Depression
1 Kings 19:1-4
“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."”
Last week Elijah was the victor in a conflict between the powers of God and the priests and prophets of Baal and Asherah. He called upon the Lord to send fire from heaven which consumed the sacrifice as well as the altar and sopped up the water and soil around it. Then Elijah prayed that there would be rain in the land. He waited and prayed seven times until the clouds started forming.
After all Elijah had seen God do, you might expect that he would run up to her, proclaim the knowledge of the Living God and call the fire to come and consume her. But this passage tells us that Elijah feared and wished he could die he was so discouraged. He ran so far south that he completely left the kingdom of Israel and was in the land of Judah under the protection of King Jehoshaphat.
Discouragement, depression, despondency, and despair are all related to low feelings that hamper our outlook and keep us from activity. Personally, I am glad that Elijah was depressed. It shows how someone who is a saint and within the will of God can still fight with his emotions. I’m glad these chapters are in the Bible. It seems everyone has problems of one sort or another. Yet God can still use them.
His story helps me better understand what James records that Elijah had passions just like we do. Up to this point I hadn’t found much of a point of personal connection with Elijah, but at the point of discouragement and depression I can relate to him.
You can be sure each of the Christian greats in history struggled too. Did you ever realize what would happen if the Lord insisted on perfect men and women to carry out His work? Nothing would ever get done, because none of us would ever measure up. We are all flawed instruments. Isn't it wonderful that Jesus Christ can use us in spite of our imperfections? If we wait to be good enough to serve Him, we will never serve Him."
Early in the pastorate I made a promise to myself: never quit on a Monday or during the month of February. Many times, I felt like it but Tuesdays and March seemed a bit more encouraging.
There are practical lessons about depression that I think we can learn this week from Elijah’s experience.
Application: Don’t be sidelined by your feelings - persevere.
Prayer: Lord, as I seek You, equip me to add to my faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness.
