Get up, eat, because there is a long way ahead of you!

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Consideration for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, B1 year

For many years Elijah was obedient and faithful to Jehovah God. He courageously opposed King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, accusing them of idolatry. He defeated the priests of Baal. However, when Jezebel threatened to kill him, he fled into the desert. Simply put, he was heartily fed up with everything. He sat down under a gorse bush, said: “It is a great time, Lord! Take my life because I am no better than my ancestors. ” He then lay down and fell asleep, probably wishing never to wake up again.

But God had other plans. An angel sent by him, who, moreover, did not find it easy to wake Elijah, gave the prophet this command: “Get up, eat, for there is a long way ahead of you.” As we know from the First Books of Kings, Elijah took his meal and then went to Mount Horeb and there he met the Lord, whom he later served for a long time, fighting evil in the kingdom of Ahab.

The story of Elijah shows that even the most zealous servants of God have their moments of weakness – indeed, oceans of despair and discouragement, into which they would like to plunge themselves once and for all. Perhaps it is precisely them who, like Elijah, “fiery fervor for the glory of the Lord”, such experiences particularly affect, while rather avoiding those who diligently, step by step try to multiply good, are primarily guided by reason and eventually lose their enthusiasm slowly, less spectacular – and it would be even harder for an angel sent by God than for Elijah to get them on their feet.

So if you’ve ever acted like Elijah with God, that is not the worst thing for you. When you really engage in an action, focusing on its purpose rather than your own safety and comfort, when you overcome various obstacles and defend what you consider valuable, you inevitably make enemies with different interests – sooner or later you get tired, feeling of helplessness, bitterness, fear for yourself and the future of your achievements. The world then looks like during the darkest night and it is no wonder that you only want to fall asleep … And this is only (until! …) a reminder about our limited human abilities and strength, about the fact that we are not self-sufficient and we need God’s help.

This is not a reminder for unbelievers or for people who do not know God or are not in the habit of inviting Him into their daily lives. In spite of difficult experiences, Elijah and fortune like him do not lose their strong bond with God, they do not forget about His presence. There are times, however, when man no longer rebels against God or asks Him for a better solution to his problems. He doesn’t feel like asking why? Elijah’s message to God could be summarized as follows: “I did what I could, the best I could, and now, Lord God, do not require more, give me a break and maybe add a nice funeral and a good place in the cemetery.”

But the merciful God, who knows the depths of people’s hearts, does not take offense at what at first glance appears to be impertinence or, in other words, a shocking lack of humility. He knew that as soon as Elijah slept and then strengthened himself with the food provided to him, he would return to his difficult tasks with the fervor of the past. He knows that even those of us who want to be close to him need strength and nourishment to get up to go to the meeting place he has appointed.