Life can leave us so tired that we lose the will to live. When wave after wave rushes over us, and we feel like drowning, sometimes we just want to give up, check out, and go home to be with Jesus. If that’s where you are today, please don’t carry it alone; reach out to someone you trust or a crisis line today.
In the Bible, we can also see that we are not alone in this. When the prophet Elijah was threatened by that mad woman Jezebel, he ran for his life. After he left his servant behind, he continued to flee for an entire day and sat down under a tree in the desert. Then, in his exhaustion, he asked God to let him die and went to sleep.
In 1 Kings chapter 19, verse four, we read that he said: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (ESV). He couldn’t handle it anymore. He had given up and was ready to be with the people who had died before him.
This is part 5 of the Biblical Rest series. Today, we’ll look at why Jesus withdrew to desolate places, and what that means for you when you are running on empty. Watch the video, or read the transcript below.
Elijah’s burnout: when even the strong run out
I think we can all imagine how Elijah must have felt. Exhausted, afraid, lonely, hungry, thirsty. His body, mind, and spirit were spent.
And the crazy thing is that not long before, Elijah had been part of several major miracles. In his faith, he had been fearless, and had the energy and strength to run a great distance because the hand of the Lord was on him. Now, in his fear, nothing was left of all that strength, boldness, energy, and power.
This is all too familiar to me: experiencing the boldness, strength, and energy of the Lord in ministry, feeling great. Until one day something nasty happens: a threat, disease, or any other attack by the enemy, and all of that amazing energy trades places with fear, sadness, worry, and weariness. One day, I am soaring on wings like eagles; the next, I am crashing down, wandering through the wilderness hurt and depleted.
How God cared for an exhausted Elijah
But thankfully, Elijah’s story didn’t end there, and neither does ours.
After he had fallen asleep, something beautiful happened. Let’s read it together: “And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ 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. 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.’ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God” (1 Kings 19:5b-8, ESV).
We often judge ourselves harshly when we fail to be productive, but in this text, we can see that God didn’t get angry with him for being weakened and needing rest at all. Instead, He came to Elijah’s aid and provided food and water through an angel. When that wasn’t enough, He did it a second time. He even acknowledged that the journey was too much for Elijah. He didn’t get angry and punish him for being idle, like the enemy would; no, He showed compassion and lovingly offered help.
The Bread of Life and Living Water
The angel replenished him with food and water, and it’s easy to look past the miracle in this. Some Christians think that this is the end of the story: refuel the body and you’re ready to go. And yes, the body needs fuel, but there is another message hidden in this text. Throughout the Bible, food and water provided by God are also references to the Bread of Life, so the Word of God, Jesus, and Living Water, the Spirit of God (John 1:1-14, 6:35, 7:37-39).
Understanding this is key to knowing how to find rest. Because the food God provided gave Elijah supernatural energy to travel through the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. And you may remember that Jesus had a similar experience: the Holy Spirit had also enabled Him to spend forty days in the wilderness without food (Luke 4:1-2).
God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire
In his newfound strength, Elijah went to Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, and holed up in a cave. And that’s when he finally heard from God. After more than a month of complete silence, God asked Elijah what he was doing in that cave.
Elijah then mentioned all that had happened, and that they sought to end his life. Then God told him to step out from the cave and to stand on the mount before God. Then God showed him three terrifying, life-threatening, destructive things: a powerful storm, an earthquake, and a fire. And each time, the Bible says that God was not in it. But what does that mean? I believe there are several important lessons in this.
One lesson is about the power of God. When a bird flaps its wings, it displaces air, which can be felt by someone standing nearby. The bird isn’t in that airflow, nor is it the air itself. But it does control the air by moving it. God has tremendous power, so when He moves, the effects are beyond imagination. Yet we cannot find Him by looking at the effects as if they are God. No, we have to realize that God is greater than all we see. When we focus on all the drama that is happening in our lives, we will fear what we see more than God, even though God is the one with sovereign control.
The storm, fire, and earthquake, however strong, all passed by. They were temporary, yet God is eternal. No matter the storm we face, we must continue to seek God and trust Him to show up at exactly the right moment.
The still, small voice in the desolate place
After the fire, Elijah heard a soft whisper, and he knew that it was God. When Elijah recognized His voice, he stepped out of his hiding place and listened. Then God told him what to do and set his mind at ease by telling him he wasn’t alone after all: there were seven thousand other people who had never bowed to Baal.
Through this intense season of testing, Elijah regained the spiritual, physical, and mental stamina to continue following God’s will.
There is a detail in this story that might be easily overlooked: The name Horeb means desolation in Hebrew. In other words, Elijah’s encounter with God was in a desolate, remote place (or a lonely, quiet place). And who else went to desolate places to encounter God? Yes, Jesus.
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Why Jesus withdrew to desolate places to pray
Jesus didn’t work continually; He took time to recharge. He sat down to eat with His friends. He slept. And as we just said, He retreated to remote places. Luke 5:15-16 (ESV) says: “But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” (Other translations say He withdrew to ‘lonely places’ or ‘the wilderness.’)
When helping people feels like too much
Imagine being surrounded by a large crowd of people, many of whom traveled great distances for a chance to hear your teaching and to be healed of whatever has been tormenting them. Some of them are calling your name. Others are crying and begging.
Even though I stopped being a people-pleaser some time ago, without God’s help, I would definitely succumb to this kind of pressure. I would likely continue to help each individual until I passed out, completely worn out, empty, kaput. I would do it out of sympathy, but also out of guilt. I would likely think that if God gave me the ability to help, who am I to deny them that help? But that’s simplistic reasoning. Because there is one thing more important than helping people: our relationship with God. That relationship keeps our cup full and overflowing (Psalm 23:5). When we don’t invest in that relationship, we will run on empty. And if we didn’t need God to do good deeds, we would only be glorifying ourselves, and we wouldn’t please God.
In the Gospels, we can read how Mary prioritized her relationship with Jesus over helping the poor when she poured that expensive ointment on Jesus to anoint Him. Jesus didn’t scold her, but honored her for it (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:3-8). The truth is that there will always be people who need help. The needs in this world are too many to solve alone; we need God and each other.
The interesting thing about Jesus turning away from the people who needed help was that, in doing so, He helped them more. By His choice to retreat and spend time with God, He demonstrated the long-term solution to their problems: a relationship with the Father.
By cultivating our own relationship with the Father, we are helped more than a one-time healing or sermon ever could. And it enables us to offer sustained help to others. As long as we prioritize our relationship with God, we will have the tools, gifts, knowledge, strength, and wisdom to help others according to His will.
So whenever helping people feels like too much, we need to withdraw to a desolate place to be with God. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29, ESV).
“Come away and rest a while”: Jesus’s invitation
In Mark 6, Jesus extended His disciples a meaningful invitation when He said, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”
The disciples had had a very eventful day. They had been going from village to village proclaiming repentance, casting out demons, and anointing and healing the sick (Mark 6:7-13). But even after they came back to Jesus, the people continued to follow them. There wasn’t even a moment to eat (Mark 6:31). That’s a similar situation we saw Jesus retreat from earlier.
Jesus invited them to rest, yet Scripture doesn’t explicitly mention that they felt tired. In fact, it’s possible that they felt energized by all the exciting things they had done and seen. On top of that, Jesus had provided them with what they needed to do the mission: authority, power, and instructions to stay at a place that would provide them further (Matthew 10:10). They didn’t have to operate in their own strength at all. Therefore, it doesn’t seem likely that they were completely drained afterwards.
Serving in the Spirit’s strength, not your own
When I prepare my ministry activities too well, I often get more nervous than when I let the Holy Spirit guide me from beginning to end. Because over-preparing comes from fear of failure and a lack of faith. I usually feel wiped out after those days, and on top of that, I’m unable to get refreshing sleep.
In contrast, I’ve also had days packed with God-led appointments that had no other preparation than prayer. Even without time for a proper meal, I felt energized at the end of those days and slept like a baby. It just shows you how much more you can achieve by leaning on the Holy Spirit. He truly gives you rest, while faithless toiling in your own strength wears you out.
Recharge before your battery hits zero
It seems that the disciples had also operated in the strength of the Lord, so the fact that Jesus invited them to rest in a remote place doesn’t necessarily mean that they were physically or mentally tired. That said, they had been giving all day, and now they needed to be replenished, nourished, to keep their cup overflowing. Often, we wait until we are wiped out before we take a moment to recharge, only to discover we are too tired for a conversation with God. That is too late. We need to recharge before our battery hits zero.
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Feeding the five thousand: Offering Him the little you have
By taking them to a remote place, Jesus meant to physically set them apart, but the crowds overtook them, so they all ended up in that desolate place (Mark 6:33-34). With compassion, He began to teach and heal the sick (Mark 6:34; Matthew 14:14). He fed them the Bread of Life, the Word. Then, He let the disciples partake in a prophetic object lesson by feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:41).
During that lesson, He taught them that by their own strength, they couldn’t feed such a big crowd. When the disciples worried about food for the people, Jesus challenged them with the sentence: “You give them something to eat.” Which, of course, they couldn’t do in any way, shape, or form. So Jesus did the impossible and miraculously multiplied the little they had. Again, toiling in their own strength proved to be useless, while God provided all they needed and more. Jesus demonstrated that when we don’t have enough, we first have to offer the little we have to Him, and He will work with that and provide us with however much we need to share.
Jesus walks on water and steps into the boat
The story gets even better. After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sent His disciples to Bethsaida in a boat. He dismissed the crowds and went up the mountain to pray. So after that very busy day and the emotional news about His cousin’s beheading (Matthew 14:10-13), Jesus withdrew to pray. He didn’t seek His solace in entertainment, drinking, eating, or even sleeping; He talked to His Father.
Then in Mark 6, we can read: “And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased” (Mark 6:47-51a, ESV).
Jesus walked on water after talking to His Father. Prayer empowers, and miracles happen when we pray. Earthly limits disappear, and God makes a way where there seems to be no way.
The disciples, in the meantime, were struggling since the wind was against them. They were using every ounce of strength they had in them to reach Bethsaida (meaning ‘house of food’ or ‘place of fishing’). In other words, they were toiling hard to reach their destination and getting really tired.
Mark tells us Jesus “meant to pass by them,” just as the Lord passed by Elijah at Horeb (1 Kings 19:11). But this time, He didn’t pass by. He stepped into the boat. The fact that they thought they were seeing a ghost (or spirit, KJV) gives us a beautiful picture of the Helper Jesus would send us: the Holy Spirit. Now, He doesn’t pass us by. He travels with us and helps us so that we no longer have to toil for our salvation. With Him, rowing takes less effort, and we get to our destination safely.
How to withdraw to your own desolate place
Jesus invites you to follow Him to a desolate place, too. An empty place, a lonely place, a place void of external stimuli. A place He can fill, where He can move freely, without you being distracted. Where you can recharge, and rediscover how to lean on Him, draw near to Him, connect to Him, and receive peace from Him.
So, pick a set time and place and mark that in your calendar. That’s when you have an appointment with God. Put your phone in another room, unless you can use it for your connection with God without being distracted. Bring something to write on because when God speaks, it’s always important.
Start with 10 minutes, or even 5 if you find focusing for 10 minutes too difficult. The quality of the time you spend with God matters more than the duration. When the quality improves, you will find it easier to spend as much time with God as you both feel necessary.
In the time you spend with God, you can read the Bible or a specific devotion and meditate on it. Take a moment of silence to allow Him to speak. Thank Him, praise Him for who He is, looking at His attributes and not just what He does for you. Only then, bring in your requests and thank Him for what He has done for you and will do for you. After that, just sit in silence with Him for a moment, to allow Him to speak to you again. Listen carefully for a still, small voice. A voice that builds up, encourages, and speaks loving words of comfort. Learn from Him, eat with Him, and let His Spirit calm the storm. Then share your encouragement, your testimony, here in the comments, or with someone hungry for it.
Most of all, trust God and His Word. He will provide for you, help you, and love you each day onward. Believing this is where resting in Him begins.
If you like practical exercises that bring you closer to God, you will like the third part of my book.
Next time, we’ll put everything Scripture has taught us so far into practice to find Biblical rest for body, soul, and spirit. See you there.