Breaking Point

By F. D. Adkins

She sits at the kitchen table staring at a computer screen attempting to help her children with their homework. How can they change math? Shaking her head, she types “new multiplication” into the search engine trying to find a short video. And why can’t kids have real textbooks anymore? She keeps glancing at the clock. She had tossed a frozen pizza in the oven ten minutes ago when she ran in the door. Guilt gnaws at her for serving her family frozen pizza for dinner, but after a long day of waiting tables, trying to help the kids with schoolwork, and still laundry and bills to take care of, that is just all she has time for. She knows her husband deserves a better meal. He has had a long day at work too.

“Don’t you have any notes on this? Daddy will be home in a few minutes, and we still need to have dinner?”

“But Mom…we have to fix my project tonight. It’s due tomorrow, and you did it wrong. There are only eight planets. You said there were nine.”

“There are nine planets. You can remember them by using the first letters in the sentence ‘My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas.’ See. You have Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.”

Her son shakes his head. “That’s not how it goes. It’s ‘My very educated mother just served us noodles.’ Pluto is not a planet.”

Letting out a sigh, she types ‘planets’ into the search bar. What? How can they get rid of a planet? She gazes at the solar system model in the corner and drops her head.

“Mom…Mom…I smell something burning!”

“Great. Now we don’t even have frozen pizza for dinner.” She runs to the kitchen and pulls the blackened cheese from the oven. I just can’t seem to get it right. She feels herself breaking inside. How did we get so far in debt that we work ourselves to death? No matter how fast I move, I can’t seem to get it all done. I can’t catch a break. I can’t even catch my breath. She squeezes her eyes shut trying to push down the tears. If we hadn’t gone into debt for all of this meaningless stuff, we wouldn’t have to work all of this overtime. But everyone else seems to keep up. Why am I such a failure? I can’t even heat a frozen pizza or help my kids multiply two numbers. I am running as fast as I can, and life is still passing me by. I wonder what happened to Pluto.

***

Have you ever felt like the woman in my fictional story above? I am not speaking of the details like burning a pizza or messing up homework. I’m talking about running so fast and trying so hard to keep up that exhaustion sets in, the enemy starts whispering, and you feel like you have reached the breaking point. I am going to guess that at one time or another in our lives, we all have.

My Bible study this week is on Elijah in 1 Kings 17-19. The Lord tells Elijah to hide by the brook Cherinth which will provide him with water. As Elijah hides by the brook, the ravens bring him food. But after a while, because there is no rain, the brook dries up, and the Lord sends Elijah to Zarephath where a widow woman gives him food and water. Many days pass and the woman’s son becomes ill and dies. Elijah prays over the boy, and he is revived. At the end of the drought, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel where he prays, and fire comes down from Heaven consuming his sacrifice. Jezebel finds out about the fire from Heaven and wants Elijah dead. Elijah runs into the wilderness, collapses beneath a tree, and asks God to let him die.

“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; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” 1 Kings 19:4 KJV

Now, why did I just go through this fast-paced summary? Because the details of this story show a man that is exhausted, and inside, he feels like a failure. He has reached his breaking point. He is depressed, and as an escape from his mental torment of depression, he prays for God to end his life. But how does God answer Elijah’s request? Well, God doesn’t let Elijah die. Instead, he provides for Elijah’s real needs. He lets Elijah rest, and then He sends an angel to feed him. He lets Elijah rest some more, and then sends an angel to feed him again.

So, what can we learn from this story?

• Even the great prophet Elijah hit a point in his life where he felt so depressed that he wanted to die.
• But God was not finished with Elijah. Instead, He restored Elijah. He saw his need for rest and renewal, and He provided for that need. So, when we feel overwhelmed, we should take time to be still and let God renew us because just as God saw and understood Elijah’s need, God will understand your need and my need too.
• AND REMEMBER GOD STILL HAS A PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES.