The Loneliness Of Self Pity (July 31, 2022)

THE LONELINESS OF SELF PITY

Text: I Kings 19:1- 4, I Kings 19:10 -18

1 Kings 19:1-4  Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  (2)  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."  (3)  Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.  (4)  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." ….

1 Kings 19:10-18  He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."  (11)  He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; (12) and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  (13)  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  (14)  He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."  (15)  Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.  (16)  Also, you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha's son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.  (17)  Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.  (18)  Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (NRSV).

"When Helen Hayes was a young actress, her producer George Tyler, told her that, if she were four inches taller, she could become one of the greatest actresses of her time. "I decided," she says, "to lick my size. A string of teachers stretched and pulled till I was in a medieval torture chamber. I gained nary an inch---but my posture became military. I became the tallest five-foot woman in the world. And my refusal to be limited by my limitations enabled me to play Mary of Scotland, one of the tallest Queens in history". (Alan Loy McGinnis's Confidence. Minneapolis: Ausburg Publishing House, 1987, p. 20). She was determined.

Have you ever wanted to quit because things got tough? Elijah did. Helen Hayes was fighting to get the role of a lifetime. Elijah was considering dropping out of his role because Queen Jezebel threatened him!

1.If Elijah would have been a golfer, he would have studied the course of his mission and claimed that there was no way that he could ever get the ball anywhere near the hole.

2. If Elijah had been a boxer, between rounds he would have told his manager to throw in the towel.

3.If he would have been playing chess, he would have declared that he was stalemated.

4.If Elijah would have been a soldier, he would have waved a white flag meaning that he surrendered.

5.Yet, it was God who trying to help Elijah to see things differently. In Nascar racing, the white flag means the final lap. God was waving his white flag at Elijah, not to tell him that it was time to quit but rather time to finish the last lap of the race---the mission.

Unlike Helen Hayes, Elijah was discouraged. In I Kings 19:4, Elijah said, "… 0 Lord, take away my life", due to his self-pity. Elijah’s obstacle became a huge element of discouragement to him. There are times when, we like Elijah, might feel sorry for ourselves. Self-pity usually dwells on failure, mistakes, discouragement, despair and leads to hopelessness. In his book Lonely People, the late Warren W. Wiersbe summed up Elijah’s life journey in four points, 1) Perspective; 2) Patience; 3) Personal Touch and 4) Purpose. (Warren W. Wiersbe. Lonely People. Lincoln, NE: A Back to the Bible Publication, p. 1983. pp. 50 - 52). It was God who was trying to give Elijah a pep-talk.