Gloom, despair, agony on me. That's the best way to describe
Elijah's condition in 1 Kings chapter nineteen. It's the consequence of not
avoiding discouragement's path. Unreal expectations, allowing circumstances to
overwhelm, and focusing inwardly all play a part in leading Elijah down the
path of depression.
In 2009, a health survey revealed 40 million American adults had
been diagnosed with depression; serving as further evidence that discouragement
and depression are the most effective tool that the devil uses against people,
especially God's people. If more evidence is needed, then let me say that out
of the fifteen years I have been preaching, last week's sermon received more
comments from people than any sermon I have preached. Everyone battles with
discouragement and depression.
The four main causes of depression are fatigue, frustration,
failure, and fear. Likewise, the four chief symptoms of depression are
dissatisfaction, disgruntled, disengaged, and distressed. However, beneath the
causes and symptoms is a deeper root cause. It's unbelief. When unbelief gets
the upper hand in our hearts, it leads us down the path of discouragement and
depression.
In a recent conversation, someone questioned her salvation on
account of struggling to trust God. I assured her the struggle to trust God is
not a sign you are not saved, but a sign you are saved. The life of faith is a
fight for faith. The child of God must fight unbelief faithfully because the
failure to trust God for all he's promised in Jesus will lead us down the road
of discouragement and depression. Therefore, the child of God should
persistently pray, "Lord; I believe, help me with my unbelief." The
solution to leaving the path of despair is winning the battle with unbelief. We
win the battle with unbelief by trusting God.
Elijah's story fuels our faith, so we can defeat unbelief, and leave
gloom, despair, and agony behind. The first step to leaving discouragement's
path reveals our need to trust God's faithfulness.
Trust God's Proven Character to Provide
"And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold,
an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and
behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.
And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a
second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too
great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of
that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God" (1
Kings 19:5-8).
Elijah received a messenger after he became dissatisfied with
ministry and life, disgruntled with God and people, disengaged from all
relationships, and distressed with the problems destabilizing his life. The
messenger was no ordinary messenger. Verse seven reveals the messenger as
"the angel of the Lord." When the anger of the Lord appears
throughout the Old Testament it's called a "theophany." This is where
the pre-incarnate Christ appears to God's people under the Old Covenant.
Therefore, Jesus has manifested himself to Elijah and is now ministering to
him.
God's activity in Elijah's life has progressed very interestingly.
The Lord uses ravens to provide Elijah's meals while camping at the brook Cherith.
An impoverished widow furnishes sustenance in Zaraphath. However, when Elijah
runs from the will of God, it is Jesus, who comes to provide for Elijah. Elijah
flees, and God chases.
The angel of the Lord's ministry was successful, and Elijah responds,
"And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God"(1 Kings 19:8). This
particular verse has great spiritual significance. The forty-day journey
connects Elijah's situation with the past. Israel spent forty years roaming the
wilderness because of unbelief. Elijah's wilderness experience was the result
of unbelief.
Elijah ended up in the wilderness of depression because he failed to
trust God's proven character to provide for his people. For three-and a
half-years Elijah experienced the faithfulness of God to provide, protect, and
prevail. Nevertheless, he lost the fight with unbelief, and he ended up on the
path of discouragement and depression.
God has proven abundantly that he is faithful to his people. If you
forget his proven character to provide, you will become discouraged and
depressed. Thomas Chisholm, didn't want to forget, so he penned these words,
"Great is Thy Faithfulness, great is Thy Faithfulness, morning by
morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand has provided. Great is
Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me." The first step to winning the battle
of over unbelief and leaving the path of despair is trusting God's proven
character of provide. Second step: trust God's powerful presence to
guide.
Trust God's Powerful Presence to Guide
"There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word
of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord the God of hosts. For the
people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and
killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek
my life, to take it away" (1 Kings 19:9-10).
After arriving at Horeb, the mount of God, The Lord speaks to
Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" This question isn't
for God, but for Elijah. The Lord wants Elijah to do some self-examination.
Elijah's response reveals his despair, "I have been very jealous for
the Lord, the God of hose. For the people of Israel have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and
I, even I only am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."
Elijah is so depressed he can't remember all that God did in chapters seventeen
and eighteen. Elijah feels alone, and abandoned by God.
Therefore, God will teach Elijah of his powerful presence, "And
he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord And behold, the Lord
passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces
the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind
an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake
a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low
whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went
out and stood at the entrance of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13).
The Lord was not in the strong wind; not in the earthquake, nor in
the fire. However, it is in the sound of a low whisper that the Lord reveals
his powerful presence. Why? Elijah's three-and a half-years was characterized
by the supernatural and spectacular. Ravens providing food, and widow's son raised
from the dead, fire falling from heaven, and rain removing the drought. The low
whisper teaches Elijah that the Lord doesn't always operate in the spectacular.
In fact, God's powerful presence is mostly seen in the everyday affairs of
life. The great lesson is this: when it seems the Lord is not answering your
prayers with the spectacular, and seems to be absent from your life, don't
forget that God's presence to guide is always with his people.
God promised Moses, "I will be with you." He promised
Joshua, "I will be with you wherever you go." Jesus promised his
church, "I will be with you to the end of age." You can trust God's
powerful presence to guide because he will never leave nor forsake his people.
In a fiery furnace? Problems consuming you? God is with you and will guide you
through. Third and final step: trust God's sovereign plan to prevail.
Trust God's Sovereign Plan to Prevail
"And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king
over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel,
and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in
your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to
death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to
death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not
bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1 Kings
19:15-18).
Elijah learns in these verses that God's victory doesn't always come
through the spectacular. In fact, God's victory comes a majority of the time in
the ordinary workings of everyday life. God was going to bring judgement upon
Israel through the political process. When you can't see the spectacular, just
remember that God's sovereign plan will prevail because God is in control. God
reminds Elijah of this, "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all
the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed
him" (1 Kings 19:18).
Unbelief tells you God won't provide. Faith knows that God is
faithful to provide for his people. Unbelief tells you God has abandoned you.
Faith knows that God will never leave, nor forsake his people. Unbelief tells
you God's not at work. Faith knows that God's sovereign plan will prevail
because he is in control. Trust God's proven character; trust God's
powerful presence; trust God's sovereign plan, and you will find yourself
leaving gloom, despair, and agony behind.
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