1 Kings 19:5-7
"5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
God's treatment of his over wrought servant is wonderfully encouraging. There was no word of rebuke, only a merciful provision for his immediate needs. Would that we were always as tenderly understanding of one another. But what stands out most graphically is the kind of treatment God prescribed for Elijah - sleep, rest, and food. It does not seem to have occurred to some good, well-meaning Christian folks that spiritual problems may have their origin in physical factors. When confronted by dark dispiritedness and black depression and discouragement, in themselves or in others, they must needs endeavour to discover some sin- ister spiritual defect, some unconfessed sin that has dried up the life of the Spirit in them when over-tiredness and over-strain have been responsible. There are some kinds of spiritual distemper for which the only real answer or cure is physical and mental rest and relaxation. When physical exhaustion overtakes us, and still more mental tiredness, we become an easy prey to the attacks of the evil one and the application of 'spiritual' measures will not relieve, but only aggravate, the condition, if the obvious need is for physical and mental recuperation. It is quite amazing what a few good nights' rest would do to lift the clouds of depression and put the sparkle back into the lives of some of God's downcast children. This is something that can be proved, and needs to be, far more than it is.