Do you need a snack and a nap?

Do you ever have one of those days where you’re just tired? I mean really tired. Physically, emotionally and mentally. A tiredness that is felt not only in your body but also down deep into your soul and your mind.

As mums of toddlers will know all too well, there comes a point in a toddler’s day, when all they need is a snack and a nap. They eat, they rest, and they wake up a lot less cantankerous than they were before their sleep.

Did you know that there was a man in the Bible who found himself in a situation where he just needed a snack and a nap?

We read about this man in the book of 1 Kings 18-19.

Elijah the great prophet of God, used mightily in so many ways found himself tired and soul weary as well.

Take some time to read the whole account found in these two chapters but let me give you a quick rundown.

Let’s pick up the story in verse 21 of chapter 18.

1 Kings 18:21-22 KJV - And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

There had been a severe drought and famine in the land of Israel for three years and the people couldn’t seem to make up their minds as to whether they would serve JEHOVAH God or Baal, the idol of the heathen nations.

Elijah realised that the people needed a very real, very tangible example of God’s power to prove once and for all that JEHOVAH God was the only, one and true God. And so, as I’m sure you know the story, Elijah challenged Ahab to a contest on Mount Carmel.

We read the story in verses 23 to 40 and as we know, God got the victory once again and proved himself mighty in the eyes of all who had gathered there.

Now, you would think that after so great a victory, Elijah would be overjoyed, exuberant and in the best of spirits. But then came Jezebel’s threat to have him killed and Elijah fled to the wilderness and found himself sitting in despair under a nice Juniper tree.

And as he sat, he talked with God. He was physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. He was at the end of his rope. He had had an absolutely monumental day of emotional rollercoaster riding, adrenalin pumping, physically draining activity and he was totally and utterly wiped out.

And as he lay down to sleep and to rest his weary body and soul, an angel came and said those interesting words, “Arise and eat.” Wait, what?

1 Kings 19:5-8 KJV - And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

Yes, you read that right. The angel of the Lord, a special manifestation of God himself, told Elijah to have a snack and take a nap.

He wasn’t told to get up and do a Bible study. He wasn’t told to spend time in prayer. He wasn’t told to hightail it to the nearest church and listen to a rousing sermon. Although those things are good, this was not what he was told to do at this time.

But not only did the angel tell him to arise and eat once, but he also told him a second time.

7-8 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

Did you notice that after the second time Elijah arose and ate, he was able to go in the strength of that snack and nap for 40 days and nights?!

Have you ever stopped to think about the importance of rest? Did you know that God, when he created the world, built into it a rhythm of rest?

Jesus himself had rhythms of rest in his daily life. The Sabbath didn’t just mean taking a day off, it meant ceasing from labour.

Jesus took times to rest. He went into an isolated place and took time to rest and pray. (Mark 1:35)

He urged his disciples to take time out to rest and refresh. (Mark 6:31)

And the well-known passage in Matthew 11:28-30 reminds us to come to Christ in order to find rest and renewal.

In today’s busy world, rest is sometimes seen as a sign of weakness. But God sees it as important and necessary.

Resting is not a form of weakness but of strength.

In the world of metallurgy (the art and science of extracting metals and modifying them for use), there is a process called tempering.

To temper steel, the steel is heated to a specific temperature below its melting point, followed by cooling the steel. The primary benefit of tempered steel is increased strength. When steel is heated and cooled, it becomes stronger.

This process toughens the steel by lessening its brittleness and therefore reducing its internal stress.

So, where am I going with all this talk of snacks and naps and heating steel?

What I’m trying to get at is this. When you go through struggles and stress, when you find yourself exhausted and about to boil over, at the point of breaking, remember how important it is to cool down and align yourself with the rhythms of rest that God created for you so that you can endure the journey he has for you ahead.

God didn’t just give us food for our enjoyment and the pleasure we get out of eating, but he gave us food for nourishment for our bodies and strength to keep going.

God didn’t just encourage rest because it feels good to lay down and cease working for a time, he knows that when we overlook rest it will affect every area of our life. Our health, our mental and physical ability to function, our attitude, our relationships. All of it.

Elijah had been running and running, doing God’s work and wearing himself out in the process. He needed a time of rest.

After he had his snack and his nap, he was able to get up and keep going, refreshed and renewed and running on a full tank once more.

How many of you reading this are running on empty? Are you hustling and striving and working and doing and God is looking down at you encouraging you to stop and rest?

You know that it is often in those times of rest that we hear God speak.

If you keep on reading in 1 Kings 19, you’ll read the account of Elijah hearing from God himself. It was not in the strong wind, it was not in the earthquake, it was not in the fire, but it was in the stillness that he was found. In the quietness. In the rest. God’s whispers to a weary soul.

Are you feeling empty? Weak? Overwhelmed? Frustrated? Burnt out?

There are a lot of symptoms that can manifest themselves when we’re running on empty.

·        Fatigue

·        Difficulty sleeping

·        Decreased concentration

·        Negativity, irritability

·        Changes in appetite, weight loss or gain

·        Social withdrawal

·        Depression

·        Feeling of helplessness

Need I go on? Do any of these resonate with you?

We were created for relationship with God and taking time to reflect, rest and renew regularly is necessary for refuelling our souls and bodies as we spend time with him.

God wants us to take time to rest.

And sometimes this simply means having a snack and taking a nap and letting him reenergize us as we sleep and giving the food time to nourish us from the inside out.

I felt the need of this yesterday and felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit reminding me to stop, eat something and rest for a few minutes. And I can tell you, it worked. It was just what was needed.

The story of Elijah didn’t end with him resting. He went on to do amazing things for God.

Our times of rest are not a one-off thing. We need to continually take times of rest. Don’t wait until you’re burnt out to stop. Don’t wait until you find yourself at breaking point.

If you hear God speaking to your heart, encouraging you to take a 20-minute soul break, do it!

He knows best what you need, and he will give you the strength to keep going.

You need to learn to work out of rest.

Grab a snack, take a nap and rise up refreshed and ready to further the kingdom of God, whether this is in your home as a wife and mother raising little ones, or in your busy career in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Both are just as important, and both require snacks and naps!

Matthew 11:28

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.