Under the broom tree

I like Elijah,  I can almost picture his white beard flowing in the style of his time but a tad less groomed than his peers, after all most prophets tended to be a bit nomadic ,so my guess they were heavy on the visionary side of things light on the appearance side. Tents and desert wanderings were not at all unfamiliar to him but certainly the pomp of royalty that he had come to bring this message to were in stark contrast to his humble stance.
 Oh we like to believe that prophets  of yesteryear were much like we know today.A self proclaimed toot my own horn vanity in double breasted suits ( or for the prophets back in the day- gold lined tunics) we have certainly grown used to a prophets messages of today being more of seeking fortune- for telling your fortune, then simply giving a message of reform and restoration as the prophets of old did, we prefer warm and fuzzy to life changing and convicting.  The Holy men of old weren't about being worldy eye candy,they were about bringing Gods message and giving him Glory.
 No, good old  Elijah walked out his life  from a much more simplistic and humble standing.
 I don't believe his demeanor portrayed any Spiritual weakness, he was strong in a sound inner knowledge. Which made him a highly esteemed peer and a very respectable man- a gentle talker with weathered lines of wisdom and laughter etched on his face. A man people listened to because the manner in which he carried himself demanded respect without uttering a word, it was simply who he was..
I believe he carried his calling with such humility that guards nearby simply kept him in a tentative view relaxing their grip on swords and eyeing him almost mockingly.( Like were not afraid of the big bad Elijah) A thousand Godly priests before him  had already came and died for their faith, But Elijah stood  unwavering- with the God given assurance he walked in Holy authority, and the powers of hell shrank back in acknowledgement and  fear.
 Elijah,  clears his voice- and speaks in low somber tones of  a challenge that his adversaries could not resist, "Let us both pray to our God, and the God who is real will  bring the fire for a burnt  offering.".( paraphrased ) Well they couldn't very well shrink back from such an offer, to do so would be paramount to saying their Gods did not exist and Jezebel wasn't having it! After all  temples were erected in honor of her Gods and she herself had commissioned statues and idols cast in Gold and laden in jewels in their images.
She had already made a mockery of Elijah's God and his worshippers. Pursuing the priest, mocking and then as a last testimony of cruelty viciously murdering them for their faith. What audacity this man Elijah had! Of course they would take the challenge-  her responses tinged with poison, this vile harlot of idolatry in every way mocked Gods sovereignty.
Along came solemn processions of chanting priests covered in ash and waling loudly before their Gods. Thrashing about in a mad conglomeration of wreathing sacrificial abandon.Hissing and screaming in fevered adoration and fervent prayers they  circled the offering pensively, cutting their flesh and taring their garments, hour after hour of maddening contortion and clamor, the incessant screaming stilled until one by one finally fell exhausted to the wayside, notably silent.
Not even a puff of smoke.How odd..
Elijah offered some closing ideas.."Perhaps they are sleeping? "( with all that noise? really?!) Wake them, get a little louder, scream , dance, hop on one foot maybe? (No, he didn't really say that last bit, that was from me, active imagination this..). I think though he did have a little fun at their expense while he was waiting.Human nature you know..
After hours of travail with no action, angry and exhausted they dejectedly led Elijah to the offering.

 Elijah lined up servants and had them to one after another fill their water jars and pour container after container over the offering, dousing any shred of dryness until there could be no doubt to anyone seeing,  to light this offering up it was going to take an extra special God.
Water dripped into the caverns of the offering  and settled in puddles over  the side, and poured out to the wading feet of Gods prophet. One can almost picture the soft swoosh of his sandals as they hit the wet ground as he stood and addressed the waiting crowds.
And then.. he prayed, not in a fervor of excited wales nor in  the scuffle of  barbaric dance and demonically shrieked prayers but in a strength and  assurance not  his own . He prayed and presence and power hit the walls and surroundings in waves of electric current -filling the courtyards with a sense of electricity so acute prickles of heat coursed over their bodies and covered them in a fearful thoroughly drenched sweat.
 The atmosphere was charged with the imprint of God almighty! And when it at last felt it would com bust from tangible presence!and then it happened...
 His spirit came down in a bolt of swift fire expanding over the entire circumference of the offering, heads turned from the massive body of heat but peered out of the corners of their eyes in awe.Coursing intense light fell in streaks of red, blue, orange and yellow with such an intensity that the  flame forced the crowds to further back up at already fifty feet away . transfixed they stood watching  as this massive body of flame incinerated the offering, in a tornado of heat, it exited vacuuming up ash and char, and licked up the residue leaving only trails of mist-  and the tsss tsss sound as heat hit water and extinguished it into vapor.
The remaining  waft of smoke was strangely scented, not of the animals left on the offering, but of ? of? What was that smell?   Slowly recognition hit them- the thick essence of burial  perfumes permeated the air in the scent of myrrh and frankincense. An uneasiness settled over the crowd. In stunned silence people stood transfixed. Time ticked by in those moments heavy with  fear- then  the tide of faces started slowly shifting from a nervous murmur into a somber slow muddled cry- until entire throngs lay face down weeping in anguish and remorse to the one true God  in a plead for mercy..

Of course for the better part, I can only imagine these images, but it is mostly how the story goes.

So it is hard for most of us to imagine, when that same man who faced fierce warriors sent to kill Gods priests, and that  exact same man who  mocked a kings Gods and  put his sopping footprints on the backside of an evil queens pride,  the same exact guy who would stand boldly and make a proclamation with absolute assurance that His God would meet him there, had suddenly turned tails and ran in fear. How can that be? now that's REALLY odd!

I don't think it was as odd as one might consider. He had spent likely a good deal of time in fasting and prayer before this meeting. He had focused so strongly on Gods power and purposing for this tension filled event that his focus had little time to consider any other possibilities or remaining threats. This guy was undeniably purpose driven. 
And just like us when the event we have worked towards for months is through, and we suddenly face the after math with the resources we have left,were wiped out- spiritually speaking I believe poor old Elijah was just out and out.. exhausted.
 He had faced demonic encounters and without even realizing how they dissipate energy he had tapped out.  Suddenly he faced an angry pride filled woman, who's Gods had not only been mocked they had been obliterated, and watched as an army mounted up in pursuit of his life, he was tired , defense,less, and riding on fumes..
 We do that We fight the good fight, we stand and travail .We pray and weep before God in intercession and  usually come out exhausted, and that's without the added effects of demonic warfare! Throw that in for Good measure and you might just find yourself  right about where Elijah did, running for your life, in the solace of the desert and praying for a swift end beneath a broom tree.
I have only had a couple of encounters with a Spiritual foe in this capacity but I know enough to say, it left me physically exhausted in the extreme, it left me entirely drained in the Spiritual sense ,and yes, even praying God would take me home.
Not so much from fear of the advisory, no not really, merely from desire to be done with the battle and  longing to be left to rest.
 Elijah felt alone in this place because in terms of humanness, well, he was alone.  The friends and peers he respected had to his knowledge all died, and mourning hit him like a ton of bricks. He, as it seemed  was all that was left,  he was despised ,sought after, and  thought no-one that he grown to know or love, remained.
Like the Lord on Damascus road  he walked the loneliest mile through a desert, and all he had known and loved was no where in sight. Like the Lord he had followed Gods plan, and well, felt a bit like having the cup pass him by, easy way out in this scenario for Elijah, was to call it quits and head on Home to the big guy in the sky, that's  almost sensible. Well if your beyond exhausted and heartbroke it seems sensible anyway.
 You know what is more unusual to me in this scenario? That  God  waited for Elijah to rest, in fact, parallel to most Christians ways of thinking, He did not call Elijah a failure for seeking solace ( which is what we most often do when a person having gone through fierce hardship  begins to weep and beg God for mercy in the Broom tree places of our lives. )  Gods rational is not like mans, He knows we need rest from battle, He knows he will overcome the circumstance but He allows for the vehicles he uses, i. e . "US" - to take a solace, to have a breakdown moment or two and to rest our weary souls under a temporary shade..
Ever seen a broom tree? Not much for cool rest to depend on there. Again its a temporary place to be  under the broom tree, its for resting weary bones after long battles and rejuvenating souls, not to build a residence in. However a lot of times when we have been under hardship, heartache, disappointment, discouragement, loss and the draining force of spiritual battle, we oft times want to just stay under the one teeny tiny remnant of shade we can find, have ourselves a good long standing pity party there, curl up in a chubby ball( well in my case chubby) and call it done.
I know for me, the broom tree has come and gone a few times, what I have noted is, its not a comfy place for very long, in the heat of retreat it offers only temporary shade and only temporary comfort, because the real resting place, is where ever Gods Will for us resides. Staying under the broom tree to long makes us restless and sunburned.  and, is pretty boring really.
 Not that I like battle to much either, that's exhausting, but you know what I do like?
I like it when I know the undeniable hand of God is resting on me in powerful ways and that only happens when I am motivated to move back out from under the covering and head back into the war-
I like facing Goliaths in God and walking away victorious.
I like it when I have faced the spiritual realm and have called on a mighty God, and watched as his Spirit MOVED with Fire!
I like it that when the adversary comes to kill steal and destroy the voice of God within me,and then  God SPEAKS with certainty and moves with power before me and on my behalf.
I like it when I can see it happen, and I know I can't see it - if I am playing patty cake to long under the broom tree.

Hang in there People of God, rest in HIM. but keep in mind, its just a break- you still gotta get ready for the good stuff!  and the Good stuff will always be where we can See him move in power, right back out in the battlefield we took solace from.
If we are real honest we will have to admit we would far rather be in the thick of Gods movement fighting and praying like mad, then in the pitiful,lonely, weary shade of the broom tree.
So beloved, where ever you are in the Lord, whether the thick of battle or the thin wisps of the broom tree, Just KNOW God is still there, that He is not leaving you alone, (  and Yes, there are others saints in battle and you need to find them!) Your not the only warrior, going through the only battlefield all by yourself, your not abandoned, your not powerless, a Mighty God enables you day by day to take rest, to fight another day, Hang in there..and when its time, come out from under your broom tree refreshed and prepared to  kick some demonic booty!
Amen? and Amen! Go get em' Tiger!