Food First, Then the Road
“while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, 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.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.”
— 1 Kings 19:4-8 (NIV)
A few days before this, Elijah had won a public contest against four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Then he ran ahead of King Ahab's chariot the whole way to Jezreel. Queen Jezebel had already been hunting prophets of the LORD and killing them, and she sent word that he had one more day to live. So he ran south, out of the kingdom she ruled and into Judah, a walk of several days. Beersheba was the last town before open country, and he left his servant behind, so what follows happens to a man completely alone. The plant giving him shade is a desert shrub, about the only thing out there that will shelter a grown man. The Hebrew for what he wakes to names the scorching stones it was cooked on. Nothing is mentioned about his fear, his failure or his next assignment. The place he ends up walking toward is where Moses received the covenant, so he is travelling in the direction of where it all began. He is not asked a single question until he arrives. Before anything was required of him, he was fed and left to rest.
Some days your strength runs out before the day does. It is easy to call that weak faith when what is actually empty is your body. One person is out before it is light, running on coffee till noon, and the first real meal waits until they get home. Another cooks for one, so it hardly feels worth the trouble. Someone else does not own the night, because someone small or someone ill needs them in it. And plenty of people keep meaning to sleep while the phone talks them out of it. Jesus got tired on the road himself, and he stopped to eat.
One meal sitting down, screens off early
- 1Sit down for one meal today with every screen off and your phone face down, even if it is a short meal and even if the quiet feels strange at first.
- 2Half an hour before you lie down, turn the screens off and put your phone at the far end of the room, face down. If you need it within reach at night, leave it beside you face down and do not pick it up again.
God, I am tired, more tired than I admit to anyone. I have been pushing through and it is not working. Thank you that you do not scold me for needing food and sleep. Help me to sit down today and eat without hurrying. Help me to put the screens down before I lie down, and stay near me even when I am doing nothing at all. Amen.
Today I eat one meal sitting down with the screen off, and I put the phone away half an hour before I lie down.
Why does Elijah fall apart right after his biggest victory?
The contest on Mount Carmel was a few days behind him, not the day before. In between came the run to Jezreel, Jezebel's threat that he had one more day to live, a flight of several days south into Judah, and then a further day out into open country. He had left his servant in Beersheba, so by the time he sits down he has been running, on his own, for days.
Why is he given food instead of an answer?
Nothing is mentioned about his fear, his failure or what he should do next. He is woken, given something to eat and drink, allowed to sleep, then woken a second time and fed again. He is not asked a single question until the end of that walk, at the place where Moses received the covenant.
What if my evenings are not my own?
Then do the part that is. Sit down for one meal with the screens off, even a short one. Then, half an hour before you lie down, whenever that happens to be, turn the screens off and set the phone face down. If you need it within reach at night, leave it beside you face down and do not pick it up again. Both are checkable by the time you go to sleep.