COLUMN: Grey Matters – Wilderness and restoration

“He (Elijah) finally laid down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death… suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, ‘Get up! Eat something!’ Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head… Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for 40 days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. There he went into a cave and spent the night. The Lord’s word came to him.” – 1 Kings 19:5a-9a

This summer I had an adventurous canoe trip with my son. As we passed the point of an uninhabited island I felt someone watching us. I looked up and at the top of the barren tree was a large bald eagle peering down at me. As we paddled around the corner, we saw a large buck by the shore. A minute after that we saw a woman sitting on the island. As we came closer, we saw a deflated raft on the shore. We called out to her, “Do you need help?” Suddenly a man came out of the bush yelling, “Take me! Leave her!” Trying to assess the situation, I asked the woman again if she was OK. “My sister lives in Pinawa and is coming to get me,” came her reply. With that, we loaded up the man and set off across the channel to Pinawa. In those five minutes he unloaded on us how he loves this woman, but sometimes they just don’t get along. By the time we arrived he softened a little and tells us, “You should go back and get her.” When we did our second trip, in the canoe she also unloaded on us how she loves this man but sometimes can’t stand him. Back together on the mainland, I encouraged the couple that if the relationship is worth having, it needs a lot of heart work. They nodded in agreement.

Wilderness reveals our limits and pushes us to look for what else we can rely on beyond our usual means. Wilderness can be peopleless and pathless. Not an easy place. However, the story of Elijah reminds us that being alone in nature can reorient our trust in God. Like He did for Elijah in the wilderness, God may send someone to help us and God himself my whisper to us the bigger picture.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah stood boldly on Mount Carmel, calling down fire from heaven and witnessing a great victory over the prophets of Baal. In 1 Kings 19 he is running for his life. The same prophet who stood courageously on the mountaintop is now hiding in the wilderness under a broom bush.

Sometimes the details tell a story within the story. ‘Broom bush’ is only mentioned three times in Scripture and is one of the few bushes that provide a good canopy in the desert. YourBibleStudyBuddy.com explains its significance further: “Its branches were used as kindling for cooking stoves, and coals were made from its roots, trunk, and branches. Why? Because broom tree embers retain their heat for long periods after they appear to be dead ashes. It is reported that travelers would form a layer of broom embers, cover it with 2-4 inches of sand, and use it as a warm mattress on cold desert nights… Elijah would have known that. I wonder if God was trying to tell Elijah something, having him lay under that broom tree?

God did not abandon Elijah in the wilderness. He met him there. The same God who is on the mountain of victory with us, meets us in the desert of despair. Wilderness seasons are not dead ends. They are preparation grounds for the next fire. What felt like Elijah’s ending was a new beginning as it led to his next ministry of calling forth Elisha, the next prophet.

Before my son and I left that couple in Pinawa, the man asked what I did for a living. I told him I was a hospital chaplain and pastor. He told me that today reminded him of a time when he was moving from Quebec to Alberta to meet his future girlfriend. His car had broken down, and a pastor gave him a meal, a place to sleep, and repaired his car. That pastor told him that “God was for him.” I agreed, “God is still for you,” I said. As my son and I paddled away, an older lady fishing on the dock quietly said to us,”God is good,” and I found myself thinking, “Yes, even in the wilderness.”