Posted on Jun 18th 2009 by TimDowell.
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. .. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” 1 Kings 19:3-4
Sounds like Elijah was having a bad day, doesn’t it? Truth be told, he was actually doing well. He had just completed a stunning work of God, demonstrating in grand fashion the false god du jour (Baal) was a fraud (1 Kings 18) and he would soon have a close personal encounter with GOD who would care for Elijah’s needs and send him into the next phase of his divine service. Despite the fact that he was being used by God in such significant ways and enjoying such an intimate relationship with God, Elijah was afraid and wishing he were dead.
A wise man once said while lamenting that his missionary children (and grandchildren) were serving in a dangerous overseas setting, “There’s no better place for them to be than right in the middle of God’s will, and I know that’s where they are.” That’s where Elijah was – right in the middle of God’s will for his life, and as a result he would do the great works of God recorded in scripture, and at the end of it all receive the rare honor of being taken up into God’s presence “in a whirlwind,” bypassing the grave altogether. That notwithstanding, from Elijah’s perspective, life stunk!
When life brings us trouble, like Elijah, we get scared and discouraged. It’s important to remember that our relationship with God does not come with a guarantee of happiness and easy living. There will be days when you’ll find yourself “under a broom tree wishing you were dead.” As Jesus put it in his last supper with his disciples, “In this world you will have trouble…” All of us know that all too well. Fortunately, Jesus went on to finish that sentence by saying, “…but take heart, I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) That’s the true benefit of the Christian life. Not being promised a life of “sunny days,” but a life of hope that we have an eternity of sunny days waiting just beyond the storms we face in this life. Elijah would eventually move beyond the storms he faced in his life and enjoy eternity in the presence of God.
Do you find yourself sitting under a broom tree today? Take heart. Whatever you face has already been “overcome.” We serve a God who has promised us a better tomorrow that will last eternally longer than the troubles of today!
Posted on Dec 18th 2008 by TimDowell.
Psalm 137
1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
as we thought of Jerusalem.[a]
This opening line captures the broken spirit of the people of Israel as they sat in exile in Babylon, having experienced the loss & destruction of their “Promised Land” because of the sinfulness of God’s people; especially their leaders. I seem to recall hearing once that river banks were popular places of worship for the Jewish people in exile. I can almost see them their, gathered together in worship, separated from their promised land, separated from their Temple, and seemingly separated from God. I can feel their grief.
In the midst of their grief they still cry out to God. In other words, they still have hope of being rescued from their misery, of being delivered into a better day and a better situation. They have hope of someday going home. I think that’s a good representation of where we find ourselves today. Life has it’s tragedy. None of us is immune from finding ourselves weeping beside the rivers of whatever Babylon we might find ourselves in; and yet, in the midst of our weeping we have hope. We think of a better day and that better situation. We look forward to being in “Jerusalem.”
We are reminded of that hope at Christmas. The boy child born to Mary would grow up to promise that he was going to prepare a place for those who seek him – in what Revelation refers to as “The New Jerusalem” – and that he would return to take us away from whatever riverbank we might find ourselves weeping on, to that place where…
Revelation 21:3-4
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
Do you find yourself on a riverbank this Christmas? Remember there is hope. We have the promise of a New Jerusalem to look forward to.
Posted on Nov 4th 2008 by TimDowell.
11/4 Readings from the One Year Bible Online.
11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
In today’s reading from Hebrews, the author is encouraging these early Christians to remain faithful, not only in their hope, but in their actions. Early believers had a very real expectation that the Jesus who ascended into heaven was going to come back ASAP to take the believers to be with him. As time went by, those expectations began to wane, as did the excitement and faithfulness of the believers. In addition to waning expectations, there was a continual tug away from this new “way” of being Jewish, back to the old ways of being Jewish: relying on temple sacrifices and obedience to religious laws, circumcision, and all the other trappings of first century Judaism, all of which Jesus had overcome through his personal sacrifice and fulfillment on the law.
Not much has changed in two thousand years. We too come to faith with great expectations of how our lives are going to change. Some come expecting immediate release from compulsive behaviors. Some come expecting spontaneous healing from emotional wounds. Some come desperately seeking physical healing. The list of expectations goes on and on. When the expectations go unmet in the short term, the initial excitement and hopefulness begins to wane, as does the initial excitement to live out one’s faith, and that constant tug to return to the hopelessness of life without Christ begins to have its way with us.
My desire for you is the same as the author of today’s reading; that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true…
Prayer: God: Help us to trust you and remain faithful, even in the midst of unmet expectations. Amen.