Back to Your Future - Back to the Drawing Board by David Jeremiah

Back to Your Future—Back to the Drawing Board

Then the LORD said to him: “Go, return on your way.”
1 Kings 19:15

The Bible is full of people who broke down in the Lord’s work. Jonah melted down in chapter 4 of his book. Jeremiah wandered around Jerusalem in near despair. John the Baptist questioned the Messiah. The apostle Paul went to Troas where a great door opened, but he was too anxious to launch a work there. And Elijah is a model for all of us who need to go back to the drawing board to rest and reprioritize our lives.

Recommended Reading: 1 Kings 19:11-18

God’s Revelation to Elijah

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but theLord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but theLord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, butthe Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voicecame to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Elijah’s story is a model for us. In 1 Kings 19, the great prophet collapsed in exhaustion and fear. He fled to the desert and went all the way to Mount Sinai. He rested, slept, prayed, ate, and complained to the Lord about his traumas. God listened, patiently restored him, and sent him back on his way along the way he had come. The Lord re-commissioned his prophet with fresh assignments.

Sometimes we need a break. We have to go back to the drawing board, reset ourselves physically, and reestablish our priorities. God has more work for us, so we mustn’t quit too soon. If you feel you’re near a collapse, don’t despair. The same God who helped Jonah, Jeremiah, John, Paul, and Elijah can help you too.

All Elijah needed to get renewed for service was a fresh vision of the power and glory of God.
Warren W. Wiersbe