God Who Touches Us
( 1 Kings 19:1~8 )
God touches his chosen one who wants to die, urging him or her to rise and eat. Lets see when and how God touches his child.
1. God touches his child despite the dismal outcome after an act of faith. At Mount Carmel, God revealed who he was by burning the sacrifice and altar of Elijah with his fire and letting 850 Baal prophets be killed. Then, as the heavy, drought-ending rain poured down, God empowered Elijah to run ahead of Ahabs chariot. Elijah must have felt that he had successfully revealed to the Baal prophets their illusion of idolatry in his match with them. He might have thought that he had finally gained the foothold of reformation. However, the deep-rooted idolatry of Israel wouldnt be uprooted. Jezebel didnt submit to the wonders that God showed through Elijah. She made Elijah a wanted criminal. She was the chief of the Baal prophets, who had everything. She is a model of the harden-hearted people, the last person to see the shadow of the heavenly kingdom on earth. She was spiritually blind, blocked by her overwhelming flesh. Only the power of the Holy Spirit breaks and changes our hardened hearts. The Ahabs worshiping Baal can be paralleled to the acme of postmodernism, whose self-centric idea finally brought their kingdoms down. The outcome of Elijahs act of faith seemed dismal. Yet feeling miserable comes from our hidden sinful nature.
2. God touches his child when things look bigger than God. Elijah drew back from his dismal circumstance. After defeating 850 Baal prophets by Gods power, Elijah must have expected God to defeat Jezebel also. However, in spite of himself, he got scared of her. All of a sudden, at every single moment, everything began to look greater than God. By himself, he thought, he couldnt do anything about her. This sudden despair seized Elijah not because God didnt judge Jezebel right away but because he suddenly lost his usual faith in God. Stricken by terror, Elijah ran away to save his life, which made him a prey of his enemys scheme. Circumstances overwhelmed him to the degree his faith in God ebbed. Elijahs choice was to run away from Jezebel as far as he could till he reached Beersheba, the southernmost land of Judah. After his 850 to 1 match, Elijah fled from Israel down to somewhere in Judah. The silhouette of Elijah crouching there reminds us that he was also a weak human being no matter how great a prophet he was. Thus no one can conceal his fragile human nature no matter how hard he tries to hide it. What is the remote place of your Beersheba you finally arrived at, escaping from your overwhelming circumstance, which seems to be larger than God?
3. God touches his child when he feels alone. Feeling alone, Elijah wanted to die. He was totally depressed. He wanted to put an end to himself. Why was he so depressed? He felt that there was no one around him. Despite his victory over the Baal prophets, he was alone while Ahab was enjoying his time in his palace! He felt that he was all by himself in the midst of endless trials. He had good reason to feel like that. After hearing the news of the matrimonial alliance between Jezebel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Elijah must have felt betrayed. This alliance shows us not only the economic and political cause of the two kingdoms but also how attractive Jezebel was to people. Jezebel was far from a weak woman. She brought a spiritual crisis to Judah, where Jesus was to be born, as well as to Israel through the non-faith marriage between the kingdoms. Some of us regret our Christian marriage because of the problems we face. However, the purpose of marriage is not happiness, but holiness. Therefore, we need to regard our marriage problem as a matter of course. Faith marriage is a proof that weve chosen God as the Lord of our life. There God will surely be in charge of our marriage. Elijah was not ready to stand by himself before God while walking alone in the dessert. Thats why he wanted to die. What about you? Are you feeling alone? Are you standing alone? If you can stand alone by faith, you wont feel alone.
4. God touches his child by encouraging him to rise, eat, and drink. God fed Elijah through ravens and a widow but now he fed Elijah through an angel a supernatural being. God knew how exhausted Elijah was spiritually and physically. Elijah ate and drank and then lay down again. Yet God kept taking care of his chosen one. Thanks to this physical care, Elijah arrived at Mount Horeb. He didnt reach there because he was full of the Holy Spirit. This explains that our spiritual issues are actually physical ones. Christians true dead end is neither famine nor disease but our spiritual blindness where we have no guidance of the Word. We are all sinners who have no idea of whats in store for us. Therefore, without the compass of the Word, we are to fall in this unstable world. Theres a big difference between being guided by the Word or not. Overlooking this difference can bring serious consequence. When we hold on to the Word even in the midst of our trial, God feels sorry. Therefore, we need to keep holding on to the Word. Elijah was too exhausted physically to receive the Word. So Gods angel guided him and touched him. Ironically, the angel urged Elijah, who used to fast to eat and drink. Our spirit is refreshed after a rest just as our body is restored after a sound sleep. Yet too much is as bad as too little. Is there any one you need to urge to rise, eat, and drink? What about your diet? Is it spiritual or physical?
Heres a confession from our community. 'Never did I dream that my wife would be hospitalized for taking an overdose of sleeping pills. Yet looking at my wifes unconscious face, I looked back on myself, asking, 'Why should I have this unexpected judgment? Ive had Gods calling as a campus missionary.' However, I came to be negligent in my ministry because of an internet go-game I was addicted to. And I failed to communicate with my wife, not knowing that she was getting sicker and sicker. After repenting of my sins in tears, God helped me break my 13 year game addiction and after a month, on January 8th, 2017, God called my wife and me as a small group leader couple, making us his remnant. God consoles, touches, and encourages us to rise, eat, and drink when we face the dismal outcome of our faith, when things look bigger than God, and when we feel alone after failing to stand alone. God loves us as we are, as his chosen one, knowing every step of our faith.
Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.' (1Kgs 19:5)
