Despair or discouragement.
Once in a while we all face these emotions in our life. Sometimes the trails we face seem to overwhelm us; knock the will to continue out of us and bring us to the place where we just feel like ending it all.
To someone reading this, you may be going through stuff and you are at the end of your strength. it seems you have come to the end of the road considering what you can put up with. You feel alone and a sense of abandonment engulfs you. The thought of ending it all (whatever it means to you) seems appealing right now.
I would like to start by telling you, that you are NOT alone in these feelings. That you feel this way isn't because you are an immature christian or anything like that. the truth is you are only human.
In the scriptural text above, we read about a great prophet of God who had just come off a great victory in his ministry. He had just called down fire from heaven(you don't get to see that everyday), disgraced the false prophets of Baal and restored Israel to the worship of the one true God.
What a great time he had!
Just after confronting a king with his sins, facing down a company of false prophets and challenging the belief of a whole nation, a threat comes from a woman.
You would think that a man that had just killed 850 men, humbled a king and a nation, could surely stand his ground against one woman but No. The Bible says Elijah ran for his life!
He was so frightened to face up to his fears that he wished he could die(knowing that he could not take his own life).
What makes a man so anointed and great, run in the face of opposition that seemed less than what he had faced before? What brings a man down after he has had such a great victory? these questions attack my mind as I read the scripture above.
I would like to answer it with one sentence.
Elijah removed his eyes from God and started looking at his own ability!!
When our focus changes to ourselves, then we begin to see utter hopelessness because the task we were called to do was never intended to be accomplished on our own strength. It will always overwhelm us but it cant overwhelm our God,hence, Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might(Eph. 6:10) and also to Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.(Heb. 12:2)
Friend if God started it, He can finish it!!!
Ours is a walk of faith and we only can survive by trusting Him all the way.
Going back to our story, Elijah at the peak of his ministry, when he had just recorded a great success, became so depressed that he wanted to die.
This tells me that no matter what you have attained in life or where you are in life discouragement can and does sometimes creep in.
How did God intervene in Elijah's case you may ask. God strengthened him, and invited him to his presence where he asked him a simple question
God asked him a question in a still small voice:Suddenly the LORD spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" -1 Kings 19:9
I believe God wanted to prompt Elijah to think for a moment what he was doing where he was at the moment. When at mount Carmel he had just forced a whole nation to turn to God, Elijah seemed to have taken his eyes off God!
It may surprise you to note that just a portion of the anointing that God gave Elijah was poured on Jehu, who eventually defeated Jezebel. In other words what he needed to deal with the problem he faced was already on the inside of him but he needed to keep his trust in God.
Friend, In your discouragement, depression or distress turn to God. David said it the best:
Psa 121:1-3 I look to the mountains; where will my help come from?
My help will come from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake.
Look away from your troubles for a minute and turn your thoughts God-ward. He hasnt finished with you and he has great plans for you.
I believe i should stop here and maybe continue this later. I pray this helps some stop and turn to the only one that loves us and died for us.
He Cares more than you know.
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