Take Me Now
I was not afraid of death so if the Lord had have decided to take me home with Him at that very point, I would not have been disappointed.
1 Kings 19.1-9a
Reference: v.4b He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." (NIV Bible)
Explore: A few years ago I was assisting on a camp for 9-10 year old children. I was sharing a cabin with some of the other staff and it turned out that I was sleeping on the top bunk. This was no problem to me, until in the middle of the night when I started getting cramps in my stomach. I tried to convince myself that I would be fine and they would soon pass but they just kept getting stronger and stronger. The pain finally got too much and I climbed down from the bunk and went to our bathroom. I thought I was going to throw up so I went over and sat next to the toilet bowl. I almost wished that I could throw up so that the pain would pass and I would feel better. I can remember sitting on the cold tile floor, miles away from home, next to a camp toilet, pain gripping my stomach and I just thought, "Take me now!" I was not afraid of death so if the Lord had have decided to take me home with Him at that very point, I would not have been disappointed.
Elijah's situation was a lot more dire than mine, however he got to a 'Take me now' moment.
Application: There may come times in our lives where we hit rock bottom and we just think, 'Take me now!' I was chatting via Facebook to a friend who is living overseas and she has experienced some difficult times away from home. But we both agreed that it is in those 'Take me now' moments that you rely so heavily on God that your faith can actually be strengthened. Why does it take a 'Take me now' moment for us to rely so completely on God? He is the same loving, compassionate, gracious God when you're feeling on top of the world as well as when you hit rock bottom. The 'Take me now' situation is never pleasurable at the time but God can work miracles in our lives when we become so dependent on Him.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for going our own way and thinking we can accomplish things on our own. We praise you for being so loving that you meet us wherever we are at. Amen.
Have you noticed a time when God has brought something beautiful out of a time of dispair?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.