Strength for His Glory

One of the extra devotionals I try to read every day is Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon.  Today's (Wednesday) scripture is from 1 Kings 19:8, "He got up and ate and drank.  Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights."

If I am not mistaken, Elijah has just won a battle and there is another one ahead of him.  And he is running from a woman who wants to take his life.  He is overwhelmed and stressed, hungry, thirsty, afraid and worn out - I imagine.  When he laid down to rest, an angel of the Lord touched him and said, "Arise and eat."  At his head there was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.  He laid down and rested again, then ate again.  After this "He went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God."


1- Ephesians 6
¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

2- Isaiah 40
²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,
   and speak, O Israel,
 "My way is hidden from the LORD,
   and my right is disregarded by my God"?
²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
   his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹He gives power to the faint,
   and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary,
   and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
   they shall walk and not faint.

The battle belongs to the Lord!  There will be battles.  There is an enemy out there that seeks to destroy everything God created.  The enemy will not relent.   Your battle is not out of the sight of the Almighty.  Whether it is a battle for your marriage, kids, friends, family, job, etc.  Your ways are not hidden from the Lord.  He knows, He sees.  He is sovereign and good.  He gives us what we need, when we need it.  Christ alone can stain us for longer than we think.

Elijah was given some bread and water and went 40 days and 40 nights!  To me, that seems a whole lot harder than 3 months of football season!!  :)  I think we have all at least felt like Elijah - even if our situations aren't quite as complicated as his.  A promise from the Lord - He gives rest to weary and strength to the weak for HIS GLORY!