The Danger Of Spiritual Highs

For example, Elijah had just had two of his greatest victories:

• All alone, he has just confronted a cult, and had 450 of their prophets on Mount Carmel killed.

• God had just used him through prayer, to bring rain after three years of drought.

He was on a SPIRITUAL HIGH, he was on a roll, and everyone was talking about this man of God. However, one of the most dangerous times in our life is after the SPIRITUAL HIGHS in our life. For example:

• Every year, people begin to make all kinds of plans for Christmas. The excitement begins to build as the day of Christmas gets closer. And then that wonderful day comes and goes! But after it goes, and the routine of life sets in and all the excitement disappears in their life, many suffer POST CHRISTMAS DEPRESSION.

• The same thing happens when a young couple is getting married. As the special day approaches, the excitement is almost unreal. And when that glorious day come and goes and they are forced to fall into the routine of every day life, and all the excitement disappears, it can be a time of discouragement.

• Sometimes it happens to a person visiting a church. Everyone is glad to see them and they feel so special as a visitor. But once they join the church and they become a member, they no longer get that first time visitors attention and they wonder what happened to all the excitement in the church.

But listen:

• We can’t have Christmas every day, if we did it would not be special to us

• We can not jump from marriage to marriage because we like the excitement of being newlyweds

• We can’t go from church to church because we like the excitement of being a first time visitor

Thank God for the SPIRITUAL HIGHS in our life, but we can not live up there forever. Once we come down from our SPIRITUAL HIGH we can become discouraged.

Illus: Someone said: “We are never closer to defeat than in the moments of our greatest victory.”

Who would have ever thought this man of God going through these SPIRITUAL HIGHS would fall so low that he just wanted to die? He definitely was a depressed man!

WHAT IS DEPRESSION? Depression is the body’s natural reaction to shock.

HOW DOES IT WORK? When a time of grief, stress, frustration, or illness occurs, the brain will release chemicals that will serve to numb the mind and body to get the individual through the experience. This numbness serves like a shock absorber in a car.

However, there are times when the brain and its chemicals become so out of balance that clinical depression may occur. This can happen to anyone, but we are often shocked when it happens to a man of God like Elijah.

Have you ever heard the expression, "It’s enough to make a preacher curse"? Preachers face difficult times also.

Illus: This expression reminds me of the story about little boy selling a lawn mower to the local preacher.

The pastor pulled on the rope several times to make sure the mower would start, but nothing happened. Not even a sputter.

The boy told the preacher that he would have to kick the mower and say a few bad words before the mower would start.

The preacher said, "Son, I can’t do that. I am a minister and I have chosen to live on the high road.” He then said, “It’s been years since I said a bad word, I do not even remember how to say bad words."

The little boy replied, "Just keep pulling the rope Preacher and it will come back to you."

We all have had to face things in life that were so devastating that they threw us into a state of depression.

Who would ever have thought that Elijah could be on such a SPIRITUAL HIGH one day and reach such a SPIRITUAL LOW on another? Some think he had more than a state of depression. SOME THINK ELIJAH HAD A NERVOUS BREAK DOWN.

Let’s look at some of these symptoms for ourselves in the life of Elijah. For example, we see:

• Loss of appetite

• Loss of sleep or energy

• Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities

• Reduced ability to concentrate

• Feelings of hopelessness or uselessness

Let’s look at the scriptures and see if these symptoms prevailed in his life.

I. HIS LIFE REVEALED PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION

Look at 1 Kings 18:45-46 “And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”