1Ki 19:7 ESV – 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.”

There are two types of days.  First there are the ordinary days.  These are the days that you almost cruise through on autopilot.  You wake up, spend time with the Lord, take a shower, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat dinner, spend time as a family, go to bed, and then expect to repeat the same thing all over again the next day.  Most days are ordinary days in that you generally know what your day is going to look like and you’re ready for it.

But there is also another kind of day.   The day that you aren’t prepared for.  It might be that something tragic happened, or you could be awaiting some potentially life-changing news for yourself or a loved one, it might be a once in a life-time event kind of day, or it could be that you are about to do something completely outside of your own abilities.  Either way, these days are not ordinary and they require more from you.

As humans we can only handle so much.  No one is a rock.  A man named Elijah, who is by far my favorite Old Testament character, was no exception.  This man was used by God to call fire down from heaven on a sacrifice, raised a dead boy back to life, caused it to stop raining for three years, was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, and more.  Yeah, this guy was awesome!  But even Elijah experienced seasons that were too much for him.  Confident Elijah, having just called fire down from heaven and condemning 450 false prophets to death in 1Kings 18, was scared by the single threat of a woman and fled for his life in 1Kings 19.  At this point in his life Elijah feels like an absolute failure and just wants to die.  As cool as Elijah was, he was a man just like us and even the greatest of spiritual giants are prone to weakness.

God understands our human weakness and the strain that certain events in our life can cause.  He understand that some days are more than we can handle.  In case you haven’t picked up on it, the verse at the top was spoken to our boy Elijah.  He was told to eat the food that and angel of God set before him because the journey ahead of him was too great for him.  God knew Elijah because God made Elijah and God knew what was “too great” for him.  So God had a special grace in store for this season of Elijah’s life because Elijah was about to need it.  This was no ordinary day and no ordinary strength would do.

God knows the areas of your weakness too because God created you.  He knows the days that you have needed and will need extra strength.  God knows them, has ordained them, and has hand-crafted grace in store to give you for them.  So eat.  Eat from the table of the Lord when the days are good and rely on the strength that God has in store for you when the days are difficult.  Run to God and not somewhere else as a source of strength.  Walk through whatever situation he might bring you to knowing that his grace is sufficient for you.  Come to him as your Creator who knows your weaknesses better than you even know them yourself.

Hbr 4:15-16 ESV – 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.