God’s Word provides STRENGTH for our life journey!
April 13 Bible
Reading: 1 Kings Chapters 19-22
God’s Word provides STRENGTH for our life journey
Then as he (Elijah) 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. (1 Kings 19:5-8)
God had
displayed his tremendous power for Elijah on Mount Carmel by sending down fire
from heaven, as he triumphed over the prophets of Baal. However, soon after the
mountain top experience, Elijah became afraid and discouraged as he ran away
unable to challenge the death threat from Queen Jezebel. He travelled a day’s
journey into the wilderness, and sat down under a broom tree giving up and
praying that he might die (1 Kings 19:4). It is at this time that God send His
angel and fed Elijah twice with food (cake), drink (water) and rest (sleep).
The sustaining power of that food from heaven was remarkable – with the
strength that he received from God, Elijah travelled for forty days and nights
(without any food, drink or sleep) and reached Mount Horeb where he could
position himself to hear the “still small
voice” of God and move forward in his ministry.
God’s Word
is compared to food in Psalm 119:103: "How
sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" This
symbol is repeated in Jeremiah 15:16 and 1 Peter 2:2. Both Prophet Ezekiel and Apostle
John are described as "eating"
a book (Ezek. 3:1-3; Rev. 10:9, 10). This is a powerful symbol of God’s
servants literally eating and digesting God’s Word. Food gives us strength to
do our daily activities. If we neglect food, we will become weak and tired. In
the same way, when we neglect God’s Word we will become spiritually under-developed,
and consequently unable to resist temptation and to withstand the Devil's
onslaughts.
Only those
who regularly meditate on God's Word grow into strong virile Christians (1 John
2:14) who get strength for their onward spiritual journey. We need to read,
meditate and hide God’s Word in our hearts by memorizing it (Psa.119:11). Job
said that he esteemed the words of God's mouth more even than his necessary
daily food (Job 23:12) as he truly understood the importance of God’s Word that
sustained him during his difficult days of trial and pain.
Let us daily take time to intake God’s Word in our life. Let our daily prayer be: "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matt 6:11). Just like Prophet Elijah, let us not become discouraged due to the onslaught of the enemy and give up on our dream and ministry. Let us trust in God who "makes me to lie down in green pastures" of His Word (Psalms 23:2a). Then we can join with Apostle Paul and with his following statement: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." (2 Cor. 4:16)
