1 Kings 19:3-4 (NIV): “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 in the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he may 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.”
Elijah was the most famous and inspiring of all of Israel’s prophets. He was dramatic. He predicted the beginning and the end of a three-year drought. He was used by God to bring back to life a dead child to his mother. Elijah was known as a man of God.
However, Elijah experienced extreme fatigue and the depths of discouragement just after his two great spiritual victories: the defeat of the prophets of Baal, and answered prayer for rain. Now his life is threatened by Jezebel who has a known track record for disposing of the Lord’s prophets.
Often depression sets in after great mountain-top spiritual experiences involving physical effort or involving great emotion. Fear set in for Elijah replacing his boldness, faith, and courage. He lost the right perspective.
God led Elijah out of depression by first letting Elijah rest and eat. Then God comforted him by sending an angel to minister to Elijah. The LORD then appeared to Elijah and confronted him with the need to return to his mission – to speak God’s words in Israel. God was not finished with Elijah. He needed Elijah to be his messenger. There still was work to do through Elijah.
But Elijah mistakenly thought he was the only one left who was faithful to God. In 1 Kings 19:10, Elijah tells God: “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 was discouraged and lonely. He forgot that others had remained faithful during the nation’s wickedness. So God instructed Elijah to go back to the Desert of Damascus, and there He had reserved seven thousand who had not bowed down to Baal.
I had just returned from being away for three days at my annual sales conference for my work. For the first time, two awards were given out. I was the honored recipient of the award for being the top producing sales person plus having the most substantial growth. I am one of 10 salespeople. I was feeling exhilarated and felt very humble to receive this award that could only happen due to God working behind the scenes in my behalf in my territory. Following my three-day sales conference, I attended a Kingdom Woman conference at my church. It was a Holy Spirit filled time spent hearing Crystal Evans Hurst as the speaker. I had a fabulous jammed packed week.
But then the following day, due to various situations and circumstances, I felt defeated. One of the irritating detours was Spectrum Time Warner decided to block our emails not only once that week but again on Sunday. My husband and I were not able to send or receive any emails. That is like being out of toilet paper! So all in all my emotions had swung in the opposite spectrum (the pun on our internet provider). I had come off the mountain and back to the day to day messy part of life, and I felt dismayed.
What causes you to feel discouraged? Is it that harsh word your husband threw at you, or a child who disobeyed again, or having an unexpected car repair bill, or when you worked on a project, and it fell short from the ending you envisioned it to be? Been there, done that.
We all feel we are the only ones when encountering setbacks or hardships of various degrees. They are extra heavy emotionally when they occur after a significant spiritual victory.
Lessons we can learn from Elijah’s life in fighting discouragement:
- I have friends praying for me, that I don’t even know about. They are God’s intercessors on my behalf.
- God is not finished with the purpose He has for me to accomplish.
- There are others that have strong spiritual convictions too that I don’t even realize when I feel outnumbered in a group that appears to be anti-God.
- God is always in my corner.
- God does not always speak in an audio-visual display, but His presence is there in gentle whispers.
The real miracle of Elijah’s life was his relationship with God. May that be our miracle as well.
Questions:
What are some of the typical occurrences in life that cause you to fall into depression? How do these feelings distort reality?
Which chapter in the book of Psalms helps you to rise above discouragement and crawl out of that pit?
My prayer today: “God I thank you for all of the abundant blessings you have given me. I come to you with a thankful heart. You never leave my side. Help me to see others through Your eyes. When I entertain wrong thoughts convict me so I can repent immediately and be filled with your peace. Help me to rise up against disappointments and be filled with the right perspective so I do not over-react, as we women so often do. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Listen to “O Come to the Altar” by Elevation Worship.