Where is Your Broom Tree?

Day 68: I Kings 18-22

This weekend was a wonderful time of relaxation and renewal for me and Shane. We were blessed to have two wonderful friends give us the gift of a weekend trip to San Antonio. These dear friends were supporters of The Grove who knew firsthand how important it is for couples to spend time together, especially after such a long, arduous time.

This weekend was wonderful for us. We held hands as we walked along the winding paths of the Riverwalk. We laughed and giggled with delight as we always do when it’s just the two of us together. We relished each other’s company and enjoyed being together. We reflected on our life together. The valleys and the mountains. The bad decisions we’ve made in the past and the best ones we’ve ever made. We shopped, read books, and relaxed. What a wonderful weekend.

We have come far since the days when we felt we were sitting under the broom tree, wondering when God would save us from these days of “excrement” (a word used by my new favorite author Madeleine L’Engle in Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage—a wonderful book and one that I encourage you to read). The broom tree, you see, is where Elijah went when he was being chased by Ahab who was trying to kill him. Elijah found this broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. He tells the Lord that he has had enough and he is now ready to die. Then he falls asleep.

Although we haven’t necessarily said that we wanted to die, we have felt some of these same feelings that Elijah had, wondering what it was all for. Here you had Elijah who was trying to do a good thing by prophesying and leading people to the Lord. But, instead, these people turn to Baal and to other idols, and Elijah feels like his life is not worth anything.

Many of us have sat under a broom tree before, wondering what is happening to life as we knew it, wondering how we got HERE, to this specific point, wondering how our life has turned out this way. And Elijah felt that way, too. He is ready to die.

But then an angel comes and tells Elijah to eat. The angel even provides food and water for Elijah. This food and water sustains him, so much so that he has enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights until he reaches Horeb, the mountain of God. At the mountain of God, Elijah gets to see the Lord pass by from his place in the mouth of the cave. The Lord doesn’t appear in the form of thunder, or a lighting bolt, or even fire. Instead, the Lord passes by in the form of a gentle whisper.

This weekend was a time for a couple to hear the loving, tender whisper of the Lord God speaking to us, telling us that he is proud of us, that he loves us. And forever reminding us that He is there for us, always, but especially in those days of excrement when we feel like crawling up under a broom tree and dying. God will find us there, and he will provide for us. He will meet all of our needs.