When Elijah was worn down, frustrated, at the end of his rope, God found him, fed him, showed him, and spoke to him. Often, things didn’t work out immediately as Elijah had hoped. People didn’t respond to His message of repentance even though the direction they were going kept them running into a wall. Despite the clear evidence that God was the only god who provided for them and all the other gods let them down. In 1 Kings, chapter 19, Elijah throws his hands up in despair.

God finds him at his lowest point, sends and angel to feed him, and speaks gently to him. Elijah got up and went forward, giving the baton to Elisha as we see in 2 Kings. The next time we see Elijah, he is hanging out with Moses, another frustrated prophet who never saw the promised land. More importantly, he was hanging out with the still small voice, Jesus. How amazed Elijah must have been to see how God was going to bring Israel back to Him, by laying His life down and picking it up again.

Are you tired? Beat down by your own stubbornness or those around you? Struggling with God’s will, or the feeling that those other gods are winning? It’s ok. It’s ok to cry out in despair, to be frustrated even with God. He still finds us in our busy week, speaks gently through His word, feeds us with His body and blood, shows us His presence in communion, and hangs out with us when we gather on Sundays. Rest in Him.

As we have learned from the prophets, God’s will will not be thwarted. He moves forward. His kingdom has come and is moving inconspicuously in the tearstained rooms of funeral parlors, lonely homes disrupted by betrayal, apartments of single moms struggling to get by, darkened caves where prophets privately confess their doubts, criminals waiting for the hangman, ordinary folk afraid of their past and future. The Kingdom of God is here, present, quiet and gentle, giving free lunch only to the hungry.