The Journey Is Too Much For You Alone.
You know the feeling. You’ve given everything to the work, the people, the vision. And one day you find yourself just… empty. Not a little tired. Empty, exhausted and overwhelmed. There is a prophet in the Old Testament who felt the same Elijah knew it too.
This is the man who called fire down from heaven. Who stood against 450 prophets of Baal and didn’t flinch. He was possibly the most powerful prophetic voice of his generation. And yet, in 1 Kings 19, we find him under a broom tree in the wilderness, asking to die. “I have had enough, Lord.”
If you’ve ever whispered something like that, even quietly, even just to yourself, we sit together. In this story, God doesn’t remind Elijah of his calling. He doesn’t send a vision or a strategy. He doesn’t say, “Come on, pull yourself together.”An angel visits him and says:
“Get up and eat.”
A cake is baking on hot coals. A jar of water. Elijah eats and lies back down. And the angel comes again. Not with urgency, not with disappointment. With the same gentle compassionate invitation…
“Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
The journey is too much for you.
Not a rebuke. An acknowledgement. God sees Elijah’s limits and meets him exactly there, with bread, water, and permission to rest.
The last season has been vast.
Vast in opinion, vast in conflict and vast in pain. If you’ve been leading for a long time in business, ministry, family, or community, your body and your soul have been carrying more than people see. The kind of tiredness you’re feeling isn’t fixed by a good night’s sleep or a weekend away. It’s deeper than that. Over the last 18 months, I have been on a journey in which my body couldn’t keep going the way I had, and the journey as a leader was too much for my weary soul. I have learnt a few things from this place of exhaustion, and I would love to invite you to consider the same journey. It’s not a formula, but a resetting of our nervous system, to rest with care.
Simple Rhythms of Restoration
Creativity doesn’t come from pushing harder. It comes from creating space. When Elijah rested and ate, he was able to travel forty days. The simplest rhythms are often the ones that bring back the energy and imagination that sustained you in the first place.
Nourishing food that resets your energy
The angel brought Elijah bread. Not a feast, not a gourmet meal. Simple, nourishing food. Notice what you’re eating when you’re running on empty. Are you grabbing whatever’s convenient, or are you actually fuelling yourself? You deserve to eat well, not as a luxury, but as an act of stewardship.
Drink water. More water.
The jar of water in the story is there for a reason. Dehydration affects your mood, your thinking, and your resilience. Lean away from leaning on wine, tea, and coffee to get through the day. You don’t have to give them up. Just lean into hydration first. A practical step that’s made a difference for me personally: electrolytes every day, especially when travelling. It’s a small thing that genuinely changes how you feel.
Sleep that actually helps
Elijah lay down and slept. Twice. There’s no guilt in that story, no wasted time. Just received rest. A few things worth trying: put your phone on charge in another room, take magnesium before bed, drink water, and keep a notebook nearby to write down what’s keeping you awake. Getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper is one of the most underrated things you can do for your sleep. In started recording my dreams and they became a blueprint for the changes I was making.
Short retreats to reset your vision
Elijah travelled to Horeb, a place set apart. You need rhythms away from your everyday life that help you see your life from a different angle. Even a short retreat, a weekend away with intentional space, can shift things profoundly. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It has to be intentional.
Meditation and prayer to quieten the noise
At Horeb, God asked Elijah, ‘What are you doing here?’ That question created space for Elijah to name what was actually going on inside him. Meditation and prayer do the same. They slow the rolling worry down. They help you get honest with yourself and with God about where you actually are, not where you think you should be.
Create your personal board
Even Elijah was given Elisha, someone to walk alongside him. Who is in your corner? A counsellor, psychologist, spiritual director, or coach can each offer something different. Think about building your own personal board: people who know you, who will speak truth to you, and who will help reset your perspective when you’ve lost sight of it. You were never meant to carry this alone.
Reflection:
Take your time with these. There are no right answers.
What would it mean to let the journey be too much and stop pretending otherwise?
When did you last eat a proper meal, drink a full glass of water, or sleep without your phone beside you?
What simple rhythm have you let go of that used to sustain you?
Who is on your personal board right now? Who is speaking truth into your life?
If you had a weekend retreat with no agenda, just space, silence, good food, and time to think. What would come back to you?
The Journey Continues
Elijah didn’t stay under the broom tree. After the rest, the food, the honesty, and the gentle re-commissioning, he got up and went. Not because he’d found some new burst of energy or renewed enthusiasm. But because he’d been met, seen, and sustained.
That’s available to you, too. You don’t have to figure out how to keep going. You just have to let yourself be cared for. Start with something small. A glass of water. A full night’s sleep. A conversation with someone who knows you.
The journey is too much for you. And that’s okay. Get up and eat.
I am opening a space for leaders this April, designed for your reflection and renewal. Selah, leadership retreat; you’re invited.
