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Do you know that feeling? You're already so stressed, you don't know how you're going to manage all your tasks, and then something else comes up. Someone else wants you to help them and invest your time in them. You just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel and you don't know how to get out of these problems.
There are things that scare you and leave you feeling helpless. You feel like you just won't be able to cope with all the problems anymore. You think that nobody really understands you and that everyone is against you.
Then the desire often arises in one's heart to simply run away. To throw everything away and go far, far away, just to have some peace and quiet. One might want to retreat to a deserted island or the mountains, or dream of a secluded cabin in the Canadian woods.
Some people actually try to solve their problems this way today, by running away, abandoning their wives and children, because they can't cope with the difficulties around them. Some even wish to die so that all their problems would be over once and for all.
People in the Bible who were used by God also experienced such moments.
One of them was Elijah, for example. We read in 1 Kings 19:2-4:
“Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘May the gods do this and that to me if by this time tomorrow I do not do to your life as you did to hers!’ And when he saw this, he arose and went away for his own life. He came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. He himself went into the wilderness, a day’s journey away, and he came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked for death for himself, saying, ‘It is enough! Now take my life, Lord, for I am no better than my fathers!’”
The same thing happened to Hagar, Sarai's servant: "But Abram said to Sarai, 'See, your servant is in your hand; do to her whatever is good in your eyes.' When Sarai humiliated her, she fled from her" (Genesis 16:6).
David fled with his men to the Philistines (cf. 1 Samuel 27:1-3) to escape Saul's persecution. Jonah ran away from the mission he had received from God.
But all these escape attempts were not the solution to the problem, and God sent all these refugees back to the place and the ministry He had assigned them. God had His plan for these people, and that plan was to be carried out.
He sent Elijah back to his service and gave him tasks to complete. He told Hagar to humble herself and return to her mistress. David returned to Israel and was to lead the people of Israel, as God had long before commanded him, and Jonah also had to go to Nineveh and preach to the inhabitants the message God had given him.
But God not only sent them back into their difficult situation, He also equipped them with the necessary strength to withstand all the pressure they faced. In Elijah, in particular, we see very clearly the great grace and love God had for His servant. He Himself strengthened His servant by sending an angel to lift him up and fill him with new strength.
We read this in 1 Kings 19:5-8:
“And he lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat!’ And when he looked around, behold, there was by his head a loaf of bread baked on hot stones and a jug of water. And when he had eaten and drunk, he lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you otherwise!’ So he got up and ate and drank, and in the strength of that food he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.”
What great mercy God showed His chosen one! He gave him strength, He walked with him and did not abandon him in his despondency, but continued to use him as His prophet, until He even took him to heaven in a very special way with a fiery chariot.
What a wonderful heavenly Father we have! Hagar, too, was not rejected by God, but received help and very special promises. She had a special encounter with the angel of God and through this learned to humble herself and to walk God's path in obedience.
We read this in Genesis 16:9-14:
“And the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.’ And the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Behold, I will so greatly increase your offspring that they shall be countless.’ […] And she called by the name of the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me.’ For she said, ‘Surely I have seen here the one who has seen me.’ Therefore the well was called the Well of the Living One who sees me; it is between Kadesh and Bered.”
From these biblical examples, we can learn very important aspects for our ministry. When we feel we have reached a dead end, it is crucial for us to seek God's presence and encounter with Him. God does not want to reject and condemn, but to work through His power and make His work succeed. It is not important to Him how strong and resilient we are, but how obedient and humble we are in following Him and carrying out His will.
God once said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul replied, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. Therefore, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
People whom God used extensively also experienced situations in their lives where they felt weak, broken, shattered, and inadequate. They were at the end of their rope, and it was precisely then that God intervened, lifted them up, led them to victory through His power, and used them miraculously to bring His work to fruition.
God's principle seems paradoxical from a human perspective, but it is God's way of acting so that it is not man, the instrument, who is glorified, but God, who uses this instrument. This is also why humility and self-abasement must always accompany us in our lives, and why we must never orient ourselves toward human recognition and praise.
This is a natural law in the Kingdom of God, and God will never change it. “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
In this respect, Jesus has become our best example, and we should think the same way he did: He “humbled himself […] and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:8-9).
This is also a crucial prerequisite for us to remain close to God and in His presence, and thus to be equipped by Him with the necessary strength for our service and daily life. If we seek strength in Him, wait on Him, and reach out for His help in every situation, then He truly walks with us and does not abandon His servants.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).
God sent Jonah back and went with him to carry out His work through him and bring salvation to the great city of Nineveh. But first, Jonah had to humble himself in the belly of the fish.
A panicked flight from demands and obligations is not the solution. We cannot isolate ourselves. Image source: AdobeStock © mstaniewski
Dear brother, dear sister, who is reading these lines. Perhaps you too are under such pressure right now and are ready to throw in the towel and run away. That is not the solution to the problem. God is there, even when everything around you is falling apart. God has a solution for you here as well and wants to continue using you in His work. Do not run away from Him. He will send you back anyway and entrust you with tasks that you are to carry out for His glory.
Humble yourself willingly under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you in His time (cf. 1 Peter 5:6). He wants to fill you with His power, reveal Himself to you, and work through you for His glory. You will not find happiness by running away from Him.
Conversely, seek His presence, and in it you will experience His strength and guidance in your life. This will make you happy and bring you joy in your ministry and life. God bless you in this.
Ernst Fischer,
Municipality of Cloppenburg