With my humming bird feeders in need of a thorough cleaning, a little on-line investigation led me to “equal parts vinegar and water” or “1 to 10 parts bleach to water.”
I opted for the vinegar approach, but then ran into a problem. I did not have quite enough distilled vinegar to submerge the whole feeder.
“No problem!” I thought. “I’ll add a bunch of water and a dash of bleach.”
No problem quickly became big problem.
The toxic fumes cleaned out my sinuses and burned my eyes.
I knew to never mix bleach and ammonia, but I missed the lesson on never mix bleach with anything but water. I won’t need a second lesson on that one.
When it comes to those times when you’re running hard on the fumes of an empty tank, what’s a toxic mix for you? What puts you over the edge?
- A grad school thesis paper
- A child’s science project
- A temp of 102
- An annual report
- A clank in your car’s engine
- A bounced check
- A burnt meatloaf
A “toxic mix” landed Elijah under a broom tree wanting to die. The mix? Years of isolation and a death threat from the queen.
What’s the take home from this story in I Kings 19:3-12?
No shame. No blame.
We all have limits. We do.
Every single one of us has landed under the broom tree in one way or the other and we’ll all land there again.
Give yourself a break!
Somehow, and in some way, give yourself some breathing room.
Carve out an hour, or a day and take your clues from our buddy Elijah.
Pull yourself away from the madness and the grind. Take your pillow, some tasty treats and a heart ready to listen.
Then, rest well and listen carefully.
Ah, yes! Life just gets me to that place of toxicity so easily. We work to cram so much into our day and leave little time for God or for ourselves either. Those things I do, like taking a nap, may not be a bad thing, it might be a good thing, but, even though it helps restore my body, coming into the place of Christ, restores me even deeper. I find He tells me when to rest, and when I am to come to Him for renewal. I really don’t think Jonah slept three days in that belly. I see Elijah waiting and being led to sleep, and once his body was renewed he could go for 40 days to seek the voice of God. Oh, Lord, may I wait on You and with You.
May we wait in Him!