A Day’s Journey into the Wilderness

“But [Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die.”

Elijah was done. Many of us have had “mountaintop” spiritual experiences that bit the dust only days later. Elijah’s was unusual in that it was literal. The mount was Carmel, and the glorious moment he experienced atop it was the complete and utter vindication of Israel’s God and his solitary public voice (Elijah) before the entire nation, abruptly followed by the summary execution of 450 false prophets claiming to speak for YHWH’s rival.

It was a good day. A really good day. Everything Elijah asked God did, and he did it in spades.

Anonymous Asks (287)

“I know the Bible says we’re not supposed to depend on our feelings, but sometimes, honestly, it gets hard to feel my faith. Any thoughts?”

Feelings? Yes, they’re tricky things. You’re right to wonder about whether it’s not just a little too optimistic to simply suppose Christians never ought to feel down. We all have moments in life when things are not just a little dark, but really, really dark. What’s interesting, though, is that the writers of the Bible are far from unaware of this.