Elijah is at the very end of his proverbial rope. He has just defeated (with God's help, of course) all of the prophets of Baal, and for good measure, he slit their throats. But now Queen Jezebel (whose pet prophets are all dead) is out to get Elijah. Elijah decides to get out of her way...and fast.
The prophet goes a day's journey into the wilderness and decides that he has had enough. He sits down under a broom tree and has a little talk with God. “It is enough,” he tells Him; “now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Elijah is tired and discouraged, and he doesn't know what to do next. In fact, he would rather not do anything at all. He is quite content, he thinks, to sit there and die. He lies down and goes to sleep.
God, however, does not take Elijah's life. In fact, He completely ignores that request. An angel tells Elijah to get up and eat and drink. God is sending him on a journey. Elijah obeys, eating the cake and drinking from the jug of water that have miraculously appeared. Neither the miracle nor the food phase him all that much, though, and he merely lies back down, still discouraged and unwilling to move. The angel pokes Elijah a second time, telling him again to eat and drink because the journey will be too hard for him otherwise.
This time Elijah finally moves. He eats and drinks and finds himself so much strengthened by the simple yet miraculous food that he can walk for forty days all the way to Mount Horeb, where he will have an important meeting with God.
So whenever we're feeling discouraged, down-in-the-dumps, and sluggish, we should remember that we are in good company. Even the great Elijah had his moments. But Elijah got up (eventually), ate, and obeyed God. We, too, must get up out of our slump, eat and drink (God has given us an even more miraculous food than that which appeared to Elijah – the Eucharist!), and go on about fulfilling God's will.
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