“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but only what is needed daily to nourish me”
Proverbs 30:8
As I look back over the past 52 years of life on this earth, I cannot identify a single second in time where God’s hand has not been guiding me down the road. Every hill and every valley, every pothole and every detour, every loss and every win, His hand, faithfully supporting, nourishing, and leading the entire way. The relevance of today’s position, for the most part, has left me void of my own reasoning, but His unwavering love and consecrated purpose in the moment, continues to evoke a desire in me to drop my net and follow, regardless.
In the course of business ownership, the middle of the road comes in and out of view often. I have sat at the royal table with the elite and a feast of provision at my fingertips and a moment later, reside on the opposite end with the beggars and the prostitutes praying for a scrap to fall from the same countertop. The decision to press forward and anchor down when the cupboard is bare is difficult and void of anything whimsical. My anxiety in both scenarios of too much and too little is beyond its legal limit, and I often find myself singing a hymn of defeat long before I arrive at either location.
The prophet Elijah was known for his courage and power, and his defense of worship to God in the face of Baal during the day’s corruption. He was also known for having overwhelming stress and despair and being fearful of life, which caused him to run and hide, on the heels of this victory and others. In anybody’s book, the triumph on Mount Carmel would naturally produce a celebration. But, for Elijah, anxiety along with physical and spiritual burnout, left him emotionally drained and isolated, setting up an ideal situation for God to step in and conquer. Vanquish would have been his destiny had God chosen not to act and ultimately repair and heal him.
As my own battle rages on, I find myself in a similar place of divine circumstance. As I come to understand closed doors and delays, it becomes overly apparent that these ups and downs are purpose filled, and tailor made for me. The middle of the road becomes narrower with each passing moment, and its old and ancient way paints a clear picture of how few will actually find it. But it is this same weathered surface that stimulates a need in me to travel it as an intimacy with the one true King exists here, well outside of our tabernacle borders and church pulpits. Life without God is void of anything sustainable and the knowledge of how fleeting my pursuit of the next position is compared to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior” will forever be the only restoration and medicine my soul will ever require.
