Elijah sitting under a broom tree prayed to the Lord, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 18:4). No, he was not committing suicide. Yes, he was tired and worn, and feeling alone. God showed Elijah that he was never alone, and that he still had a few things to do.
I once preached a funeral service for a woman who was just one month shy or 103. A few days before her passing, her and I sat in the hospital together testing our Bible knowledge. She won! The first time I met her, I came up onto her front porch and peeking through the window–saw her sitting at her kitchen table reading her bible through a large magnifying glass. When I sat down with her she told me that she read the New Testament once every month of her adult life. That would have been some 80 years or more.
She told me that she was hoping for the day to come when she would, “put off this tent”, and go home to meet the Lord. She, like Elijah, had committed an entire life in service to the Lord Jesus and His church, and was tired and ready. The wonderful thing in this is that she did the work she was called to do for so many years, teaching and providing necessities for the needs of the saints, and others.
The important question we must all ask of ourselves is simply when I do die, and I will die. Will it be a time to weep, or a time to laugh; A time to mourn, or a time to dance? Will it be a time to rejoice or a time of the greatest sorry?