God is never surprised by our visits to the broom tree. Jesus promised that a sparrow would not fall to the ground without the Father knowing it (Matthew 10:29). God is always present and waiting to help His exhausted servants. God was there in the person of the angel of the Lord. Where was God in Elijah’s situation? Read 1 Kings 19:5-7. Keep talking to the Lord, even if you are mad at Him or doubting His very existence. When you are under the broom tree, that is very hard to do, but at these times, we are not praying intercessory prayers. He said that they “should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1, NIV). The Lord Jesus never tired of inviting, encouraging, exhorting, even commanding people-especially His disciples-to pray. It is for our sake, not His, that we should try to tell Him how we feel. It is not that He needs information, just dialogue.
If only we can get the child talking, we can do something to resolve the issue. Think of a parent dealing with a child who is extremely upset. The first thing to do when you arrive under the broom tree is quit everything. What God’s Presence Does for Usĭo you find it hard to tell God how you feel? Have you ever told God that you’ve had enough? But if God is behind the problem, then the problem dominates everything. If God is in front of the problem, it appears insignificant. You can look at your problem through God, or you can look at God through your problem. There are two ways of looking at a problem. Elijah couldn’t see God anymore, but worse, he could see Jezebel very clearly. The Bible says, “Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). What Fear Does to Faithĭoubt is faith in distress, and it is very hard to pray when you are doubting God. It might look and feel that way, but it can lead to a whole new dimension of ministry and experience in prayer. But such failure is never final for the people of God. In a moment we can go from faith to fear and end up under a broom tree waiting to die. It has been my experience that when you run into fear, you can run out of faith in a hurry. Have you ever had a “broom tree experience?” What took you there? Can you identify with any of the factors that took Elijah down? Have you ever run away because you were afraid? I could imagine Elijah as exhausted, lonely or angry, but not afraid! Yet, I have to admit that this particular verse encourages me to keep hoping, because I, too, am so often afraid.
The Bible says, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life” and ran away to collapse under a broom tree (1 Kings 19:3). But now Jezebel has vowed to kill Elijah, and the contrast is incredible. We pick up the story of Elijah just after God had vindicated him by fire on Mt. Let’s take a look at 1 Kings 19:1-9, where Elijah felt much the same way.
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