“I alone am left”
~ 1 Kings 19: 10b

A man – hard-working, dedicated, passionate. . . earnest about his job, his life-work, his calling. . .

A man respected, not only be his peers but by those in his community, in his country, in comfortable and uncomfortable places.

A man successful in his God-designed field is near the ending of his life, facing a death-sentence.

A man who has neither family nor friends to curate (preserve, maintain, collect, protect, keep, present t0 future generations) his life work.

A man alone. . .

. . .Elijah. . .

Elijah, worn out, depleted from the hard challenges God called him to and walked him through, collapsed under a broom tree and prayed. . . prayed an I-Give-Up Prayer: “‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” ( 1 Kings 19:4b).

Elijah face to face with his own mortality sounds at the end of himself, depressed, feeling as if there was no reason to go on, feeling like a failure–and in feeling like a failure felt like he was letting God down.

He’d left his only companion, a servant in a safe place – and then run for his life. His only companion was content to let Elijah run on by himself, seemingly a companion without a stick-to-it-loyalty – not a ride-together-or-die-together kind-of-companion.

After God sent angels to refresh Elijah under the broom tree – Elijah walked to the mountain of God. God was Elijah’s ride-together-or-die-for-him companion.

For 40 days, Elijah walked to Mt. Horeb. God didn’t ask Elijah to come – but Elijah needed God – and so he walked, maybe it was more of a trudge.

“To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.’” ~ A Knight’s Tail

When He finally arrived, God asked Elijah: “What’s this really about?”

After all, Elijah had done hard jobs for Him before. God had preserved his life on multiple occasions – and did so again after Elijah’s death wish. Even after all that, Elijah even then wouldn’t come out a directly say what was tearing him up – so He hid it in a word sandwich.

The meat of that word sandwich? I alone am left.

He wasn’t the only prophet left. . . he alone was left. . .

. . . alone. . . unattended, alienated, forsaken, isolated, abandoned, neglected, little sense of belonging . . . all those things alone means.

Elijah had spent a lifetime storing up a treasury of faith stories, knowledge of pleasing God in the business of being a Prophet of God, of how to follow God’s directives, of how to be satisfied with bread and meat delivered by crows and water from a clean brook, that resurrection miracles happen, confidence that when God says, “Go” and “Do” how to go and do, how to stand firm not quite knowing how God is going to come through in the midst of thousands and ten-thousands who do not want to believe God or God-in-You.

Elijah had no-one to pass down the legacy of His life’s work. No wife, no children or grand-children to be story-catchers. . . no friends that he could trust with such a powerful legacy. . . not even an apprentice. Just a servant who was in it for the paycheck.

What is wealth (fame, finance, faith) to a man (or woman) if it cannot be shared with those we love? In a world that judged a man’s success by his children, particularly his sons, Elijah, did not appear to be a man favored by God. Maybe the world didn’t know the stories. . . because Elijah didn’t have anyone really to share them with.

A man alone. . .

“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.” ~  Psalm127: 3-5

Elijah had stories – but stories cannot be a heritage unless you can pass them down.

“For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table. In this way indeed shall blessing come to the man who fears the LORD.…” ~ Psalm 128:2-4

Elijah had no home, no table, no children vining around home like olive shoots around a family table.

“Thy children shall be like olive plants round about thy table? Follow me into the grove, and I will show you what may have suggested the comparison. Here we have lilt upon a beautiful illustration. This aged and decayed tree is surrounded, as you see, by several young and thrifty shoots, which spring from the root of the venerable parent. They seem to uphold, protect, and embrace it. We may even fancy that they now bear that lead of fruit which would otherwise be demanded of the feeble parent. Thus do good and affectionate children gather round the table of the righteous. Each contributes something to the common wealth and welfare of the whole – a beautiful sight, with which may God refresh the eyes of every friend of mine.”~ Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Elijah, a child of God like you and me, we’re designed to pass down the stories God has written with us.

There was no crown of grandchildren, no glory of sons, no one to say, “Come sit around the fire and let me tell you what God has done for my soul (Psalm 66:16, Proverbs 17:6).

When each day broke, Elijah had no one to sing all the songs remembered in the night (Proverbs 77:6).

God heard the soul-speak of Elijah’s heart-ache.

I alone am left. . .

I love how God’s reply mirrored Elijah’s sentence sandwich. In the middle of God’s to-do list – Elijah was to anoint a new prophet. . . and not just anoint a new prophet but apprentice him. . . to train him up in the way He should go in this new job. . .

I think Elijah was pretty excited – maybe like Abraham when he found out Sarah was with child, or Isaac when he found out Rebecca was finally pregnant after 40 years, maybe how Hannah felt when she realized she was finally pregnant – there was now someone to mentor, someone to pass-down his life’s work. Elijah was so excited that He went to Elisha first, instead of the first thing on God’s list for him – and I think God knew that Elijah would do that. He knew just what Elijah’s soul needed!

Elijah was so excited that he didn’t wait for Elisha to come in from plowing a field with his servants. It says Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. He would have had to walk in the field to do that, walk up the row – in front of all the other field workers.

He invaded Elisha’s bubble and threw his mantle on him.

I imagine Elisha was hot, maybe a little tired, wanting to get the job done – and here someone threw a rough, hairy mantle on him.

. . . Charles Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers calls the act “the form of adoption of a child.”

Joseph Rawson Lumby 1 Kings of Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says, “To cast such a robe upon the shoulders of Elisha was to claim him, by a symbolical act, as one of the members of the prophetic band.” (over 1 Kings 19:19)

Elijah was no longer a man alone.

“A seven-year term was usual and in the better trades, such as cabinet makers, saddlers and silversmiths, apprenticeship usually started at the age of fourteen. By the “custom of London” those apprenticed in the City had to be over 14 and under 21. In Surrey in the 18th century some 87 per cent of the apprenticeships were for seven years, the remainder ranging from one to 15 years. . .The shorter terms included attorneys, milliners and mantua makers (dressmakers), who usually served for five years. In these cases the premiums for females could be as high as £40, whilst those for attorneys could be a good deal higher” ~ Apprenticeships in England.

Elisha would be required as a student to stay close to Elijah, be attentive to Elijah’s ways and skill-set. Elijah would train Elisha daily, from sunrise to sunset. If Elisha completed his time with his mentor, he would become a journeyman (a paid employee in apprentice-ship terms) and then a Master Craftsman (a business owner). Master Craftsmen then trained apprentices.

An apprentice or a son shouldn’t be content to be left in safety if his mentor is running for his life. In order for an apprentice to take over his mentor’s business, I would think he would behave like his mentor was his ride-or-die-companion.

As a mentor, Elijah now had someone to understand the work to which God had called Him. Maybe now he had a companion who “got it” when God called to leave everything behind and go. . .

As a mentor, Elijah had someone to tell
that God wasn’t the earthquake, the fire or the storm,
that God wasn’t the sword that killed the prophets
but was the still small voice.

As a mentor, Elijah had someone to tell
that God orders the crows
to bring bread and meat
and for brooks to bubble fresh water
in famines

As a mentor, Elijah had someone to tell
about how God can keep a jar of oil
and meal full for a famine,
and how God can resurrect
the dead.

As a mentor, Elijah can tell someone
how to walk into a room of unbelievers
not knowing what to do until God
says, “Do” and in the doing
change the heart of a nation.

As a mentor, Elijah can tell how
God wants to hear the cries
of our heart, and in return
to know the sound of God
and trust to step into His
presence.

We are not called to just be story-tellers. We are called to be God-Designed Story Tellers. Are we not all designed to pass down to the next generation, even Elijah? As a mentor, Elijah now had someone to listen to his stories of all that God has done in his life.

Elijah wore his mantle faithfully, cast it according to God’s directions, and set about training God’s answer to his prayer to one day be able to pick up that mantle and carry it onward.

The impact of mentors can change the course of a life in immeasurable and measurable ways, incalculable and treasured ways, or cheap and worthless ways, ways that lead to glory or damnation. . .the impact of a God-designed mentor can lead to a God-designed life fulfilled – for the mentor and the apprentice.

Remember Me Monday: #109 Link-up

“I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
.    love extravagant.”
~ Isaiah 63:7, The Message

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly, quietly and loudly, tells his children, “You have forgotten me!”  (Jeremiah 3:32, Ezekiel 22:12, to name a few). It’s a heart cry from a father to a child who has forgotten all the love, all the saving, helping, little and big blessings – and it leaves me stunned when I realize our Father, the creator of the universe, who knows things I cannot begin to fathom, who authors storylines that leave me amazed, delights in all of us so much, He cries out, “Remember Me.”

While every day is a Remember God Day, I am inviting you to join me on Monday mornings to come by and remember what God has done for you, for your family. Maybe God sent a cardinal darting out in front of you, as if to tell you, “I’m here,” or broke a child’s fever after you laid it all down at His feet in a 2 a.m. bedside vigil. Maybe He stood with you in the wait of a prayer sent out, or brought someone you loved to Christ. Maybe He healed your broken heart, gave your courage, or you gave Him your dreams as a love offering only to have Him give them back in an unimaginable way. Maybe God helped you survive to bedtime after a crazy Monday, or forgive yourself for missing it with your kiddos –– Whatever it is, let’s Remember Him. . . in a “Remember Me Monday” love letter.

“My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
Of your salvation all the day long,
Though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord”
~ Psalm 71:15-16.

Let us delight in Him by telling the  stories of what He’s done!  If you wrote a blog post remembering what He’s done for you, join the linky. If you didn’t but still want to praise Him for what He’s done – write it in the comment section. Then visit a comment before or after yours! One of the beautiful things about the blogging community is the relationships it builds!

Rules?  Write long or short, a list or a story, include photos or not. Just Remember Him and what He has done, and let the gratitude of your heart guide you. Let’s make Monday so Rejoice, that the goodness of God spills into the rest of the week! (Link opens Mondays at 6 a.m.)

Places I’m Linking at This Week:
  Instaencouragements, Legacy Link-Up, 
Recharge Wednesday, Scripture & a Snapshot
 Grace&Truth, Sweet Tea & Friends
Let’s Have Coffee Wednesday