Begin with clip from Hee Haw TV show. Gloom, despair, and agony on me. I remember many a Saturday night gathered around the TV as a child with my family. We enjoyed a lot of laughs as we watched sketches like the one we just viewed. This was the first thing that came to mind when I knew I was going to be preaching this week. I’m reminded of the saying- if I wasn’t laughing, I’d be crying.
That’s exactly where we find Elijah as we wrap up our series about Blind Spots. Today, we’re going to focus on the idea of despair. Elijah had been on the mountaintop, but he fell quickly into the pit of despair. We’re going to get started with the first few verses of today’s text and pick up the rest later. Read 1 Kings 19:1-3. Pray.
Despair is defined as the utter loss of hope. Elijah was a great prophet of God, he’d been diligently serving his Lord, how did he reach a point of hopelessness, of despair? Let’s begin with a bit of backstory.
During Elijah’s time, Israel was ruled by an evil king, Ahab. Elijah had confronted Ahab and informed him that there would be no rain until Elijah called for it to rain again. Three years have passed by before God tells Elijah to present himself to Ahab to usher in the rain. Ahab is rather annoyed at Elijah, viewing him as the cause of all his troubles.
Elijah proposes a duel- him against the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Each will build an altar and pray to their god to consume the sacrifice with fire. The god who responds with fire will be the god whom Israel follows. Elijah allowed the false prophets to spend most of the day calling on their gods, even taunting them as they failed. Then he built an altar, dug a trench around it, and had so much water poured over the sacrifice that the trench was filled. When he prayed, God sent fire, consuming the sacrifice and all the water too.
Elijah has won the duel, put the false prophets to death, then informs Ahab he better get going because the rain is about to begin. God then empowers Elijah to run so fast he beat Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel. One would think that he’d be on top of the world at this point. Look what my God did, there’s no stopping me now.
But Queen Jezebel sent Elijah a message threatening his life. She had a reputation too, she had cut off the prophets of God, so Elijah knew she meant it. He immediately comes crashing down into despair, convinced that he’s about to die, and practically begs God to end his life.
What causes someone like Elijah to fall into despair? I believe it’s because we lose our focus on who God is. We see it happen throughout Scripture. Israel fell into whining and complaining time after time while wandering in the desert after being saved from Egypt. Samson lost his focus and was tricked into a haircut. Gideon was hiding in the winepress. Peter nearly drowned when he took his eyes off Jesus and got caught up in the storm raging around him. All these people had taken their eyes off God and let their circumstances dictate their emotions. Elijah did the same thing- he took his eyes off what God had just done and focused on what Jezebel was trying to do.
We do the same thing today. Experience the mountaintop, come crashing down to the valley of despair. Have you ever heard of the gold medal syndrome? Apparently, as many as 40% of Olympic athletes struggle with despair and depression once the games come to an end. They had been so focused on their dream of winning a gold medal, that when it’s all said and done, they’re not sure what to do next. For example, I recently learned that I have something in common with gymnast Simone Biles- being a Green Bay Packers fan. Her husband just began playing as a defensive back for the Packers. I mention her because she was quite vocal about raising awareness of athletes’ struggle with depression during the last Olympics. She even withdrew from some of the events she was expected to do well in because of her mental health. She just recently was able to begin competing again, having received the help she needed.
To bring it a little closer to home, another summer has just come to an end. One of the highlights of summer for me (and I hope for more and more of our young people) is getting to spend a week at church camp. I have many fond memories of my years as a camper and enjoy getting to give back as camp faculty each summer. It’s a great week in which everyone is able to remove the distractions of life and focus on their relationship with Christ. It’s life-altering. Almost every week I’ve ever been to, whether as a camper or as faculty, towards the end of the week, someone always talks about the wonderful mountaintop experience we’ve had and how we need to prepare to return to reality. There will be temptations to return to “normal” so we’ve got to resolve to keep our focus. We’ve been on the mountaintop, we need to be prepared to deal with the valley.
How do we handle times of despair? The better question may be how does God get us through our times of despair? Let’s see how He helped Elijah. Read 1 Kings 19:4-8.
The first thing that God does is he meets Elijah’s physical needs. Facebook has a couple of memes about this. The first is about this very passage- This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like, “God, I’m so mad! I want to die!” So God said, “Here’s some food. Why don’t you have a nap?” So Elijah slept, ate, and decided things weren’t so bad. Never underestimate the spiritual power of a nap and a snack. Another one states- Daniel slept in a lions’ den. Peter slept in a prison. Jesus slept in a storm. No matter your circumstance, you can take a nap. You see, God recognizes that Elijah is running on low and He meets him where he’s at. The text tells us that Elijah took a nap, then an angel provided him with food. He napped again and the angel gave him more food, it was enough to energize him for a forty-day journey to come into the presence of God.
Now, I believe that secular society is on the right track as people express the need for self-care, they’re just missing one piece to be successful- God. We need to consider that some of the time that we’re feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and caught up in despair, it’s because we’ve been neglecting our physical needs. We rush from one activity to the next, not allowing ourselves to get enough sleep, often neglecting a proper diet. We run ourselves down and then wonder how we’ve gotten to feeling so low. You want to combat despair? Begin by taking care of your physical body- that includes following your doctor’s advice regarding treatment. I believe God gave them their knowledge for our benefit.
We continue to see God helping Elijah through his despair in vss 9-14 (read). After taking care of Elijah’s most basic needs, care for his physical body, God then reveals Himself to Elijah and reminds him of just who it is that he’s been serving. Elijah arrives at Mt. Horeb, many believe this may be an alternate name for Mt. Sinai or, at the very least, the region in which Mt. Sinai is located. So Elijah has returned to the mountain of God. The mountain where God revealed Himself to Moses, first in the burning bush, then to give him the Ten Commandments.
When Elijah gets there, he hides himself in a cave. God asks him what he’s doing there and I get this picture of a young child throwing a tantrum. “I’ve been jealous (some versions say zealous) for the Lord and what has it gotten me? Israel has forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, killed your prophets, and now they’re after me!”
God responds to this tantrum by telling him to come out of the cave because He has something for Elijah to see. A great and strong wind tore up the mountainside, but God was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake shaking up the mountain, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but God was not in the fire. After the fire came the sound of a low whisper and Elijah knew it was time to cover his face and step into the presence of God.
I wonder how many people, when reading or hearing this story for the first time, expected God to reveal Himself in the grandiose- the mighty wind, the earthquake, the fire. How often do we look for the dramatic, emotional high in order to find God? Rich Mullins, writer of more than a few of the worship songs we sing, was always concerned about how people would react to his concerts. He’d often have people approach him after a show exclaiming, “Wow! The Holy Spirit really moved at that certain point in the song!” He’d ask them more about where in the song they were talking about and inevitably told them that was when the kick drum and bass kicked in. He was very concerned about the manipulation that could take place through the use of bells and whistles.
That’s one of the things I love about this church. We maintain a good balance in worship. It starts with the choice of styles in our two services. We sing both older and newer songs, we use a variety of instruments- piano in the first service, band in the second, recorded music when needed. We’ve gone from singing out of hymnals to having the words on the screen but we don’t repeat the same lines over and over waiting for an emotional response. We don’t add fancy lights or fog machines because while some may view it as an enhancement, they’re often a distraction. My favorite part of this is that our musicians aren’t here to put on a performance, they are here to lead us, the choir as we sing praises to God.
A few years back, I had lunch with someone who had moved on to a different church. During our meal, the opportunity came up to find out why he chose to go somewhere else. He talked about how he could create a phenomenal atmosphere that would allow people to truly experience God. The leaders wouldn’t let him do this and I believe they took the correct position. We’re not here to manipulate people into the kingdom. Our job is to present the truth of God’s love and how they can obtain it. Seek Him and He will reveal Himself to us.
We’ve got one more segment to read as we see how God helps Elijah get out of his despair. Read 1 Kings 19:15-18. God gives Elijah a purpose in moving forward.
Football season has begun. Most local schools had their first games this weekend. I have the privilege of being a coach at Logansport Junior High. Now, it’s not because I have some superior knowledge of how the game works or what plays to run to get us success that I’ve been asked to coach. I was asked to be a part of the team to be an encourager, someone who picks them up, dusts them off, and sends them back out on the field. Most of my focus is on the line because that’s what I played back in the day. It’s usually the backs who get the glory, but they could do nothing without the line. My job is to remind the line that while their names may not be heard over the PA, but without them doing their part, neither would our stars.
God does something similar with Elijah. I’ve got a task for you to do, others will get the credit for the results, but it won’t happen if Elijah remains in despair and doesn’t do his part. God tells Elijah to anoint Hazael King of Syria (that’s right, a pagan king of a pagan nation), Jehu King of Israel, and Elisha to be the next prophet. Each of them will do their part to wipe out the opposition to God.
As for Elijah, God reminds him that he’s not alone. All this time he’d been throwing a fit about being the last prophet alive. Just before the duel with the false prophets, Obadiah had informed Elijah that he had hidden away another hundred prophets from Ahab. God assured Elijah that He had preserved 7,000 others who had not bowed to Baal. He was not alone.
God has given us a purpose also. Read Matthew 28:19-20. We call this passage the Great Commission because it contains our marching orders. Wherever we go, make disciples. How? By baptizing them as they come to belief and teaching them all that we have learned from God. That’s why we have this book.
We don’t have to be left alone in our despair. The commission comes with a promise- surely I will be with you to the end of the age. Jesus will be here with us. Our circumstances don’t dictate who we are nor how we feel. Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ does that. Pray.
Invitation- One of my favorite movies is Facing the Giants. In it, everything seems to be going wrong for a high school coach. His car keeps breaking down, there’s a bad smell in his house, they are childless, and now his job is on the line as they open the season with a loss to a team that was thought to be a pushover. The coach, in his desperation, cries out to God, then meets with the team. He informs them that their circumstances can’t dictate their relationship with God, they need to trust Him regardless. They praise him in the good times, they will praise him in the bad.
Things begin to turn around. They find the source of the smell, his wife learns she’s pregnant, the team is winning, and he’s given a brand-new truck. The team makes it to the playoffs but lost. When the team gathered in the locker room, one of the players declares, “We praised God in the good times, we’re going to praise Him in the bad times.” It worked out, the team that beat them was disqualified, and they went on to win state. Our story may not always end like that, but we need to trust God in good times and bad. Invite
