Being Fed for the Journey Ahead

The Lord has shown me much over the last six months - and I have shared some of those moments in my previous blog posts. I have a feeling there will be more posts sharing what the Lord has taught me.

After ending the school year with distance learning, this summer was weird. (Well, what is new - for the most part, all of 2020 so far has been weird!) The summer was filled with a lot of uncertainty and I could not fully "relax" and plan for a new school year. 

The picture below was taken in winter. While I know I am discussing my summer, this whole season of COVID has felt like winter - in the middle of a desert. Bare branches, no color, bitterness, and food can be scarce. (...or toilet paper and cleaners....) Life still was not "normal."

One thing I always love about my summers is that I am able to study God's Word for longer periods of time. I am so grateful for what the Lord showed me during this wintry, dry-desert, wilderness of a summer.

I was reading in I Kings 19 about Elijah the prophet. In chapter 18, he had shown God's great power in the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It has always intrigued me how in just the next chapter - chapter 19 - Elijah goes from the confident prophet of chapter 18 to the scared man running away from Queen Jezebel in chapter 19. She was angry over her prophets of Baal being defeated and killed at Mount Carmel and wanted to take Elijah's life. This no longer just dealt with defending the Lord. This involved Elijah's LIFE. Elijah was scared....Elijah was human.

As Elijah runs for his life and hides in the wilderness, the Lord takes care of him. See from these verses in I Kings 19:4-8

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 

And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 

And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Elijah just wanted to run away and be done with life, but the Lord, in His wisdom, knew what Elijah needed more than Elijah thought. He was in the wilderness under a "broom tree." (A "broom tree" is a bush that gives just enough shade in the desert. It is not your huge shade tree in the backyard of a picturesque American-style home. It would not be my idea of rest and shade.) The Lord sent His angel to give Elijah rest and then to feed him. He knew what journey lay ahead for Elijah and wanted him to be fed and nourished in the best way for what he was being called to do.

That picture of a Elijah in the wilderness trying to find shade from a broom tree resembles this past summer for me. (....and maybe you, too....)  I wanted to run away from it all. My heart and soul felt like I was wandering in this strange desert and, while I had some rest, the summer was also one full of many "what ifs." Life felt so uncertain and, at times, dry, harsh, and bitter.

But in that wilderness under my own "broom tree" the Lord called me to Him through His Word. He called for me to "Arise and eat - for the journey is too great for you."  I was surrounded by fear everywhere I turned (news, social media, conversations) and I felt it closing in on me. I started to realize what I was feeding myself was not of the Lord and I needed to step away and stay close to God's Word.

After what is shown in the Scripture passage above, it then explains how Elijah goes on a long journey to Mount Horeb (also Mount Sinai .... where Moses received the 10 Commandments...). I found that intriguing. As you read on, you would see that is the famous passage where Elijah was in the cleft of the rock and the Lord asked Elijah why he was there. Elijah begins the complaining - the same thing I found myself doing with all of this mess of COVID. Then, the Lord told Elijah to go out and stand on the MOUNT before the Lord. The Lord allowed Elijah to realize He would not speak to him through loudness such as a strong wind, an earthquake, or fire. He would speak to Elijah through His still, small voice. The Lord told Elijah he needed to get back to work for there were still great things he must do for the Lord. 

The Lord showed me the same this summer. I would not find Him in the chaos around me. I would only find Him when I stopped the complaining, turned and came before Him, and allowed the still, small voice of His Word to feed me. In staying close to God's Word, I began to take note of different passages of Scripture He was showing me. Some were passages He had shown me before, but I now saw in a different light. Others were new revelations of His truths and I clung to them. I voraciously ate from the Bread of Life and deeply drank from the Living Water all summer. He alone restored my soul and strengthened/deepened my trust in Him. He was providing the nourishment I needed for the school-year-journey ahead. 

Those Scriptures the Lord showed me this summer I then made into picture verse cards. The Lord showed me I needed to surround my students and me with His TRUTH. I taped the verse cards on the walls all around my classroom (and in my home!) so I would still receive spiritual nourishment in the uncertainty of each day with every look around my classroom...and so would my students.  I knew the beginning of school was going to be like no other and I am fully seeing that now. Those verses and quotes have been continually feeding me - and my students - as we walk each day in this new journey. 

I cannot do it without the Lord. His Word provides me the strength I need to do what He has called me to do. He taught me so much this summer and I, in turn, am choosing to teach others. He has shown me there are still great things I must do for the Lord. The circumstances may seem out of control, but He is always in control.

I am so thankful to be back to work. God has already done great things in the four "unprecedented" weeks we have been back at school  - and I praise Him for what He will do as we continue to walk this journey ahead. 

If you are feeling as I was, I encourage you to do as the Lord showed me - be filled with the Bread of Life and drink deeply from the Living Water. It is the only way to be fed for the journey ahead.