In J. R. R. Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins starts showing the effects of carrying, for six decades, a magical ring with dark powers. Weighed down by its slowly corrosive nature, he says to the wizard Gandalf, “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.” He decides to leave his home in search of rest, somewhere “in peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around”.
This aspect of Tolkien’s story reminds me of an Old Testament prophet’s experience. On the run from Jezebel and wrung out after his battle with false prophets, Elijah badly needed some rest. Feeling depleted, he asked God to let him die, saying, “I have had enough, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). After he fell asleep, God’s angel woke him so he could eat and drink. He slept again, and then ate more of the food provided by the angel. Revitalised, he had enough energy for the forty-day walk to the mountain of God.
When we feel scraped thin, we too can look to God for true refreshment. We might need to care for our bodies while we also ask Him to fill us with His hope, peace and rest. Even as the angel tended to Elijah, we can trust that God will impart His refreshing presence on us (see Matthew 11:28).
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
When you’re wrung out and exhausted, what actions tempt you? How can you put your trust in God when you’re tired and overwhelmed?
Strengthening God, I look to You for true rest. Please help me put my hope in You and fill me with Your presence.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Elijah’s plea for God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4) may give us some insight into his condition. His wish for death wasn’t just because he feared Jezebel’s death threat, but because he felt he was “no better than [his] ancestors” (v. 4). It’s possible that his depression was rooted in the reality that though he’d trusted God to do the impossible when He consumed the burnt offering (18:38-39) and witnessed His power when He sent rain ( vv. 41-46), he’d immediately fled in fear of Jezebel. Perhaps he felt that his own faith, like that of his ancestors, was weak and fickle. Or he may have been discouraged because he’d failed to rid Israel of Baal worship and idolatry.
J.R. Hudberg
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