We all get low at times

WE ALL GET LOW AT TIMES

1 Kings 19:4-8 & Jn. 6:41-51

There is a story told of Satan who one day decided to sell all his tools bar one.  This obviously must have been a very important one.  It was the tool of discouragement:  Satan knows the power of this tool because, once he is able to discourage someone, he can render them powerless.

In today's first reading we see Elijah was utterly discouraged.  He told the Lord, “I have had enough.”  He even prayed to die.  How serious was he about dying?

Queen Jezebel would have been more than happy to accommodate him!  He had just proved the superiority of Israel’s God in a contest with the priests of Baal and personally killed 450 of them.  He probably thought his troubles were over, but he was wrong.  Elijah had miscalculated the resolve of Queen Jezebel who was furious and determined to kill him.  When Elijah realised this it took the heart out of him.

How often we have found ourselves similarly disheartened?  Having struggled to do the right thing it appears that God leaves us vulnerable to some Jezebel.  'Where is the justice in that?' we ask ourselves. 

Elijah was one of the great men in the history of Israel, the prophet who corrected kings, triumphed over false prophets and even raised the dead to life.  Yet he was not immune from discouragement, to the point at which he was ready to give up the fight.

Jeremiah, too, was a prophet of similar stature.  He stood up to corruption and pleaded for justice like few others have done.  But a day came when he had enough of living and wished to die in a dwelling in the wilderness. (Jer.9:1).  Great man that he was, he could not escape being discouraged.

Even Jesus was not exempt.  Did He not on the Cross cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

But whenever we become discouraged, we are in some proud company.

Personal problems, worries and discouragements can reduce even the strongest of people to bitter helplessness.  None of us is immune from discouragement every now and then.

When we find ourselves discouraged there is always help from God.  We see how God helped Elijah.  Safely beyond the grasp of Jezebel he lay down under a tree in that burning desert to rest.  When disturbed by a touch on his shoulder there was an angel, with some bread and water.  In our moments of discouragement I think we too are visited by angels.  We may not recognise them but they encourage us and remind us of God’s presence and support, helping us believe that we can survive these dark moments of life.

We can be a ministering angel, too, to someone having a bad day, by bringing understanding and encouragement to them.  Knowing that we are not immune from discouragement it is also important to realise that someday we will need compassion and care from another, for everyone takes a turn of lying under a tree in the wilderness.

Let us take courage from these true words,

It’s easy to smile when the sun shines

And life goes along like a song.

But the man who is worthwhile

Is the man who can smile when everything goes wrong.

Let us take courage from these true words, ‘It’s easy to smile when the sun shines and life goes along like a song.  But the man who is worthwhile is the man who can smile when everything goes wrong.’

Lord Jesus, in our troubled moments, let us never forget Your words in today’s Gospel: “I am the living bread that has come down from Heaven.  Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”

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