Open Heaven 29 August 2026: Don’t Overwork Yourself 1
OPEN HEAVEN 24 AUGUST 2026 MEMORISE: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Genesis 2:2
OPEN HEAVEN 24 AUGUST 2026 READ: 1 Kings 19:4-8
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
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Elijah must have used up a lot of stored-up spiritual energy when he prayed, and fire fell from heaven in 1 Kings 18:36-38.
After that, he drew upon the same reservoir of spiritual energy to summon rain from heaven.
It had not rained for three and a half years, and the sky was absolutely clear, but he put a significant demand on his reservoir of spiritual energy by praying until it started raining (1 Kings 18:41-45).
Furthermore, he used even more spiritual energy to run faster than the king’s chariot (1 Kings 18:46) for a distance that some Bible scholars estimate to be about seven kilometres. After doing all these, he hadn’t rested or taken time to recharge his spiritual energy when he received news that Queen Jezebel was after his life.
His spiritual energy had been grossly depleted, so he ran for three days and nights to save his life. By the time he got to the juniper tree in today’s Bible reading, he was so weak and spiritually drained that he prayed to God to end his life.
As soon as he said this prayer, he fell asleep because he had not slept for more than three days.
The angel of the Lord came to wake him up to eat, and after eating, he fell asleep again, even though he was aware that Queen Jezebel was still after his life.
The angel of the Lord had to wake him up a second time to eat again because he needed strength for the great journey ahead of him.
You must also take time out to rest and recharge your spiritual energy if you want to run the race ahead of you successfully.
In Genesis 1:1-31, the Bible describes how God created one thing after another. It was a lot of work, but as the account progressed to Genesis 2:2, which is today’s memory verse, you will see that God rested.
Beloved, you cannot be wiser than God. If God Himself rested after creation, then you must also create time to rest from time to time.
Do not finish one demanding task after another without taking time to rest.
Many people have overworked themselves to the point of exhaustion, but this is not God’s plan for anyone. He wants you to know when and how to take rests so you don’t burn yourself out.
Beloved, I pray that the Almighty God will shower you with His wisdom so you will know how to preserve your strength, in Jesus’ name.
OPEN HEAVEN 29 AUGUST 2026 REFLECTION
Do you rest when you ought to?
OPEN HEAVEN 29 AUGUST 2026 HYMN 33:
GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH!
OPEN HEAVEN 29 AUGUST 2026 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 18-20
