Avoiding the Syndrome Brought on by the Pandemic
Introduction: A fifty-five-year-old woman threw herself from her fourteenth-floor apartment to the ground below. Minutes before her death, she saw a workman washing the windows of a nearby building. She greeted him and smiled, and he smiled and said hello to her. When he turned his back, she jumped.
On a very neat and orderly desk she had left this note: "I can't endure one more day of this loneliness. My phone never rings! I never get letters! I don't have any friends!"
Another woman who lived just across the hall told reporters, "I wish I had known she felt so lonely. I'm lonesome myself." You and I are surrounded by lonely people.
Who experiences loneliness and despair? The person living anonymously in a crowded city. The foreigner. The rich and miserly. The divorcee and single parent. The young and old person. The business executive and the unemployed and even pastors. No one is immune from loneliness. Even godly men and women sometimes experience loneliness in their pilgrimage through this world. The pandemic has intensified these emotions.
Elijah stands out in the Old Testament as God's most dramatic, forceful prophet. He stopped the rain, challenged a king face to face, produced fire from heaven, ordered hundreds of false prophets executed, and accurately predicted the day when a three-year drought would end. Yet in the New Testament we read, "Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5:17). He also experienced times of loneliness and despair.
By taking four wrong steps Elijah found himself under a tree in complete discouragement (1 Kings 18:46-19:4). First, he exhausted himself physically. Second, he became upset emotionally. Third, he failed to turn to God spiritually. Fourth, he isolated himself socially. Because of these same feelings, many believers have refused to attend public worships and continue living in isolation. Let’s closer at Elijah’s Journey.
1. Elijah exhausted himself physically – V 3, 4 “ And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree:… and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Driven by fear and anxiety, Elijah runs towards the southern wilderness away from Judah, he sat down completely exhausted under the scanty shade of a desert broom-bush and prayed that he might die at the hands of God instead of Jezebel. In the end he collapsed under a tree in a desert place and cried, "I've had enough, Lord! Take my life. I just feel like dying."
Trouble came upon Elijah suddenly and unexpectedly, when he promised to himself peace and prosperity, because He had obeyed God. But Trouble came. Elijah runs until he is completely exhausted. Exhaustion opens the door of discouragement. This pandemic has left all of us feeling exhausted. Trouble came on Job suddenly and without warning.
Job 30:26,27 “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.”
The remedy for exhaustion is rest! David reminds us in Psalms 37:7, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
In other words, do not murmur at God’s dealings, but silently and quietly submit to his will, and adore his judgments, and wait for his help. This advice and command are pressed again and again in Scripture to show us how hard it is to learn and practice this lesson. Elijah fails to rest, he exhausted himself physically. Are you receiving proper rest?
2. Elijah upset himself emotionally – 4b “….and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
Elijah’s intense excitement of victory had been followed by despair, his exhilaration by depression: man is but dust. He prayed to die, and yet the Lord did not intend that he should ever die. Truly, we often know not what we ask. Elijah lost control of his emotions. Pr 16:32 “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Family Bible Notes Commentary says, “The mighty conqueror who has not learned to rule his own spirit leads a miserable life and will come to a miserable end. Elijah became upset emotionally. His fear got the best of him. He became completely discouraged. Have you ever felt completely discouraged - without anyone to encourage you? Have you ever experienced the Elijah syndrome? The Elijah syndrome begins by becoming too tired and too emotional. Elijah magnified his problems by rehearsing them in his mind. His situation had not changed but in his mind, they grew worse and worse. We must not allow the pandemic, the vaccines nor mask to dominate our minds. If we are not careful, we will feel comfortable everywhere except in church. That’s really Satan’s strategy. Rest your body and your mind.
3. Elijah isolated himself spiritually - 1Kings 19:5 “And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.”
Although Elijah knew God, he was trying to handle this crisis alone. He does not pray for victory over Jezebel, or for a place to hide, or his own life to be preserved. He prays to die. I am glad God does not give every request we ask. The Lord pitied his weary and disappointed servant, so as God had before fed him by ravens, he now honors him by supplying his need by angels. We often receive our best consolations in our worst times, and then how sweet they are!
Notice how God met each of Elijah's needs in his time of crisis. Physically, God gave him nourishment and sleep. Emotionally, God made His presence known to Elijah and encouraged him. God gives Elijah supernatural strength from this heavenly meal. We may fail to turn to God, but God never fails to turn toward us. Spiritually, God exhorted Elijah when he was hiding in the cave to follow Him once again. God is a god of a second chance.
4. Elijah isolated himself socially. – V. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
1Ki 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1Kings 19:18 “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”
Socially, God sends an angel to Elijah to cook for him and to be with him. Then God calls Elijah to the mouth of the cave, He tells about a large number of godly men and women with whom he could fellowship and receive further encouragement. Elijah left his servant, he left his friends, and he left behind other men and women of God who needed him and who he needed.
God wants to meet your particular needs as well. You cannot live the victorious Christian life alone and on your own; it's impossible. We experience victory only by the power of the indwelling Christ.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
God’s presence and power are particularly evident when two or three of His people gather together.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Ministry can be difficult and lonely. Don’t allow your loneliness or discouragement to drive you away from God and others. Use your loneliness and discouragement as a motivation to commit yourself anew to the Lord. Draw closer to God.
Don't sit under the Juniper tree of despair any longer. Christ has promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20). He wants to be our best Friend. You never have to feel alone again.
Be sure to fellowship with God's people (Hebrews 10:25) and stop trying to face the daily battles of life by yourself. Pray with others about mutual needs and concerns. You will experience God at work within the body of Christ. Victory in the Christian life is a team effort!
In times of persecution there was a great temptation to stay away from the church assemblies, and some had fallen into dangerous neglect. We need each other. In Christian assemblies, we can experience the life, the food, and nourishment of our souls.
The fastest gazelle or the strongest wilder beast can be captured by a group of hungry lions if isolated. The ferocious lion will go hungry trying to go it alone. Regardless of our spiritual strength, when the devil isolates us we are easy prey. Knowing this, we ought to seek out other believers with whom to fellowship. Fellowship is God's way of building a community of believers. The lack of fellowship is Satan's way of assassinating believers. Fellowship really is a matter of life or death.
To Avoid the Elijah syndrome: (1) Don’t allow yourself to become too tired. Learn to take a break. (2) Don’t allow yourself to become too emotional. Learn to rule over your own emotions. (3) Don’t allow trouble to run you away from God. Learn to run to him at the first sign of trouble. (4) Don’t allow trouble to run you away from friends and support. You don’t have to go it alone. Learn to lean on others. Your church family waiting on you, they need your assistance and have a great blessing for you!
