Extended Victory预览

Recovery - the way out of the crisis

First read 1 Kings 19 again

Crises and disappointments come from the world we live in. We were born into this world, then chose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and thereby became children of God. Never-theless, we still live in this world and serve God. In doing so, we will make mistakes and experi-ence disappointments, that is inescapable, that is human. All the heroes of the Bible had to experience that.

I am far from being able to show you a universal solution. But we can look at what happened to Elijah. 

Elijah took flight out of fear. That is deeply human, and God does not blame him. Elijah re-treats into the desert, into seclusion. God follows him there; he sends him an angel. God is not indifferent to you - even in your despair. He follows you like the good shepherd follows the lost sheep (Luke 15:4-6). God will provide for you in your need. With what your body needs to live: water and bread. But also what your soul needs to live: an encounter with God himself. Today we no longer have to go to Mount Horeb. Jesus Christ came into the world for that. He became the bread of life for us (John 6:35). And we can meet him everywhere. Especially in his word (Bible) and in silence (seclusion). Conversation with God is also always a good idea - pray in seclusion (Matthew 6:6). 

God transforms what was meant to be a place of refuge into a place of encounter. A place for care (physical and spiritual), for comfort and encouragement.

You can also consciously choose to seek seclusion to meet God. It will not save you from crises, but you can practise how to deal with them.

These deliberate deserts can be, for example, periods of fasting, periods of silence or a tempo-rary retreat into a sheltered space (e.g. a monastery).

Next Step: Plan a time-out and go into seclusion. Let your desert become a meeting place with God, as if you were entering the temple or the tabernacle.