Have you ever experienced the "battle after the battle"? In the Christian life, we can go through a period of spiritual warfare, intense service, or a mountaintop experience with God, only to be followed by a kind of wipe-out time of exhaustion. Physically, emotionally, spiritually... we are depleted.
Vividly, I recall a time this occurred to me in the early, and still "much to learn" days, of my Christian walk. I was simply exhausted, numb, and wondering where the truck had come from that hit me unawares. One evening my understanding husband presented me with a little gift, with the note "Elijah Under the Juniper Tree" attached. It was an adorable frog, sitting with arms folded, and looking heavenward, under a tree constructed from sea shells. It was such a precious visual aid to me, beginning a period of rest and refreshment from God's Word as I began to study the life of Elijah.
Don't you just love how God ministered to Elijah, who, after a mountaintop, victorious experience of faith, was now running away in fear from Jezebel ? God did not scold or reprimand. He fed Elijah, and then allowed him a much needed rest. Then later, through dramatic object lessons, God taught Elijah how to listen for His still, small voice.
My little "Elijah Under the Juniper Tree" is at least 30 years old. And each time throughout all these years, when I undergo a "battle after the battle," or teach about it, I search for my cherished visual aid, and recall how God ministered to me, and taught me further of His trustworthy character.
***Today marks the first day of the "25 Days of Thanksgiving" challenge I accepted from my friend at A Lady in Waiting. Each day from November 1 until Thanksgiving, I will be blogging about something I am personally thankful for.
Today, I am full of gratefulness for "Lessons from Life's Struggles and Trials." Without them, we would become pitifully proud, unsympathetic creatures, never realizing how much we need... and how we can trust... our Sovereign Lord.
