“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!””
I Kings 19:4 NKJV
a. He himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness: Beyond the distant city of Beersheba, Elijah secluded himself even more.
b. And he prayed that he might die: This mighty man of prayer - mighty enough to make the rain and the dew stop for three and a half years, and then mighty enough to make it start again at his prayer - now he prayed that he might die.
i. Thankfully, this was a prayer not answered for Elijah. In fact, Elijah was one of the few men in the Bible to never die! We can imagine that as he was caught up into heaven, he smiled and thought of this prayer - and the blessed no that answered his prayer. To receive a no answer from God can be better than receiving a yes answer.
c. It is enough: We sense that Elijah meant, “I can’t do this anymore, LORD.” The work was stressful, exhausting, and seemed to accomplish nothing. The great work on Mount Carmel did not result in a lasting national revival or return to the LORD.
i. Perhaps Elijah had especially hoped that the events on Mount Carmel would turn around Ahab and Jezebel and the leadership of Israel in general. If so, Elijah forgot that people reject God despite the evidence, not because of the evidence.
ii. “Elijah said, ‘It is enough,’ yet it was not enough even for his own enjoyment, for the Lord had more blessings in store for him… It was so with Elijah, for he was to have that wonderful revelation of God on Mount Horeb. He had more to enjoy, and the later life of Elijah appears to have been one of calm communion with his God; he seems never to have had another fainting fit, but to the end his sun shone brightly without a cloud. So it was not enough; how could he know that it was? It is God alone who knows when we have done enough, and enjoyed enough; but we do not know.” (Spurgeon)
d. Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers: When Elijah examined the apparent failure of his work, he instinctively set the blame on his own unworthiness. It was because he was a sinner as the rest of his ancestors that the work seemed to fail. (Guzik)
It is Enough!
Like Elijah, there have been times in my life where I cried out to God, it is enough take me home! Recently was early Easter morning when I was overcome with pain and my whole body was shaking. It came out of nowhere and overwhelmed me. Unfortunately the hospital didn’t figure it out that morning and when I ended up in the ER the following day with 103* temperature and they found the culprit, my gallbladder wanted out!
Elijah was depressed and rightly so. But God comforted him and gave him encouragement to continue to do His will.
Have you ever cried out, it is enough?
Blessings
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