The Great Depression # 4

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.