Elijah is the ideal person to study when you study the subject of depression.
WHY IS HE THE IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR THIS STUDY? Because of what the Word of God says about him.
Look at James 5:17, we read, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are…"
Elijah represents us in that -
(1) HE HAD HIS HIGH DAYS
He enjoyed the highest of highs. We Americans enjoy a higher standard of living than any society on this earth. Even our constitution guarantees us the right to pursue happiness, but it cannot guarantee that we will find it.
But the biggest problem with most folks in their pursuit for happiness is that they do not know what it is. They have allowed Hollywood to define happiness, and that crowd is so miserable they live on drugs and alcohol just to cope with life.
Illus: Nathaniel Hawthorne described happiness as a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you. And it's like that with the Spirit of God. He is not seized. He is received. (Ben Patterson, "A Faith Like Mary's," Preaching Today, Tape No. 87.)
Illus: Allan K, Chalmers had it right when it comes to finding happiness. He said, “The grand essentials of happiness are:
• Something to do
• Something to love
• And something to hope for
(Allan K. Chalmers, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 4.)
Elijah seemed to possess all three of these because he had what the PSYCHOLOGIST CALL OUR HIGH DAYS. But also-
(2) HE HAD HIS LOW DAYS
He had the lowest of the lows.
Illus: Freddie ran into the kitchen crying and cradling something in his hands. "Mommy, my turtle is dead," Freddie told his mother as he held the turtle out to her.
His mother kissed him on the head, then said, "That's all right. We'll wrap him in tissue paper, put him in a little box, then have a nice burial ceremony in the back yard. After that, we'll go out for an ice cream soda, and then get you a new pet and might even buy you that bicycle you have been begging for.” All of this brought a smile to his face.
Then she noticed the turtle move. "Freddie, your turtle is not dead after all."
"Oh," the boy said. "Can I kill it?"
We all have those low days in our lives. Sometimes …
• The job that we loved, that gave us something to do, is taken from us.
• Someone that we love has been taken from us.
• The things we hoped for are shattered before us.
These are the sad days in our life.
The Bible records that Elijah had HIGH DAYS and LOW DAYS in his life.
WHY DOES GOD’S WORD REVEAL THE GOOD AND THE BAD IN THIS MAN’S LIFE?
If you or I were God, and we wanted to put a Bible in the hands of man…
• We would not mention the terrible sins that King David committed.
• We would not mention the anger of Moses that caused him to kill a man.
• We would not mention the terrible sins that Solomon committed.
• We would not mention the terrible sins that Samson committed.
We would only mention the good things that these men did.
However, God gave us such a Bible so we could visualize these men that we admire. We see they had flaws in their lives.
For example, we would not be able to emulate their lives if we did not know that Elijah was a man “…subject to like passions as we are". James 5:17
If God only revealed the good in their life, you and I would put these men on a pedestal and say we could never be like them. God showed us their STRENGTHS and their WEAKNESSES so that we can say, “IF THEY CAN BE VICTORIOUS, SO CAN WE.”
Illus: In the mid part of October 2004, Afghanistan for the first time was able to set up a democracy in the country. Living next door to them of course is Iraq. And when some of the Iraqi people saw that this poverty stricken country could go to the polls and establish a democracy, many of them said, “We are a more advance nation than they are, and if they can do it so can we!”
This is why God shows the STRENGTHS and the WEAKNESSES of these Bible Characters.
As we study the life of this great prophet, we sometimes find him in the VALLEYS OF LIFE, then the next time we see him we find him on the MOUNTAIN TOPS OF LIFE. It is the valleys in his life that we want to concentrate on in this sermon. This man of God knew a great deal about depression.
Before we get into this subject of depression, I need to mention that ALL DEPRESSION IS NOT BAD! Depression is the body's natural reaction to shock. For example, when a time of grief, stress, frustration, or illness occurs, the brain will release chemicals that will serve to numb the mind and body.
Also, we need to understand that there are times when the brain and its chemicals become so out of balance that clinical depression may occur. With these thoughts in mind, let’s look at what happens when depression comes and how we can handle it.
In the first four verses of this chapter, we will witness THE MISERY OF THE PROPHET DURING THIS GREAT DEPRESSION IN HIS LIFE. For example:
I. WE SEE ELIJAH RUNNING
Look at verses 1-3a, we read, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
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…”
After the great events on Mount Carmel, Ahab returns home to his wife Jezebel in the AGONY OF DEFEAT! Let me say this on Ahab’s behalf; I feel sorry for this man, you see, he was married to Jezebel who was probably the most wicked woman who ever lived.
Illus: When I think about Ahab being married to Jezebel …
• I think about the man who said, “I've been in love with the same woman for many years. If my wife ever finds out, she'll kill me!”
• One man said, “Someone stole all my credit cards, but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends less than my wife did.”
• One man said, “I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back.”
• One man said “All my wife does is shop - once she was sick for a week, and three stores went out of business.”
• One man said, “My wife is on a new diet, Coconuts and bananas. She hasn't lost any weight, but can she climb a tree!”
Illus: A department store security guard was walking around the store when he noticed a six-year-old girl alone crying. He asked her why she was crying.
She said she lost her mommy.
He then took the little girl to the lost and found department and asked her what her mom’s name was. He said, “I'll call her over the loudspeaker."
The girl, still crying, replied, "Mommy."
"Yes, but what is mom’s name?" asked the guard.
"Mommy," the girl replied again.
The guard finally came up with an idea. "What does your daddy call your mom?"
The girl thought for a moment and replied, "Old Woman!"
This is all they had, so they thought they would give it a try. They announced on the loud speaker, “If your husband calls you by the name of ‘Old woman’, please come to the front desk.” Fifty "Old women" showed up.
No doubt about it, Ahab was a henpecked husband. He was married to one of the wickedest women who ever lived on this earth.
• There are men we can’t help but feel sorry for, because they are also married to a “Jezebel”.
• When you look at the man some women are married to, you can’t help but feel sorry for them too.
Ahab might have been the man of the house, but she ran the house. Notice, she was not at Mt. Carmel where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal took the challenge and offered up a sacrifice to see whose god would answer by fire. That god would be declared to be the living God. The false prophet’s attempts failed. Then Elijah had his turn.
• He built an altar.
• He placed the sacrifice on the altar.
• He dug a trench around the sacrifice
• He poured water on the sacrifice. In fact, he poured three barrels of water on it. There was so much water that it filled the trench he dug.
WHY DID ELIJAH DO THIS? We know that Elijah never joined the boy scouts because any good boy scout knows you do not pour water on something if you want it to catch on fire.
WHY DID HE DO THIS? Because he wanted it to be known that when the fire came down from heaven, it was no accident that caused that fire to burn the sacrifice, it was God almighty!
When the time came:
• The prophets of Baal called upon their gods, but nothing happened.
•The prophet Elijah called upon his God and fire came from heaven and consumed the sacrificed. It was so hot that it licked the water up in the trenches.
Elijah’s God was proven to be the true and living God, and he had the 450 prophets of Baal put to death because they were false prophets.
Jezebel did not know anything about what had happened. She was home waiting to hear the good news of how her prophets had won the contest, but then Elijah got home and told her of their shameful defeat and how Elijah had all 450 of her prophets of Baal killed. She was infuriated!
Illus: That makes me think of the usher in the local movie theater who became upset when he saw a man who lay sprawled across three entire seats.
• When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the man, "Sorry, sir, but you're only allowed one seat."
• The man groaned but didn't budge. The usher became impatient.
• "Sir, if you don't get up from there I'm going to have to call the manager."
• Again, the man just groaned, which infuriated the usher who turned and marched briskly back up the aisle in search of his manager.
• In a few moments, both the usher and the manager returned and stood over the man. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move him, but with no success. Finally, they summoned the police.
• The policeman surveyed the situation briefly then asked, "All right buddy, what's your name?" "Sam," the man moaned.
• "Where ya from, Sam?" With pain in his voice Sam replied "The balcony."
When Jezebel hears this, she is infuriated! She takes matters into her own hands and decides that Elijah must die! But let me say something here that needs to be said. Ahab had seen a miracle by the hand of God. Fire from heaven came down and consumed the sacrifice before his very eyes as Elijah called upon His God. BUT AFTER SEEING THE HAND OF GOD DO THIS, STILL HE WOULD NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE GOD.
When he arrives home, he even refuses to give God the credit for what transpired on Carmel. Look at verse 1, we read, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.” He gives all the glory to Elijah!
There are some people who will not believe, regardless what they see or hear.
Illus: Remember the rich man in hell. He cried out in torment, but after he realized there was no hope for him, he becomes concerned for his brothers. In Luke 16: 28-31, we read, “For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
What Ahab saw should have been convincing evidence he was wrong about the God of Elijah. He did not want to give God the credit; he wanted to give all the credit to Elijah.
When Jezebel hears the news that Elijah has slain her prophets, she sends him a warning that she is going to have him put to death. Instead of standing, like he did before Ahab and the prophets of Baal, Elijah tucks tail and runs away. After all he had already faced:
• The dry brook
• The empty barrel
• The dead boy being raised
• The prophets of Baal being defeated
• The lack of rain and the abundance of rain
…yet when that wicked Jezebel sent word he was a dead man, he does that which is irrational and runs away. He doesn't just leave Jezreel, Elijah runs due south almost 125 miles. He actually left Israel and ran all the way to the southern border of Judah. He went as far as he could so that he might avoid the reach of one woman!
WE SEE ELIJAH RUNNING and -
II. WE SEE ELIJAH RATIONALIZING
Look at Verse 4, we read, “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.”
Elijah said he wanted to die, but he really did not want to die. If he stayed under that Juniper tree, Jezebel would have been very glad to accommodate him. He is running for his life!
In these verses we see something very strange! Notice, Elijah attempts to rationalize his request for death by saying that he was no better than his fathers. The question I have is “Who told him that he was better in the first place?”
Apparently, Elijah had come to believe that he was special.
• Didn’t God use him in a great way?
• Didn’t he trust God and see the impossible done time and again?
Yes he had, but he was no better than anyone else. God has to be very careful about using us because it does not take much to make us think we are SOMETHING SPECIAL!
Illus: Have you noticed that:
• The News media thinks so highly of themselves that once they televise a speech, they feel they need to explain what the person said and meant.
• The actors and actresses in Hollywood think we are so dumb they must tell us which political candidate we should vote for. It is amazing that once a person becomes famous, they think they can tell us what is RIGHT and what is WRONG! A little bit of fame will make some people feel they are very important.
Illus: One young preacher was going to preach at a large church. He prepared all week. He had almost completely memorized his sermon. He walked up on the platform with his head held high. But when the time came for him to preach it was a big failure. He walked off the platform with his head hanging low. An old man called him aside and told him, “Son if you had walked onto the platform the way you walked off the platform that sermon would not have been such a failure!”
Illus: Some people could never ride a motorcycle because they could never find a helmet to fit them.
Elijah seemed to think so much of himself that he thought that Ahab and Jezebel would repent when they saw what God did.
What was Elijah's problem? Pride! This is a problem that we all face from time to time! We are all guilty of believing that we are greater than we are in reality.
We read in Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
Notice Paul is saying we should not think MORE HIGHLY than we ought to think. When the truth hits home, it can lead to depression and times of spiritual drought. And when Jezebel sent a message that he was a dead man, it must have surprised Elijah because he was God’s man and he expected her and the whole nation to come to God after HE WAS SO GREATLY USED OF GOD ON MT. CARMEL.
Conclusion:
It is good to think HIGHLY of yourself. But the Bible tells us not to think MORE highly than we ought to think of ourselves.
Why? Because when we think more highly than we ought to think, we are going to be faced with the reality that we are just like everyone else. THIS CAN LEAD TO A GREAT DEPRESSION IN OUR LIFE!
• Remember that He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28
• Remember Hebrews 13:5, which says, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"
• One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible can be found in 1 Peter 5:7, we read, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
There are some people who do not believe that Christians can become depressed. They will say things like-
• "Just snap out of it."
• “Where is your faith?"
• "Just get over it!"
• "If you trusted God like you should you wouldn't feel like you do."
Friends, talk like that is foolish!
So, here is the invitation: If you are depressed and discouraged, and need God's help with a matter, then you come. The altar is open and the Lord is waiting!
I. WE SEE ELIJAH RUNNING
II. WE SEE ELIJAH RATIONALIZING
