Juniper Trees Make Poor Sanctuaries

This day has been hard.  I was up every hour last night with three of my children and today I am exhausted.  I really started to cave and give in to my feelings.  Even started telling the Lord that there was no way I could do all He has called me to do!  While the children were all settled in with their school work and the babies napping I stole away a moment, went to my room and cried.  I just "felt" there was no way I could keep doing all of this.  I could go on forever about my day, but I would rather tell about the blessing the Lord sent to me in response, I believe, to my cries.

I just sat down with my devotional Springs in the Valley. This is what it says:

"But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die and said, It is enough....And, behold, the LORD passed by...and a great...wind...but the LORD was not in the wind...an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake...a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire, a still small voice...And the LORDF said to him, "Go, return to thy way...and...anoint Hazael to be king over Syria." 1 Kings 19:4,11,12,15

When a man loses heart he loses EVERYTHING.  To keep one's heart in the midst of life's stream, and to maintain an undiscourageable front in the face of it's difficulties is not an achievement that springs from anything that laboratory can demonstrate, or that logic can affirm.  It is an achievement of faith.

If you lose your sky, you will soon lose your earth.

From under the juniper tree Elijah is called into an audience with the King of Kings.  While listening to his own defeated wail, the accents of  His still small voice fall upon his weary ear.  God refused him his unworthy request, rested him from his service, reminded him that he was still needed and then returned him to his work.  He thought his work was done and that life had left him in the shadows.  God says, "No, I am comissioning you to go forth and anoint kings and prophets, and climax the service of other days."

Not till His hour strikes is our day done, as long as we live we serve the KING!

The tempter is always ready to take advantage of a time of weariness and reaction.  He loves to fish in troubled waters.

It is good to have things settled by faith, before they are unsettled by feelings.

The part that struck me the most was the end.  We, in our flesh, struggle so much with our feelings.  When lying in my bed crying, I was wanting for someone else to take over my job so I could get out and do something else.  I was tired and really, I was struggling greatly with selfishness. 

So, the real blessing for me today was this word from the Lord!  But an added blessing was my husband, not knowing everything that was going on in my heart, asked me if I want to go on a date tonight!  I know that is from the Lord and that shows me that He does really care about how I feel, but it is my job to be sure that I am not acting upon my every feeling and to keep trusting in Him as He guides me along HIS way.

It is so easy to try to do this on our own, isn't it?  I realized this when I was crying out to Him.  I kept saying, "I  can't do this!"  And He whispers, "You are right.  You cannot do this, but I can!"