S 3 E 6 Refresh — Elijah Series, Week 1

Have you ever done everything right, watched God move in a real way, and then woke up the next morning exhausted, discouraged, and ready to walk away from it all? That's exactly the season we find Elijah in — and it's where we're starting this month.

This July, we're walking through the life of Elijah using four R's: Refresh, Reframe, Replenish, and Return. After a heavy June spent working through Thoughts, Doubt, FOMO, and Mistakes, it's time to take what we uncovered and climb to the next level.

In this episode, Coach Paul unpacks:

• The backdrop of 1 Kings — a nation in spiritual freefall under Ahab and Jezebel
• Elijah's dramatic entrance announcing the drought (1 Kings 17:1)
• The mountaintop moment on Mount Carmel — and how fast it turned into the valley
• Elijah's breaking point under the broom tree, praying to die (1 Kings 19)
• Why God's response wasn't rebuke, but rest — feeding and refreshing him before speaking a word
• What it means to take a real Sabbath rest as a kingdom entrepreneur, not just a "church day"
• This week's challenge: identifying where you personally need refreshing

Before you can reframe anything, you have to be refreshed. Next week, we pick up with Reframe — how God helped Elijah reframe his thoughts once he was rested.

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Transcript

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Have you ever been in a season where you did everything right? You showed up, you delivered, you watched God move in a real way. And then the very next morning you woke up exhausted, discouraged, and ready to walk away from all of it. A season where the wind didn't fill you. The fear got louder than the victory. And a part of you just wanted to disappear for a while. If that's where you are right now, I want you to know that you are in good company. Because that's exactly the season that we found Elijah in. This month, all of July, we're going to be walking through the life of Elijah. And we're going to be doing it through the four R's. Refresh, reframe, replenish, and return. And the reason for this matters is because June was heavy. We talked about thoughts, doubt, FOMO, and mistakes, and also work through it. So there was some real introspection going on. Things we had to work through with honesty. And as business owners and entrepreneurs, it's tough. So this month, we take what we uncovered and use these four R's to climb to our next level. Welcome to Build for Confidence, the podcast where kingdom builders rebuild identity, sharpen clarity, and lead with conviction. I am your host, Coach Paul Ibarra, and every week we're cutting through the noise to help you stop second guessing, start deciding, and build with confidence right where God has placed you. So listen, drop a review, drop a comment, hit that like, subscribe, all the things, and let's get started. That's the Elijah that we celebrate, right? But there's another Elijah, the one who ran from his calling because of his own doubts, his thoughts, his FOMO, and possibly his mistakes. Maybe they were in that order, maybe not. Who knows? But that's the Elijah I think every entrepreneur in here can relate to. So let me give you the backstory and let's take it in order. Because the order is where the lesson lives for Elijah and for you. It starts with the world Elijah was dropped into. This is 1 Kings, and Israel is at a low point spiritually. Ahab is on the throne, and scripture tells us that he had become more wicked than every king before him. Then he married that crazy Jezebel and through her brought in the worship of Baal. So this is a nation of full apostasy. That's the backdrop. And into that backdrop with no slow introduction, Elijah just appears. His very first act is to stand in front of King Ahab and announce that a drought is coming. That's 1 Kings 17, verse 1. God was going to withhold the harvest itself as a sign of judgment. And then from there, the story builds. The drought runs for three years. Then God tells Elijah to go present himself to Ahab again, with the promise that rain is finally coming. And that sets up the moment Elijah is most known for the showdown, baby, on Mount Carmel, where the fire of God falls and the prophets of Baal are exposed. This is the mountaintop. This is the peak of everything Elijah had been building towards. Everything's moving good. And here's what you have to catch. It's right after that highest moment that everything fell apart. Because Jezebel hears what happened and she sends Elijah a message. Let's just call it a text message. All right? It's a text message back in the day. She says, Let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your life a living hell. Basically is what she's saying. Right? One threat. And the same man who just called down fire from heaven now turns and runs for his life. He goes to Beersheba, leaves his servant behind, and walks a full day's journey alone in the wilderness. That's the crash. The mountaintop and the valley were almost back to back. So let's read what happens next. In 1 Kings 19, he sits down and he's tired. He's under a broom tree and he prays that he might just die. He says, It's enough. Now, Lord, take my life from no better than my father's. Can you imagine that? He just wanted to die. He didn't want to just hide. He wanted to die. How many times have you done a workshop, taught a masterclass, or gone and spoken on stage, and then after all the adrenaline is gone, you're home alone, nobody else around, and all of a sudden, depression rolls in. Or what about those thoughts that start in your mind? Man, I know I could have done better. Maybe I should have done this or that. That's the same place Elijah was in, only far more intense. This happened to me a year ago at VoiceQuest. I was ready. I thought I knew the script. Everything was good. Adrenaline was fire. The dress was good, the red kicks, the red t-shirt, the activate, all the things ready to build some people and bring a message. And guess what? I was number three out of ten that they called up to stage to bring a six-minute flash talk. And so I went up and I started getting nervous. And guess what? I got so nervous that I forgot everything that I had rehearsed, but I still brought my A game. It was a good show. It was a good talk. However, the judges judged me on some things and said, hey, this is what you need to work on, which was fine. Now watch this afterwards. I went in through a depression. I started thinking, man, I should have done this. And maybe that's not the topic that I should be. Maybe I shouldn't be a part of Voice Quest. Maybe I shouldn't be this. And maybe all the maybes. And this is exactly where Elijah was. He was burnt out. He was tired. And let me tell you something. It's okay to be burnt out. It's okay to feel like you need to run. It's okay to admit that you're tired because watch what happens next. He lies down to go to sleep. And suddenly an angel touches him and says, Arise and eat. He looks, and right by his head, there's a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. So what does he do? He eats, he drinks, and he goes back to sleep. Then the angel came a second time, touched him again, and says, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you. So he got up, he ate again, he drank his water, and on the strength of that food, he travels forty days and forty nights, all the way to Horeb. And it's there in a cave that God finally begins to speak to him. Now I want you to remember this. God is allowing you to rest so that you're replenished for the greater journey ahead. Now watch what God did, because this is the whole point. Elijah is still at his lowest. He's exhausted, he's afraid, he's ready to give up. And God does not rebuke him, he doesn't convict him or condemn him, he feeds him, he lets him sleep. Why? Because God knew the journey ahead was weighty. 40 days of it. You see, we usually skip right to the mountain and the voice of God, but we forget that there was a long road in between. And Elijah couldn't walk it running on empty. So what did God do? He refreshed him first. He needed a refreshing before he could go any further. And that's exactly where so many entrepreneurs get stuck. You're on the go, you're moving and shaking, you're doing all the things you know God called you to do, and you're running on fumes. Is that you? Are you in that season? This is why a Sabbath day, a day of rest, is so imperative for you, especially as a kingdom entrepreneur. Now, when I talk about a Sabbath rest, I'm not talking about a church day. I'm talking a day out of your week, seven days, that you take that one day, you block that day out for yourself to be refreshed with God. But see, we get this idea that we have to do more and more and more and more before God will be pleased with the work. But that's backwards. He wants to bring you into a place of refreshment and refinement so that you can actually have the strength to finish the journey he's put in front of you. So that's this week. Refresh. Next week we're gonna be picking up with the second R called reframe. And we're gonna look at how God helped Elijah reframe his thoughts once he was rested. But before you can reframe anything, you have to be refreshed. So this week, I want you to sit with one honest question. Where in my life do I need a refreshing? Maybe it's some things that you've tapped into that are draining you. Maybe it's some programs you've bought into, maybe some relationships that are just wearing you down. God wants to bless you and God wants to keep you, but He knows you need a refreshing first. So, along with reviewing last month, I want you to take this week, take in the nutrients, take the walk, eat right, get the rest, do the things that add energy back into your life, and keep you solid. So that's your assignment for this week. And before we close, I want you to know that I've got a new digital program that just launched. It's an email that lands into your inbox every single morning. And it's called the Daily Insights. So if you're interested in that, click the link down below. Or if you want to get on a one-on-one call with me to see how I can serve you best and help you reach your next level, let's get you in my coaching program, and we'll catch you on the next episode. God bless. I want to thank you once again for tuning in to the Built for Confidence podcast. If you have found value in any of these episodes, do me a huge favor, drop me a review, and also let me know which episode has touched your life. My passion is to help business owners grow, scale, and expand for the kingdom of God. So let's get out there, let's build our businesses, share this out, hit that like, all the things, and we'll catch you on our next episode. God bless you.