God saved the Israelites from the
Egyptians. By His mighty deeds He delivered them. They were in awe
of Him and sang His praises, rejoicing in His holiness and wonder!
Then He led them away from the Red Sea and into the Shur desert.
They continued on, probably still singing in their hearts, praising
God for delivering them. But on the first day they didn't find
water, but they didn't let that deter them, they continued. But on
the second day when they still didn't find water their resolve
began to crack and on the third day when the only water they could
find was bitter, they cracked.
'Then the people turned against
Moses, "What are we going to drink?" they demanded.' Exodus
15:24
How quickly they returned to being
their old self again! Amazing. It is actually very sad. They hadn't
fully realized that they could depend on God for everything. They
fell in a slump so quickly after God's miraculous deeds and felt
very sorry for themselves.
The same happened to Elijah. In 1
Kings 18 he had a contest with 450 Baal prophets and at Mount
Carmel he proved to the whole of Israel that God was their true God
and that Baal was just a statue with no power at all. He, with
God's power, defeated the 450 Baal prophets and had them all
killed. It was a major spiritual victory and God revealed His
mighty power to Israel once again.
But right after this victory,
Jezebel, the wife of Israel's king Ahab, heard of this and she
wanted to kill Elijah. She sent a message to him telling him that
she was coming after him and will kill him. Now one would think
that after such a victory and display of God's power that Elijah
will laugh at her and not be afraid. God had protected him from 450
Baal prophets; surely He would protect him from just one woman? And
did Elijah stand strong in the faith? No he didn't, he was afraid
and fled for his life. He even wanted to die.
"I have had enough, Lord." He said.
"Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." 1 Kings
19:4.
Wow. After such an amazing victory
he fell into such a slump that he even didn't want to live anymore.
He was totally depressed.
And we can learn from this.
Sometimes after a wonderful spiritual experience we might feel down
afterwards. We might feel depressed and lonely. I have had the same
experience after some wonderful revelations from God. Sometimes I
think that the Lord wants to test your faith and see whether you
will still believe when things are not going so well, and sometimes
I think after a highly spiritual experience one can feel
emotionally drained and then you are an open target for the devil
too.
Whatever the reason, we need to
deal with it. And how did God deal with the Israelites? He made the
bitter water sweet and later brought them to Elim where there were
twelve springs with wonderful water to drink! And how did He deal
with Elijah? He gave him food and water and allowed him a time to
rest.
God looks after us in the natural
and after such highly spiritual experiences, allow yourself a time
to rest and recuperate. Spend time alone in the presence of God.
Build yourself up spiritually and physically and you will see that
you will be right to go on with God's work in no time.
Thank you Lord for looking after
us. You are so amazing and so wonderful! Thank you that You
understand that we need our physical needs met too before we can
continue our work for You. Help us to make the most of the
opportunities that come our way. Amen