You are Never Alone || Elijah and Me

lake superior

I am going to be honest. Blunt. 

I have been feeling tired. Tired of people. Tired of what they talk about. What they listen to. How they act. The meaninglessness of what they spend their time on. 

As I was wading through this pit of (despair, would you call it?) I was given a beautiful breeze of refreshment.

 My pastor gave a sermon. And my spirit sang at the good news.

"I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!" 
Romans 11:1 

Did you hear that? A small voice floated around trying to capture my attention. He has not rejected...

Yes, I heard. God has not rejected His people. And I am one of His. But still...

My pastor asked us to turn to a different part of the Bible. 1 Kings 19. Elijah was fleeing. 

"He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough LORD,' he said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 

He was in despair. Done. He was finished. Quitting. 

I'm with you Elijah. I am done. Finished. Quitting.

"And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 

This seems so familiar to me. I get this kind of despair Elijah.





 I hate to see my friends stumble. When they get distracted by the "beauty" of this world. Their eyes see shiny trinkets and their bodies follow. Soon they become so calloused that the shiny seems dull and they can never be satisfied. They have chosen to go against the way they were taught. They try to be independent but by doing that they only destroy their own lives...

Tenth Avenue North summed it up well in their song All The Pretty Things:

Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me

I am not perfect. Trust me. I have stumbled. Every day. 

I have gotten sucked into many bad things...all the "shiny" wonderful things that have now left me with many scars and struggles that I wish I had never opened. 

But there are reasons why I am so sad to see my friends drift off is because I have been there. Done that. Never going back again. And because I love you, my friends, I am praying for you.

 And I want you to know this: God is with you. ALWAYS. He is by your side and he never leaves you. He will forgive you. Turn back before it is too late. He is waiting with open arms. 

2 Timothy 4:17

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength"

Hebrews 13:5

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”

goodbye to my yooper homeland