Feeding Grace
Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 19:1-9
“Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
1 Kings 19:7
Our grandson was looking pretty tired after battling the learning giants of kindergarten. I found him lying on the floor, with his head on a cushion from the sofa, saying very little. When he struggled to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, I knew he was probably hungry too. I whispered in his ear, “Shall we go to Country Sundae?” Bingo! Energy coursed through his body, smiles cascaded from his cheeks. Off we went, each of us getting our favorite—he a container of “Shots,” and Grandpa a small Heath Bar flurry with chocolate ice cream.
Elijah had battled the giants of idolatry. His adrenaline was gone, his life was in danger, and he was on the run. An angel, finding him asleep under a desert tree, awakened him and said, “Get up and eat.” After a breakfast of fresh, warm bread and refreshing water, he nodded off again, only to be offered a second breakfast. “So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights.”
It was just what an exhausted but faithful spokesperson for God needed: a nap and a snack—actually two of each. Isn’t it just like the heavenly Father to know when “the journey is too much”? Sometimes the simple things of life are just what we need for the sagging times in life. One more sign of God’s grace.
God of all grace, we thank you today for your feeding grace when “the journey is too much” for us. Provide us with physical and spiritual food to keep us strong, we pray. Amen.
About the author — Dale Vander Veen
Dale Vander Veen is a retired Christian Reformed pastor who with his wife, Edith, has ministered in California, Washington, and Michigan. They have three married children and six grandchildren. He currently writes a daily e-mail series of devotions.
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