This post has been brewing for a few years. I kept seeing these inspirational posts on social media to the effect that "if you're feeling overwhelmed, maybe just take a nap and eat a snack. That's what God told Elijah to do."
But did He, really?
The original post was from Joy Clarkson. My family has benefited greatly from the Clarkson family over the last few years, so don't necessarily take this as wholesale condemnation of Joy (I have not read her works on other subjects, and I was unable to find a doctrinal statement from her). She happens to be in the unfortunate position of having her quote picked up by others who are using it for their purposes.
Having seen the quote cycle through social media several times since the tweet was initially sent, and seeing some other questionable things being said in connection with the quote, I googled "take a nap and eat a snack" to see who was picking this up. I was blown away by how many so-called ministries used this line and concept to encourage people toward what they call self-care. I say "so-called" ministries, because the majority of hits on the first page were not from ministries I would ever recommend, because they represent organizations that have long ago abandoned the Gospel of Christ in favor of feel-good, TED-talk-style pep-talks.
The concept self self-care is an important one. I'm not sure many people would disagree with the wisdom of making sure you have a healthy diet, are getting appropriate sleep and exercise, know your limits, etc. These are common-sense measures to ensure you have sufficient strength and energy to best serve the Lord and others. Jesus regularly secluded himself for prayer and rest, and He led His disciples to do the same. If that's what we mean by "self-care", then I'm all for it.
The conversation surrounding self-care, however, is often laced with self-indulgence. People often use the mantra of self-care as an excuse for laziness, over-indulgence in unhealthy food, or the whole "treat yourself" mentality, and it is often driven by the commercial world as a ploy to get you to buy their products. In light of this, you'll have to forgive me if I'm skeptical of people who use the "self-care" language.
When it comes to the issue of Elijah being told to "eat a snack and take a nap," most of those I have observed using this phrase don't usually have the concept of "be intentional with healthy habits" in mind, but rather are providing coping strategies to manage their already unhealthy lives. That concerns me for at least two reasons: 1) it is counter-productive because it encourages additional unhealthy behavior instead of correcting the existing unhealthy habits, and 2) they are twisting Scripture to justify it.
Which brings me to the main point. Does 1 Kings 19 teach us that sometimes you just need a nap and a snack?
Hardly.
For the sake of simplicity, here is the text in question:
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by about this time tomorrow.” 3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his young man there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” 6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Let's remember a little context. This is all fresh off the great contest on Mount Carmel, where God decisively proved Himself to be the one true God by sending fire from heaven to consume the water-saturated sacrifice after the prophets of Baal shouted for hours to get their god to do the same, but apparently Baal was sitting on the can or something and couldn't be reached (Elijah's quip, not mine! See 1 Kings 18:27-29).
Elijah then has the prophets of Baal executed, prayed for rain and it rained, and then outran Ahab's chariot despite leaving much later than Ahab. He saw God work in the most amazing ways with back-to-back-to-back life-changing miracles!
That's the backdrop coming into chapter 19, where Jezebel threatens Elijah's life and he runs away scared with his tail between his legs. You'd think he would have learned something from what had just occurred (but, then again, I suppose we are all a little slow on the uptake sometimes). In any case, Elijah runs away. First to Beersheba, then a day's journey into the wilderness. At the end of all that and in a state of utter exhaustion, he despairs of life and passes out.
Here's the first issue with the "take a nap and eat a snack" thing. God didn't tell him to take a nap. He just lies down and goes to sleep. Not only did God not tell him to take a nap, but the angel (not any angel, but the "Angel of Yahweh" i.e., likely a preincarnate appearance of Christ Himself!) woke him up! Yes, he gave him something to eat, but then Elijah tried to sleep again, and the Angel got him up again. It seems that God wanted him awake and alert because God had things for Elijah to do. Elijah didn't need a nap. He needed to grow his faith.
Did God tell Elijah to eat a snack? Probably not in so many words, which is my second issue with the "nap and a snack" thing. The bread cake is described in the same way as the bread that Elijah had requested of a widow back in chapter 17. If you recall that story, she did not have enough for Elijah, but God did a miracle and provided not only enough for Elijah, her, and her son that day, but for many days! The flour and oil miraculously did not run out until the famine was over. From the context, this is clearly not a Little Debbie snack cake, but a meal. This is not a recommendation toward self-therapeutic eating. This wasn't a snack to get over being "hangry". It was a meal intended to provide real sustenance for him, especially because that food was to sustain him for the next 40 days!
Finally, the "nap and a snack" thing is often phrased as "sometimes that's all we need" and "that's what Elijah needed". When this kind of advice is offered, usually it's given as advice for when life just feels overwhelming: sometimes all you need is a nap and a snack, and you'll be feeling better and ready to tackle life again. But is that all Elijah needed? Did he then decide that "things weren't so bad"? Once again, the answer is no.
After he sleeps and eats, God takes him into the wilderness, and what do we find? A re-energized Elijah, ready to take on Jezebel and speak boldly for the Lord? No. We find a man who whines and complains to the Lord about his plight. He hasn't been fixed by a nap and a snack.
Twice God asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (v 9, 13) and twice the reply is the same: "I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away" (vs 10, 14).
In between the two exchanges, God gives a stunning display of His power and glory: whirlwind! Earthquake! Fire! Speaking in a whisper! And yet Elijah's response is the same: woe is me. I'm all alone, and they want to kill me.
Elijah was so distraught that not only did a nap and a snack not restore his zeal for life, but not even an encounter with almighty God accomplished that.
How does this episode end? Elijah is told it's time to plan for retirement. Even though Elijah would be around for a few more years and train his successor, it is at this point that God sends him to find his replacement in Elisha. But God also reminds Elijah of the truth that he already knew: You are not alone. There are 7,000 who are faithful to the Lord and have not bowed to Baal. He was already aware of at least 100 because of Obadiah's report to him prior to the Mt Carmel contest. Here, God says there are 7,000.
What do we take from all this?
The takeaway here should not be that there is "spiritual power [in] a nap and snack". The tone of the text actually seems to be closer to God telling Elijah to stop being a crybaby than it is to encouraging him to nap and snack.
Even so, there are several things here that should be of great comfort, and a couple of things that should challenge us:
1) God meets us where we are, even if where we are isn't where we should be. Sometimes we are weary, exhausted, scared, and complaining. God provides His sustaining grace, and that is evident in this text. I believe God provided the meal that He did to remind Elijah of His sustaining grace and power shown to him and the widow in chapter 17. It's like God said, "Hey, remember this? I provided before, and I can do it again. Will you trust me?"
2) God doesn't leave us where we are, but takes us further than we imagined possible. He told Elijah to wake up and get up, and then took him into the wilderness for 40 days, where He showed him His power and spoke to him in a whisper. He challenged his thought processes and directed him on how to move forward.
3) Elijah's need was more spiritual than physical. More than food, he needed to live off every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He needed to be reminded of the power of God and the truth of the situation. He was not alone, as he claimed. The lies he was believing needed to be confronted with truth, not snacks.
From the first time I saw it on social media, I thought the whole nap and a snack thing was silly. Having looked deeper into the text, I find it utterly ridiculous.
None of this means that we should abandon common-sense habits like proper diet and healthy sleep patterns. We are human beings and need to care for our bodies. We need to know our limits. We do need to exercise "self-care" in that sense.
It does mean we need to stop misusing the sad story of Elijah to make a point that the story simply does not make. Instead, be encouraged by the point it does make. God does meet us where we are. God does take us further than we thought possible. God does sustain us when we are at our wits' end. God does grow us by reminding us of His power and pointing us back to truth.
And that's better than a nap and a snack any day.
Comments
Post a Comment