Huddled in the darkness of a cave all alone,Elijah continued to beat his drum of depression. How had God'sprophet ended up here after the powerful victory over the falseprophets on Mt. Carmel? The fire of the Lord had fallen upon hissoggy sacrifice and altar to send up even the rocks in a pillar ofsmoke. Israel had shouted, "Yahweh, He is God." So why was Elijahfeeling so beaten down?
Like most depression, the initial impetus for hisall-pervading gloom would have involved his perception ofhopelessness about a particular situation. In his case, even afterthe LORD's total victory over Baal, still the fury of a powerful,evil and really-ticked-off woman had been focused upon him. Jezebelhad vowed upon her own life that Elijah would be slaughtered withinthe next 24 hours. What had been accomplished?
A shroud of fear had covered Elijah's heartdriving him to run for his life. Undoubtedly, an endless tape hadplayed over and over again in his head with each step as he ran.Those thoughts initially spilled forth in a summary fashion under abroom tree south of Beersheba, "I have had enough, LORD. Take mylife." Later, in the darkness of a cave Elijah poured out before theLord the details of what had hounded his mind. In essence he said,"Look at everything I have done. But it was all in vain. What's theuse?"
Is this not a mirror for how depressing thoughtseven today fuel those feelings of defeat which can shut down theactivity of God's servants?
• Look at all that I've done to win my spouse to serve the Lord. Nothing has changed. What's the use?• I've tried to love my spouse, but my spouse is so unresponsive. There's no hope for this situation to change. There's no reason for me to keep trying to make our life better.
• I've sent out resumes, but it's been to no avail. I might as well give up. What I do does not make any difference.
• Look at how hard I've tried to reach others with the gospel, but no one is responding. What's the use in trying anymore?
• I've sacrificed and worked hard at church, but what difference has it made in the attitudes and lives of people? What is the use to keep trying?
Before describing a path out of the woods, severalobservations are in order. First, depression tends to focus on abelief in the hopelessness of self and one's own situationrather than upon a goal. Second, as someone begins to dwell uponnegative thoughts, this pattern of thinking will trigger brain-basedchemical reactions causing a person to feel depressed andhopeless. The natural response to such feelings is for the personto try to find more evidence which supports those negativefeelings. Thus the vicious cycle of the pity party and feelinghopeless is unleashed! You can read Elijah's wallowing in 1 Kings19:10, 14. Similarly, all evidence which is contrary to feelingdepressed is either ignored or reinterpretednegatively.
What did the Lord do for Elijah? Threethings. First, he gave him concrete actions to perform. 1 Kings19:15-16 Second, he gave him hope. Elijah's actions would produceresults. 1 Kings. 19:17 Third, God provided information thatcontradicted Elijah's negative beliefs. 1 Kings 19:18
God does the same for us today. God callsus to focus upon deliberately taking action to fulfill our divinelygiven purposes. Those purposes include conducting ourselves in amanner which will cause God to be glorified, even when life isdifficult. This umbrella of purpose also embraces spreading thegospel. Furthermore, regardless of how others might respond to whatwe are doing, there is reward for those disciples who live asfaithful stewards with their time and resources. Even if thedifference is not currently seen, how I live now does make adifference! Not only this but we are not in helpless situations.Scripture assures us that prayer is powerful. Sure there are forcesof evil, but God and Christ are more powerful! As a child of theKing, living faithfully does make a difference! But the path out ofthe gloom requires making the decision to leave the dark cave behindin order to take those first steps in the light of our Lord'scalling.
Copyright © 2003 Barry Newton
Other Articles Which May Be ofInterest:
With God's Help You Can Make ItIs the Bible Relevant for Modern Living?
Part of the Journey to Maturity (Trials and Adversity)