Listen:

1 Kings 19:1-9

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”

Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush.

Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Consider:

I think Snickers made the most honest advertisement in recent years. You know the ones, where various people are embodied by angry celebrities being incredibly angry only for one of their friends to offer them a Snickers, followed by the previously angry person turning into their totally chill friend. It even added a word to our vocabulary - hangry.

There is a deep truth hidden behind the glossy finish of the commercial. We are not ourselves when we are overwhelmed by the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Grief, loss, fear, worry, the never ending task lists, and all those holiday responsibilities weigh on our shoulders until we aren’t so much enjoying ourselves and this festive season as marching from one responsibility to another. Shouldn’t this season of joy be joyful?

Elijah found himself in some hot water, and so ran as far away as possible in the other direction, only to discover the desert was much better. He was tired, hungry, cold, and tired of putting one foot in front of the other. God’s prescription? Eat some food, drink some water, take a nap. In other words, it’s ok to take a break.

When we find ourselves feeling more anger than joy, more pain than anticipation, more dread the hope, it is time to take a break. Eat some of those cookies you’ve baked. It is ok to skip the holiday party to take a nap. Taking a break for ourselves is also holy.

Respond:

Identify one task or responsibility that is causing you stress or draining your joy. If possible, your first choice should be to delegate the task to someone else or postpone it until the New Year. If the task absolutely must be done, schedule a 15-minute “Holy Pause” immediately before you begin it, using this time to eat a snack, drink water, or simply rest without screens. Recognize taking care of your current self is part of your holy responsibility, and note how this pause affects your energy and attitude toward the task.

Pray:

Lord, when I feel overwhelmed help me embrace the Holy Pause. Give me the wisdom to delegate what I can and the discipline to rest before I begin. May I see this act of self-care not as weakness, but as a sacred choice that restores my joy and strength for your work. Amen.

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