"When Isolation Is Getting the Best of You"

"Love on Lockdown"  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Don't allow isolation to make you miss God's voice.

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Transcript

Ephesians 2:10

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We’re Built for This!

Love on Lockdown graphic
“Social Distancing” vs “Physical Distancing” nomenclature has had an unintended psychological and emotional effect on people.
Isolation, loneliness, lack of physical & social contact has weighed heavy on many of us.
Overwhelmed
Overcome with feelings & emotions
For senior adults and those that live by themselves have felt this more heavily than others.
Still others of us live with people, but the enforced physical presence has increased the sense of loneliness that some feel.
For those that are losing this fight to isolation and social distancing, I believe there is help from the Word of God.

“When Isolation Is Getting the Best of You”

3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.

4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!”

6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

Get the scene...
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Elijah was running for his life; pursued by something that wanted to kill him.
Elijah was alone.
Elijah was in a dry place (physically, metaphorically, spiritually, emotionally)
Elijah’s isolation created loneliness that got twisted into hopelessness.
ER doctor in NY who committed suicide after helping to save countless lives of others
You know it’s bad when you actually PRAY to die.
As bad as things were, watch what God did (vv5-8):
With Elijah being so low that he wanted to die, God stepped in & provided some “self-care” for Elijah
Fed him / Nourished him
Provided sleep AND rest
You might be so low that you didn’t feel it, but I dare somebody who is struggling with depression and loneliness to notice how, over the last few days, unseen & unheard, God has sent some angelic helpers to give you JUST ENOUGH to keep going a little while longer!

God knows how to give us what we need for what we don’t know is coming!

With the new strength that God provides for him, Elijah goes further, but still finds himself isolated, closed in, on lockdown, in a cave
Just because God strengthens us to endure doesn’t always mean that we will leave the loneliness, depression behind....
But in that closed in, isolated, lonely cave, the voice of the Lord comes to Elijah!

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Notice that the voice of the Lord came to Elijah not as a directive or a revelation or some miraculous cure to his problem, but as a question

Pay attention to the questions God asks!

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Now, we find out the source of Elijah’s frustration & loneliness:

10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

Unrewarded service, the lack of progress/success, self-pity that was fueled by his loneliness and feelings of not being appreciated or celebrated
Elijah’s answer to God’s question (“What are you doing here?”) is to try to resign from his assignment.

11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

In the midst of the chaos and the isolation and social distancing and being overwhelmed by the unknowns and all the unanswered questions...
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THESIS:

Don’t allow isolation to cause you to miss God’s voice.

Discerning the voice of the Lord thru all the noise is what we need for both our right now AND for what’s next!

13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram.

16 Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet.

17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha!

18 Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

The Lord reassures Elijah that:
His assignment was NOT over; he still had work to do!
God was not powerless, nor heartless
God’s plan was STILL in place & He had a part for Elijah in it!
Elijah was NOT alone.
When our isolation is getting the best of us, it’s only because we spending too much time focusing on what we think we DON’T have, rather than on who the Lord has called & caused us to be!

Isolation can get the better of us when we spend too much time focusing on what we don’t HAVE rather than on who we ARE.

SWITCH TO STRAIGHT-ON
If you and I can strain to hear the voice of the Lord in the midst of our lonely “cave” experiences, we will hear His affirmations:
You ARE important to God!
You DO have a God-ordained purpose!
You ARE the key to somebody else’s destiny!
Your assignment is NOT over!
You are NOT alone!
We must not let our loneliness drown out the still, small voice calling us out of our cave of isolation.

Whatever you do, don’t miss His voice!

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