar. Elijah built a trench around the altar, deep and big enough to fill two seahs of seed! Hold on, read that again, cause probably like me you don’t know what a seah is. So let me explain to help a little bit, that is equivalent to 7.3 liters. That is 2 gallons, which is also equivalent to 16 water bottles (normal size is roughly 16 oz.) worth. Then he told them to drench the offering in so much water that the trench filled up from the excess of water from the altar.

Why is that so significant? Well, next time you go to light a campfire, try to dump 16 water bottle worth of water on it, then try to light it. All that to say, it proved that only God could ultimately light the altar. So Elijah saw and was a part of something powerful, yet the queen scared him.

When I say I am Elijah, I don’t mean that I was apart of God raining fire down to prove that He is the LORD of all. But! I did witness Him answer my prayers of encouragement and He gifted me with a brother who LITERALLY gave me a $1k check for my personal funding raising. Yet just last night I was discouraged and felt useless because I’m not currently working and making money; I took the world’s definition of success and usefulness and applied to myself. Then realized that I was failing, I felt like a failure. I felt just like Elijah, and my life wasn’t even in danger; kinda pathetic when you compare the two huh? 

Yet I went to sleep feeling this way, but when I awoke I ate. I went to my daily bible and began reading today’s set of scriptures. Lo and behold it was Job. This stuck out to me because it was so true!

Job 23:8-10

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”

And it wasn’t till after I read this that I felt compelled to check my emails, and just like with Elijah, he reminded me that “the journey is too great for you.” He knows that but he doesn’t just stop there, He prepares Elijah for the upcoming journey. This journey was 40 days and 40 nights away, after that though Elijah again witnessed God is such splendor. 

So what did this email say, simple words “Hi Jacken, the blank (don’t want to state their name just in case)family has just donated $780 to the World Race.” Not only did God wake me up and prepare me for this upcoming journey, He decided to go above and beyond what I needed. Guys, I hope you read all of that, cause God is so amazing!

In spite of you, God will work. When you sadden, scared, depressed, in pure anguish, heartbroken, Lost, or just alone, CRY out to God; He hears you, and he may not always answer immediately but he will whisper to your soul, 

“Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 

He knows when you’ve had enough, but then He will strengthen you to go further than you ever thought; just so He can show you His power, Again. When you cry out and had enough, the Lord will step in and take you further; because He is always More than Enough!

 

Thank you, everyone, for donating and helping me reach this goal, what started a year ago now, God has fulfilled today! PRAISE HIM!!!

Go with God because “the journey is too great for you”.