Christ’s Tender Care of His Fainting Servant

Christ’s Tender Care of His Fainting Servant

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.  And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”   So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

(Verses 4-8)

1 Kings 19 (recommended for full reading)

Does Christ care that you have arrived at the end of your rope and if He does, what might you expect that He will do about it? After a powerful public ministry, Elijah nose-dived into a period of deep depression. Behold how graciously and compassionately Christ Himself undertakes to minister to His fainting servant. It is noteworthy that Christ Himself appeared to Elijah in Elijah’s darkest hour. This is, without doubt, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in His role as ‘the Messenger of Jehovah.’ He tends to Elijah personally. Christ takes personal interest in His people. In His work with Elijah, Christ ministers to his every need. Elijah needed attention in all four categories of his life; the physical, the mental, the spiritual, and the social. Christ left nothing wanting.  Because of Elijah’s debilitated physical condition, Christ gave him food and drink and He simply let him sleep. Fortified by these things, He gave him forty days of solitude, apart from public contact. At Horeb, Christ dealt with Elijah spiritually. He demonstrated that while He controls all things, He typically works through the ‘still small voice’ of the Holy Spirit. Christ corrected Elijah’s mental misapprehensions by showing him that he was not the only faithful one left, that there were 7,000 others who had not bowed their knee to Baal. Christ graciously helped Elijah see his own self-deception and encouraged him with the truth. He also met Elijah’s social need by giving him a friend in Elisha. Beyond all of this, Christ gave Elijah a future and a hope when all hope had been lost by this faithful servant. He went on to minister for many days after this low point.  If Christ was so faithful and careful to help Elijah, may we not hope that He will do similarly for us? He is the utterly Compassionate Christ, ours forever and ever.

Gracious Savior,
we rejoice in Your grace and great compassion.
Even in our darkest hours,
You minister to our whole being.

Where is Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice