Recently I was listening to a teaching by Lisa Harper and she was preaching on when Elijah called down fire from heaven and then ended up running away in fear from Jezebel (1 Kings 19). It struck me the first time I read these verses – Elijah had just seen the majesty of God when the fire came down and consumed the water and the false priests.
When Elijah ran away he initially took his servant with him but left him right before he got to the place where he asked God to take his life. Her point in this is that we’re called to community. He didn’t have to carry his feelings alone. “Don’t ache in isolation.” Call your brothers and sisters with your burden. Second guessing about feelings, issues, plans, etc. are rarely effective.
A safe place to be weak? Is that what you’re searching for? Only one place… at least only one safe place – the Lord. We know Jesus is part of the Triune God so we sometimes forget that Jesus, our High Priest:
“For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment]. [Hebrews 4:15-16]
That IS our confidence – He understands. He walked among us seeing us grapple with all that living entails – He knows. And let’s face it…. living in this fallen world isn’t a cake walk. Another way of looking on this is – you aren’t alone unless you choose to not involved the Lord in your life. You can be saved, knowing your destination is heaven and still miss the Now relationship.
He tells us in Ephesians 1:3 that He HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing. That is a past tense verb – has – not that He will sometime in the future, but that it’s already a done deal. How many times do we not pay attention and read the past tense verb as if it’s a future event. You aren’t unseen, you aren’t unknown we only need put our faith in a proactive condition and activate it now.
Aching in isolation has never been your ‘fate’. Don’t buy the lie. If you need some healing in the now – reach out to your brothers and sisters and allow them to help in your healing. We all need to lean sometimes. And never forget that your Father is waiting with open arms to wrap you in His love. Your choice…
