SERIES: Enlightening Epitaphs of the Kings and Prophets
Elijah: “I Have Had Enough, Lord. Take my life.”
Introduction: The epitaph I have chosen for Elijah this morning is a direct quote from his lips: “I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.” Is that amazing, or what? Here is one of the greatest miracle workers of the Bible, the one who just defeated the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah in the Battle of the gods, the one who with his prayers brought rain after a 3 ½ year drought–and within the space of a few hours we find him expressing a death wish. Can you believe it? Of course, you can believe it, because it’s probably happened to you–at least the death wish part.
This message today is for troubled Christians–those who really feel under the gun, those who think they’re standing all alone, those who wonder why God is silent, those who were once being used significantly by God but now feel they’ve been “put on a shelf,” or those who simply lack joy in their Christian experience.
On the other hand, if you are one who has it all together, never experiences down times, and never throws pity parties, you can be excused (unless, of course, you want to stay and listen in so you can better understand your spouse, or your kids, or your friends, because chances are they have gone through these feelings). Hopefully Elijah’s experience will enable all of us to minister better to the troubled people around us.
I am stating the obvious when I say that spiritual victory is very difficult to attain and even more difficult to maintain. Sometimes we are most vulnerable to depression or moral failure right after a great spiritual victory. We have countless biblical examples of those who accomplished great things for God, only to succumb later to the pressures of trials, temptations, or just the daily grind–Moses, Samson, David, Solomon, Jonah, Jeremiah, Peter, and Elijah. The story of Elijah’s roller coaster ride is one of the classics of biblical literature. What we discover in our Scripture text today is that …
Elijah goes from the heights of Mt. Carmel, where he achieved phenomenal success (18:16-46), to the wilderness of Horeb, where he experiences deep spiritual and emotional depression. (19:1-21)
Two weeks ago in our study of chapter 18 we found Elijah on Mt. Carmel where he took on King Ahab of Israel, the religion of Baal, 850 false prophets, and a huge crowd of antagonistic Israelites. And he won a dramatic victory. He championed the truth, challenged the faint-hearted, fought against the forces of darkness, demonstrated great faith in God, exercised great power in prayer, and came through it all triumphant.
Now I want us to pick up the conclusion to that story in verse 41 of chapter 18:
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'”
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
I have a hunch Elijah sincerely believes that Ahab has had a change of heart, along with all the people who have turned from Baal worship and cried, “The LORD–He is God! The LORD–He is God!” So Elijah shows compassion to Ahab, urging him to eat and drink in preparation for the trip home. He also informs him that God is bringing the drought to an end, “for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” Please note that the “sound” Elijah hears is not heard by his physical ears but rather by the ears of faith. So sure is he that God is going to keep His promise that he speaks of the storm as though it is already on its way.
Elijah himself climbs to the peak of Mt. Carmel and bows his face to the ground in earnest prayer.1Six times he prays, six times he sends his servant to look toward the Mediterranean Sea, and six times the servant returns to report that there is nothing to be seen. But still Elijah persists in prayer, and the seventh time his faith is rewarded. A small cloud forms off the horizon of the Mediterranean. Then the sky grows dark, the wind increases, and a terrific thunderstorm results–all in response to one man’s humble, earnest, persistent prayer. So exhilarating is the experience that Elijah runs all the way back to Jezreel (a distance of approximately 18 miles). God even enables him to outrun the chariots of Ahab. It is Elijah’s greatest day. Perhaps never since the days of Moses more than 500 years earlier has a mortal man been used by God in such a mighty way.
To go from Carmel to Jezreel involves a descent in elevation of approximately 1400 feet. Unfortunately, Elijah doesn’t stop there. He keeps descending–spiritually, as well as physically–until he finds himself in the wilderness of Horeb over 300 miles south. Let’s read the first 10 verses of the 19th chapter:
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Elijah is clinically depressed–I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. It all starts as Elijah and Ahab reach Jezreel. This is the location of the king’s summer home, where Jezebel apparently remained during the Battle of the Gods on Mt. Carmel. When Ahab arrives home, naturally the first thing he does (after reading the paper, of course) is to tell his wife everything that happened up on the mountain. Perhaps he is hopeful that she too will be impressed by the power of God which he has seen demonstrated, and perhaps she will even abandon her idolatry and become a worshiper of Yahweh. But any hopes or illusions that she might change are quickly dashed as soon as Ahab mentions that Elijah has killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword.
Jezebel is livid and summons all the evil passion in her heart as she sends a message to Elijah that she intends to execute him in the same way he has executed her prophets. But, you might ask, why doesn’t she just kill Elijah on the spot instead of promising to do it the next day, since he is right there in Jezreel? I suspect her cunning mind realizes that the common people will not tolerate the murder of a prophet who has just performed such an amazing miracle. On the other hand, a threat might cause him to flee, and that way she can get rid of him without the downside of making a martyr out of him.
Unfortunately, Elijah plays right into her hand. Verse 3 says, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” Singlehandedly this prophet took on 850 prophets, but one wicked woman says, “I’ll get you,” and he caves. “Lord, I’ve had it. I’m turning in my prophet’s badge.”2 How does one account for such an amazing turnaround? Depression is the answer, and if you cannot understand its power, it’s only because you have never experienced it. I want to talk about some of the …
Circumstances that contribute to depression, almost all of which are evident in Elijah’s case:
1. Unsustainability of spiritual highs. My spell checker tells me “unsustainability” is not a word, but if it’s not, it ought to be. The point I am trying to make is that it’s impossible to remain on a spiritual high indefinitely. You can climb a mountain, but eventually you have to come down. Teenagers at camp or on a mission trip can witness to this. They come home rededicated and pumped, ready to take their campus for Christ, and then about a half day later their little brother or sister does something ornery just like they did before camp, and suddenly they react with old habit patterns and their sanctification disappears.
Or a couple attends a marriage seminar, and they list each other’s wonderful qualities when that assignment is made (as it always is), and they have a date night on the Friday night of the conference. But then on Sunday morning she’s late getting ready for church as usual, or he gets angry at a driver who cuts him off on Manchester Rd., and by the time they arrive at worship, they’re right back at each other’s throats.
I don’t think this is an argument against trying to achieve spiritual highs, but it may be an argument for being realistic about them once we get there. If we recognize that life can’t be one great love-fest with God or with the key people in our lives, we may be better prepared to deal with the valleys that always come after the peaks. I suspect Elijah is pretty unrealistic as he leaves Mt. Carmel. He believes the long-awaited revival has arrived, for the people are worshiping God alone, and even Ahab is showing signs of repentance. Elijah is floating on air. He will soon be teaching Bible classes for Ahab and his court. He will be right in the thick of the reformation, as streams of pilgrims head for Jerusalem.
But unfortunately, a lot of what he sees is smoke and mirrors. Certainly Ahab turns out to be a fair-weather penitent, a Milquetoast of a man, totally dominated by his evil wife. The spiritual high Elijah experienced on Mt. Carmel is simply unsustainable. Even when God has given us great victories, there are no guarantees that life will be smooth sailing tomorrow. This is related, as well, to the second circumstance that contributes to depression:
2. Disappointment in God (unfulfilled expectations). It’s been my experience that a lot of depression is the direct result of unfulfilled expectations. Some people seem to go through life with greater expectations than can possibly be realized. They have expectations of their spouses, their children, their friends, and even their church, which are so high they inevitably end up disappointed. They have expectations of holidays and vacations that are never quite fulfilled. Eventually they transfer these disappointments to God. They may not say it, but they are clearly thinking, “God why didn’t you come through for me?” I would be surprised if this isn’t part of Elijah’s problem.
3. Severe trial (resulting in fear and anger). Elijah’s life is being threatened by Jezebel, and Jezebel is not just any woman. She is a wicked woman whose reputation for godlessness and murderous violence is unprecedented. Her threats are not idle threats, so knowing that she has put out a contract on his life sends Elijah into a spiritual tailspin. That can happen to us, too, and it doesn’t take a contract to do it. It might be the loss of a job, or a severe illness, or betrayal by a friend, or a death in the family, or maybe something much less catastrophic, like financial pressures or the stress of daily living or just poor self-esteem.
Fear frequently accompanies severe trial, and so does anger. We clearly see the fear in Elijah. The anger is less obvious, but I believe it’s there too. I think he’s angry at God, and his death wish is the expression of that anger. He doesn’t really want to die–it’s just his way of letting God know that he didn’t deserve to be treated this way. Anger almost always accompanies fear. Why? Because when we’re afraid we feel helpless, and when we feel helpless, we lash out at those around us as a defensive mechanism to protect what’s left. These are common symptoms of depression. In fact, some psychologists describe depression as “a temper tantrum turned inward.”
4. Physical and/or emotional exhaustion. Elijah has just run a marathon, and even though he did it in the power of the Lord, it has left him in a physically depleted state. In addition, he has gone through an extremely emotionally draining battle on Mt. Carmel. Furthermore, he has probably been awake for 36 hours or more in a row. I think it would be a miracle if he didn’t suffer a let-down.
We simply must realize that everyone, even godly people, even godly leaders, are subject to the laws of nature. Our physical and emotional condition does affect our spiritual life and we dare not ignore that. Too little sleep, too little exercise, the wrong kind of diet, the change of life, irregularity, pressure on the job–all of these things can produce depression or even more serious emotional struggles. They can take us from the mountaintop to the valley in no time at all. We were not made to run full bore for a long period of time. Adrenalin enables us to respond to certain situations with an amazing amount of energy and courage and to get a lot of work done over a short period of time, but if we keep up that pace, we will inevitably pay a price for it.
For years while pastoring in Wichita I woke up every Monday morning with a splitting headache and couldn’t get out of bed until noon. The amount of nervous energy and adrenalin I expended in preaching 2 or 3 times on Sunday morning and again on Sunday night made it inevitable that I would crash on Monday. Eventually I got smart and realized that if Monday was going to be such a bad day, I might as well go to work, so I switched my day off from Monday to Saturday. And I discovered that by working on Monday the adrenalin drop-off was much less severe and the headaches largely stopped. In effect, I learned to pace myself better and to balance my week.
5. Social isolation. It says of Elijah in verse 3 that “when he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert.” Elijah was never a social butterfly, but here we find him going it totally alone. This was probably not a wise decision. We all have a tendency to withdraw when feeling depressed, but that’s probably the last thing we ought to do. It’s when we feel tempted and troubled that we most need others, and isolation only contributes to the feelings of depression.
I received several emails the week before Mother’s Day from women who always experience depression as Mother’s Day approaches–one because she is not a mother but always wanted to be, another because she lost a child and Mother’s Day is a very sad reminder. Both asked if it was OK to stay home from church. Well, certainly it’s OK, but I told them it was probably not the bestthing. I mentioned that we were going to pray for the mothers in the congregation, but also for those who want to be mothers, those who have lost their mothers, and those who have lost children. And I assured them there would be nothing in the sermon to add further pain to their lives. At least one came, and afterward told me she was glad she did.
6. Inaccurate theological perspectives. Don’t let anyone tell you that theology is unrelated to life. Our beliefs about God greatly affect our emotional health. You show me someone who doesn’t believe in the sovereignty of God and I’ll show you someone who lacks peace in his or her life. Show me someone who doesn’t understand the fatherhood of God, and I’ll show you someone who struggles with his self-esteem. Elijah demonstrates how inaccurate theological perspectives can contribute to depression. He has forgotten who God is, and it didn’t take him long.
I personally suffer from short-term memory loss due to a brain injury I sustained nearly 9 years ago. It’s very frustrating, but I compensate as best I can by writing a lot of reminders to myself. But there’s a much more dangerous kind of memory loss that a lot of Christians suffer from–both short-term and long-term–it has to do with their spiritual memory of God’s work in their lives. Elijah knows the history of Israel and the faithfulness of God to His people. Furthermore, he has personally seen God come through for him in the most amazing ways conceivable over a period of years. Just days before he crashes and burns, he has witnessed God accomplish one of the most amazing miracles in the entire Bible! But then he forgets it all in a matter of a few hours, and the result is depression.
7. Brain chemistry. I have no evidence that brain chemistry was an issue that affected Elijah. Frankly, I don’t know. But I mention it anyway because there are people who are troubled by depression, not because of their difficult situations but because their brains have a chemical imbalance. Situational depression can generally be improved by changing the situation. But chemical depression can only be corrected by medicine. That medication is a gift from God and has saved many lives. One should not feel guilty for taking anti-depressants if they are medically indicated.
My heart goes out especially to those with medical depression because they can’t just solve the problem by getting exercise or eating right or trusting God more, though these actions can help. If they are not treated medically, they are helplessly trapped in a pit of depression, and the illness can sometimes be fatal; even godly spiritual leaders have been known to commit suicide while overwhelmed by depression. If you have a loved one who may be suffering from chemical depression, I urge you to learn all you can about it and to seek medical care for your loved one immediately. I have been taking a course here at the church on Tuesday nights, taught by Dar and Mary Louise Walker, which has been an eye-opener on all kinds of mental illness. I would encourage anyone who has a friend or relative who suffers from mental illness to take this class the next time it is offered.
Let’s move now to examine some of the reactions that often accompany depression, and once again Elijah demonstrates these clearly.
Reactions that often accompany depression:
1. Flight. Elijah runs for his life. First. he runs to Beersheba in Judah, then a day’s journey into the desert, and finally all the way to Mt. Horeb, which is another name for Mt. Sinai. Sinai isn’t the end of the world, but you can see it from there. It is desolate, abandoned, and definitely a safe place for anyone who is trying to get away from people. But it’s not a good place to go to recover from depression.3
Where do you go when you are defeated? Some retreat to the world of alcohol and drugs or gambling. Some search for new pastures–a new location, a new job, or a new spouse. Others go out and spend money. You know the adage, “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.”4 The bottom line is, when we get discouraged, we try to run away from our failures and deaden the pain with some cheap anesthetic. But it’s a vicious cycle, because when we flee to wrong places, the depression just gets worse.
2. Loss of perspective. A depressed person cannot think straight; he is not logical; and generally, he or she cannot be reasoned out of depression. Consider Elijah as a case in point. Who were these gods by whom Jezebel swore, causing God’s prophet to cowardly cringe in a cave? They were the very ones whom Elijah had completely discredited with God’s help the day before. At the same time his God, Yahweh, has been totally vindicated. And yet here is Elijah looking at things through the wrong end of the binoculars. Depression distorts everything. Small problems appear huge. Simple difficulties seem terribly complex. Temporary struggles appear endless. We have difficulty seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and when we do, we assume it’s an oncoming train.
3. Excessive sleep. Depressed people sleep a lot, like all the time. Notice that Elijah sleeps in verse 5, verse 6, and verse 9. His body craves sleep, and it needs sleep. That’s OK. God not only doesn’t rebuke him for being lazy; He actually facilitates Elijah’s sleep. Let me say that sometimes when you’re feeling down, the most spiritual thing you can do is not to read the Bible or pray, but rather to go to bed and get 10-14 hours of sleep. However, if this continues over a considerable period of time, you probably need to see a doctor.
4. Self-pity. Look again at Elijah’s response to God’s question, “What are you doing here?” And Elijah replies, “I am the only one who is faithful. The people have faked their repentance. Jezebel still reigns. Ahab is a wimp. And I alone am left.” Whenever we go through deep waters, we are often tempted to engage in self-pity. We like to rehearse all we have done for God, we compare ourselves to others who are much more wicked than we are, and then we play the martyr’s game–sometimes even to the point of suicidal thoughts.
I mention these factors that lead to depression and these reactions that typically accompany depression so that we can be more aware in diagnosing it and more empathetic with those who suffer from it. I also want to briefly share my own personal journey with you. Other than the blue Mondays I spoke of earlier, I didn’t know what depression was until I was 39. Late that summer, 1983, I started experiencing things I had never experienced before. I was extremely tired. I would come home from the office at lunch time, lie down and take a nap (which I had never done in my life), and after two hours I could hardly drag myself back to work. I found it very difficult to do anything except what was absolutely necessary, lost all interest in intimacy, and became unusually irritable with people. After a month or two of this I wised up and went to see a professional counselor.
After 20 minutes the counselor said, “I know what’s wrong with you. You’re clinically depressed.” I was shocked. In fact, I remember responding, “I’ve never been depressed a day in my life.” But he insisted on the diagnosis and proceeded to list some of the classic symptoms. I had them all. Then he pointed out some of the situations in my life that were the likely causes. At the time there were several vacancies on the church staff, and I was working about 75 hours a week. I had gained 20 pounds the previous year (that seems to happen automatically when you’re getting ready to turn 40). My wife was pregnant for the first time after 19 years of marriage, and that had introduced both excitement and a lot of stress.
The counselor prescribed some pretty radical treatment. He said he wanted me to leave the next day for a retreat center in Colorado. He would talk to the Elders and tell them I needed the week off. He told me to join a health club and start working out. I had to go on a diet. I had to cut my hours at work. Well, I did all those things and within six weeks the depression was totally gone. I was fortunate. My depression was situational, and situational depression, as I noted earlier, can generally be treated by changing the situation. Usually medication is not needed, but one has to be willing to make the changes that will contribute to recovery.
I experienced one other severe period of depression after an automobile accident in 1993. That time it lasted about five months and again was probably mostly situational–I was struggling to cope with the physical and emotional effects of the accident. It is possible that my brain chemistry was altered in that accident, because I have had somewhat more of a tendency toward depressive feelings since that time.
I share my own personal story with you today to encourage those in the congregation who may also suffer from depression or other similar illnesses. I want you to know it is possible to cope with depression–and not just to survive but to thrive. That brings us to the most encouraging part of our story, and another part I have personally witnessed:
God refuses to abandon Elijah. (19:5b-14)
Instead, He does three specific things to convince Elijah of His presence and His concern.
He sends a ministering angel to provide for his physical needs. The angel touches him as he is sleeping and tells him, “Get up and eat,” and he provides a warm cake of bread and a jar of water. Later the angel comes back again and provides nourishment and encouragement. Let me ask you: Why, if Elijah is cowering in fear and running away from his responsibility, does God provide so solicitously for him, and in a miraculous way at that? Only because He loves him. You see, God’s love is completely unconditional. You may at times be out of His will, but you are never out of His concern. God delivers to Elijah no critical speeches, no words of reproach, no threats of dismissal, only sleep and food and kindly thoughtfulness for the long journey ahead. Friends, that’s the heart of our God!
Perhaps there is someone here this morning who feels totally wiped out because of troubles that have piled up or because you are overpowered by some temptation. You have failed, you are ashamed, you are feeling worthless, and you just want to hide. You don’t enjoy coming to church anymore and the only reason you are here today is force of habit or to fulfill some obligation. Please believe that you are not forgotten by God. He loves you and wants to restore to you the years the locust have eaten. You may not feel His love; you may believe you have forfeited it; you may imagine that you are hopelessly estranged from Him. But you are not. Take heart, God loves you, and I for one believe He will do the same thing today for those facing severe trial that He did for Elijah. He did it for me. The angel may come in the form of a friend or fellow-believer, but whatever the form, God has promised to meet the basic needs–physical and emotional–of His children.
God gently challenges Elijah to examine his behavior. Elijah is now hiding in a cave in the rugged wilderness of the Sinai dessert. Actually the Hebrew says he is in “the” cave. What cave on Sinai could be referred to as “the cave?” I can’t help but think this is the same place where God placed Moses in the cleft of the rock and revealed to him His glory.
God asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” If I were God, I don’t think I would have addressed him quite that gently. I think I would have said, “Why you ungrateful bum! Look at what I did for you on Mt. Carmel. Now quit your pity party, get your rear in gear, and get back to the front lines.” Maybe that’s why God allowed me to go through my own experience of depression–to learn a little empathy for others. In a very gentle way God asks, not once but twice, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”, giving him the opportunity to think through his position and to evaluate his attitude. But most importantly …
He reveals Himself in a unique way. Let’s pick up the story in verse 11:
The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Because of Elijah’s apparent loss of confidence in God’s activity in his life, the Lord graciously gives him essentially the same incredible experience of His presence that He gave Moses centuries earlier, perhaps in that very same cave. In quick succession Elijah experiences an incredibly strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but each time we are told that the Lord is not in it, i.e., the Lord is not revealing Himself through these phenomena. But after the fire comes a gentle whisper and the Lord is in that. What’s going on here?
I believe God is saying to Elijah, “You had no problem trusting Me when the battle was hot and I was performing great and mighty miracles. But I don’t always or even usually operate that way. I usually work gently, softly and in an unperceived manner. But still you must not doubt My presence.” We at times tend to think that unless we are seeing dramatic things happen, God must be absent.
Believe me, I am not desirous of quenching the power of the Spirit, and I would be as delighted as anyone to see signs and wonders and unusual manifestations of God’s power, but this passage and others like it convince me that God is not present only where great things are happening, where great growth is occurring, where there is lots of frenetic activity. He is also present in our trials, when we face temptation, and when we are feeling depressed or lonely or both. The problem is, we often aren’t willing to be quiet enough to hear Him.
Quiet and solitude are two rare experiences in the average American Christian’s life. Some people turn the TV on in the morning and leave it on all day. The minute they get in the car, the radio or tape player starts blaring. Even the telephones play music when we’re put on hold. As one wag put it, “Most modern life is a studied attempt to avoid ever being alone.” Yet constantly in both the OT and NT the advantages of quiet and solitude (different from isolation) are conveyed. Listen to a couple of verses of Psalm 46:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging …
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us.
After revealing Himself to Elijah by the still small voice we should be encouraged to observe that …
God recommissions Elijah.
He gives him a fresh call to service. Let’s read the final verses, 15-18:
The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”
One of the best ways to conquer a fear is to face it head-on. Not only does God send Elijah back to the same place; He also sends him back to the same kind of ministry. Elijah had been a prophet to royalty. Whenever God wanted a message delivered to kings or generals, it was Elijah He sent. While that is the very kind of responsibility that sent him hightailing it to the dessert in the first place, God sends him right back into the thick of it.
He provides companionship. In verse 16 Elijah is told to anoint Elisha son of Shaphat to succeed him as prophet. On first reading one might think God is putting Elijah on the shelf and giving his ministry to someone else, but in the last verse of the chapter we find that Elisha actually becomes Elijah’s disciple and his attendant. Isn’t that just like God? When we come to the end of our rope, He brings someone alongside us to share our struggle and provide encouragement. Moses had his Joshua, David his Jonathan, Paul his Barnabas and later his Silas. I have also experienced such companionship in my life, and many of you have as well.
He assures Elijah he is not alone. Twice Elijah has complained that “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” But God tells him it isn’t true–there are 7,000 others who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. God is always there, and so are other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Principles to Ponder and Pursue:
1. Christians, even those who are effective and godly leaders, are not immune to depression–either situational or chemical. Depression is a cancer of the soul, and just like physical cancer, it can strike the old or the young, the rich or the poor, the godly or the ungodly. If you’ve never experienced it, be thankful and PLEASE be patient with those who have.
2. God expects us to get sufficient rest, relaxation, and nutrition to handle life’s challenges over the long haul, and to seek medical help if it is needed. If you start now to pay attention to these issues, you will be less likely to struggle with depression in the first place. If you’re already depressed, you can participate in your own treatment by getting sufficient rest, relaxation and nutrition, or by going to the doctor and taking the medicine he prescribes.
3. It is OK to express negative feelings, and all of us need a safe, nonjudgmental setting in which to do it. I find it instructive that God twice asks Elijah, “What are you doing here?” And though God doesn’t get a very satisfactory answer either time, He doesn’t rebuke Elijah and He doesn’t reject him. He doesn’t even try to “fix him.” He just speaks to him quietly, lets him sleep, shows him His glory, and when he is ready, gives him another chance.
4. You are never alone; God is there, and so are others. It’s very easy for us to feel like the Lone Ranger, only without Tonto. We get to thinking that we are experiencing greater trial and more severe temptation than anyone ever experienced. It isn’t so.5 If we have received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, then we are children of God and He will never abandon us.
Rudyard Kipling wrote, “If we can meet triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same, then we are on our way to becoming men.” We do this by getting our eyes off ourselves and focusing them on God, who loves us unconditionally and by whose grace we will eventually overcome, if we do not grow weary and lose heart.
DATE: June 2, 2002
Tags:
Clinical depression
Disappointment in God
Trials
Exhaustion
Isolation
Self-pity
Angel
Companionship
1. If God has promised rain, why pray for it? And God certainly did promise it: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land” (1 Kings 18:1). If God says, “I will,” then it’s going to happen even if Elijah doesn’t pray, isn’t it? I suggest that the question is illegitimate. God commands us to pray, even in respect to His promises. He not only ordains the ends; He also ordains the means to the end. His promises are given, not to restrain prayer but to encourage it. I like to look at His promises as a signed check, made payable to us and backed by the Bank of Heaven, but we must endorse them and present for payment (which we do through prayer) before they do us any good.
2. Howard G. Hendricks, The Battle of the Gods, 57.
3. Flight is not only a reaction to depression; it is also one of its causes. This sets up a vicious circle: if you’re isolated from people, you’re more susceptible to depression, and once you’re depressed you want to isolate yourself from people, which just makes you more depressed. To make matters worse, depressed people are not easy to be around, so friends and families sometimes withdraw from them.
4. John Hanneman, The Mountain of Defeat, Sermon catalog #760, August 6, 1989, 2.
5. A Quaker minister of the 18th century, very much depressed by his own spiritual life, was told by the devil that there was never another minister in such a sad state of mind as he. He went to visit his friend and colleague John Richardson, a noted minister. When he asked him how he was doing, Dr. Richardson replied, “As to the body very well; as to the pocket, very comfortable; but if you mean as to spiritual things, I was never worse.” At that the Quaker threw up his hat and shouted, “The devil is a liar, and I was a fool to believe him,” and rode home rejoicing that he was not the only one.