"Eat, Drink, and Sleep: Part 2" Kathryn Kuhlman "Your Heavenly Father Cares"

just to know you have a heavenly father who cares you're not alone you're not fighting those battles alone you're not walking alone in that midnight hour when you feel so alone and it's so dark in that room And the darkness almost smothers you. And you become like a frightened child. Homesick. Lonely. So afraid. You feel the hot perspiration in the palm of your hand. The quivering of the flesh. Afraid. Worried. Discouraged. You're not alone. There's a Heavenly Father who's interested in you. Concerned about you. He knows the problems. He knows the burdens you're bearing. He sees the falling tear. Believe me, he's there. Only a heartbeat away, only a breath away. He's there, loving, caring, with open arms. I promise you. We've been talking about discouragements. One of the greatest problems of the human spirit. It's a practical problem. It's a problem that's real to all of us. What to do about discouragement? It's a hard fact of human existence. And it's something that comes to each of us at one time or another. And it's something you just can't wish away. wouldn't it be wonderful if there was no such thing as discouragement but sooner or later there are moments of discouragement in each of our lives and in our last little heart -to -heart talk we were talking about elijah his experience is such a comfort to me the greatest saint as elijah was Oh, and the marvelous way that God used Elijah. Some of the greatest experience that any human being ever had. Elijah saw miracles. The Holy Spirit used the vessel of Elijah as he used very few people. He was strong in the Lord. He was brave. He was challenging. And yet there came a time in his life when he became so human, so frightened, so insecure, that he looked up after one of the greatest triumphs of his life and said, oh, let me die. Really, he ran for the wilderness. And looked up and cried, let me die. But today, for just a few minutes, we're not going to put the emphasis on Elijah's discouragement. On the weakness of Elijah. When he looked up and prayed to die. But on the way his heavenly father took care of it. That's what I like. Oh, to me, that's the most precious thing. The way our Heavenly Father took care of Elijah's discouragement. That's what gets me. That's the part of it that I love. Into the Heavenly Father saying, Child, After all that I've done for you, I have manifested my power in my person. Through your life, I've answered prayer for you. I've accepted your challenge. I manifested my power to the prophets of Baal. And then to think that after everything that I've done in answering your prayer and answering your cry, for you to take for tall timber and be discouraged i'm ashamed of you i'm just as shamed of you as my child oh i wish i had not done it for you did he do it he certainly did not if you want to know what our Heavenly Father is really like. You know, so many people, when they think of God, they think of Him only in the sense of wrath or fear, in the sense of judgment. Whenever they think of God, they think of hell, of brimstone. That's right. When you know him as a Heavenly Father, so tender, so understanding, there was not one word of condemnation in that moment of discouragement in the life of Elijah. The Heavenly Father knows my weakness. I'm glad he does. I'm glad he understands it. People condemn not the Heavenly Father. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how long Elijah had gone without sleep. He knew how long Elijah had gone without food. He knew that. He knew how tired Elijah was in his physical body. He knows our physical makeup. He knows. He's not a stranger to you and to me. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. And so, me thinks he said my child is weary in body. He's tired. Check upon yourself. I... looked at myself more than once when I became irritable, discouraged, and almost invariably, discouragement has come to me when I was overworked, too tired. My body Turning back the pages of my life, I cannot remember an instant when I was well rested, had gotten a good night's sleep, felt good physically, that I had one moment of discouragement. You see, the enemy of our soul knows exactly where to attack and when to attack us. He knows. Look at yourself. When you're tired physically, the enemy will attack you. It's just like him. When you're run down physically, he'll attack you. He has no principle. None whatsoever. Did the Heavenly Father condemn Elijah? For praying to die? For crawling under the juniper tree? Defeated? Running off into the wilderness? Like a child running away, trying to get away from it all? No, he didn't. He not only put him to sleep, and I dare say that was the Best sleep Elijah ever experienced. I've had sleep like that, and I can't explain it. It's a different kind of a sleep. Some nights you go to sleep and you awaken and say, I had a good night's sleep. There have been times in my life when the sleep was different. It was almost a supernatural sleep. There was a rest in my body when I awakened. There was a rest that had come to my body that I could not explain. Awakened from that sleep, his sleep, the rest that he had given to me, awakened. I felt I could lick... the whole world and all the prophets of Baal thrown in for good measure. And when you are awakened from a rest like that, you're hungry. There's something about it. You're hungry. You're hungry. Do you know what I'm talking about? The discouragement is gone. It's completely gone. You've forgotten you were ever discouraged. That's the kind of rest God gives to his child. He knows us. No reproof. The Heavenly Father, knowing the weakness and the frailty of the human body, Says now when my child is awakened he'll be hungry Thirsty and so he sent the angel to bake a cake The cake wasn't baked in heaven it was baked right there on the coals We expect you know A miracle from heaven. The cake was baked right there by Elijah's sight. Methinks the coals were still warm when Elijah awakened. And the angel didn't forget the water. I dare say that was the best water. The freshest water. The cool... water that Elijah ever drank. And he did eat and drink. And then the Heavenly Father looked down and said, well, he needs a little more sleep. I've got another big job for him. He needs a little more rest. And the scripture said, and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And then after he was fully rested and Heavenly Father knew it, he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah? Come on now. It's time to go back to work. Come on. You're rested. You're fed now. Come on. Come on. Back. to work. If a human parent will treat his earthly child like that, how much more does our Heavenly Father understand His children, understand you, and understand me? And He treats us the same way. What to do in an hour of discouragement? Well, I found something that's very beautiful. The scripture says, in quietness and confidence shall be my strength. Note two things, quietness and confidence. Get quiet in the presence of God. In quietness there's strength. Go away. Just a few minutes, an hour or two, and get quiet. There's so much confusion out there. Sometimes we get so involved. And in getting so involved in the confusion, in the turmoil of it all, our minds become confused. We're not thinking straight. We lose our perspective. And in losing our perspective, we lose our right to thinking. We're not conscious of his presence. He's there, but we're not conscious of his presence. The best thing in the world is to just get quiet. Don't say anything. And in that quiet, Remember to whom you belong. Just remember. Have the confidence that a little child has. A little child for just a moment. And I think that even little children sometimes become discouraged maybe in their homework. Get a little discouraged and Fixing the wheel of the bicycle. You see, we're all just grown -up children. And some of us don't grow up very quickly. But the daddy comes along and says, Oh, that's all right. That's all right. And when the daddy says it's all right, I'll fix it. The child's entire... attitude changes changes it immediately when daddy comes on the scene when papa would come on the scene why i didn't have anything to be discouraged about i didn't have anything to fear papa was there he'd do the fixing he'd help me with my problems oh sure it was just like that where i'd been crying over arithmetic problems when papa would come my tears would all dry up because papa would fix it he'd always come through with the answers to my arithmetic problems be still Be quiet, and in the stillness of the moment, remember to whom you belong. You're not alone. You have no cause for your discouragement. Know that. He's there loving you, caring for you. Know that. And in that moment, you'll be the master of your discouragement. your discouragement will not master you if in the moment of discouragement you'll remember to whom you belong do that and then after you get your second breath you'll hear the heavenly father say to you child of mine what doest thou here get busy go to work there's a job to be done and i will go with thee