“Arise, eat because the journey is too great for you.” (I Kings’ 19:7b NASB)
I borrowed the Scripture above from yesterday’s sermon on “The Problem with Enough.” Relax. I am not going to review the points of the sermon, but as I was meditating on this verse, I started thinking about something that can benefit you and me. However, to be fair, I need to tell you that the angel of the Lord had come to Elijah a second time, and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” He had an appointment with the Lord who wanted to know why Elijah was hiding in a cave. To sustain Elijah on his long journey, covering 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God, the Lord provided him with a bread cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He wanted Elijah to have enough strength to make it. God wanted to sustain Elijah, meet His physical needs, deal with Elijah’s misperception, and let Him know, without wasting any time to argue or debate with Elijah’s pity and self-appraisal of His performance, that He had something else to do; no questions asked.
This morning you are starting a new week, blessed to continue your Christian journey, and God wants to strengthen you too! God wants to be your source of sustenance too! While God can put food on your table, His message for you to arise and eat has nothing to do with foodstuff; more so it is fuel for your soul. He wants you to arise and eat spiritual food, for even though your journey through this week is only 6 more days and 6 more nights until a new week begins, it is too great for you. You cannot make it through without His help. You cannot maintain your strength without the Sovereign feeding you daily, at least once a day or perhaps two or three, or even more times a day. God knows what you need, and you want to know something? God knows exactly what you need, even when you don’t. God knew that Elijah would need food and he gave him bread. And listen to this, He knows, as evident by Jesus’ words, man cannot live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That’s Bible my friend! Check it out for yourself! We need to arise and eat, digest the word of God that will hold us up, help us out, and halt the attempts of worldly and fleshly influences that will try to direct us to act diametrically opposed to the Divine will of God.
Now somebody is asking, “Why did you entitle this meditation, “June’s Wall.” Ah! I’m glad you asked! June is a member of the church I pastor. Just before the pandemic, during the holiday season of the end of 2019, June and her husband invited Sis. King and me to have brunch and they were doing the treating. The restaurant was not a cheap one and the menu items were pricey. However, June insisted that we order whatever we wanted. I was impressed by that very much. How kind! But to be honest, when we picked June up at her and her husband’s new house, I was impressed even more. No, not because the house was so beautiful. It was but, that was not what impressed me even more. As we were given a tour through the house, there was one room that had not been furnished yet. On the wall, June’s Wall, there were a plethora of sticky notes on the wall. It was covered sticky notes, almost comparable to a type of creative wallpaper. Why? She was studying for a special professional certification. She had her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree, but she was pursuing this certification as part of her career journey. Here is what I thought. What if we each were to have a pad of sticky notes this week and charge ourselves with writing down some truths, not one mind you, but some, from our daily Bible Study each day this week. And what if before adding new truths, as a form of devotion, we reviewed the notes stuck on the wall previously first? Don’t you think we would be better prepared for our journey through this week? Don’t you think it will be worth your while to ignore compulsions about our house décor and rules about minimizing the number of things on your wall? I think it will! Try it this week. Maybe start tonight! I’m going to let you get going, but first let me say, I know you may not continue this after one week and the ample number of sticky notes you purchase will never be used. I know it will be like your “War Room” that you prayed in for a little while, but soon forgot about that designated space as time passed. But, just as you kept praying always, keep studying the word all the time. Now, arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” Be blessed!
“When your words showed up, I ate them—swallowed them whole. What a feast! What delight I took in being yours, O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!” (Jeremiah 15:16 MSG)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King