Beyond Discouragement (2)
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Good morning, over the past few weeks we have been in a sermon series entitled Beyond.
We are talking about getting beyond.... whatever difficulties or struggles we are facing in the present…
We have talked about getting through storms of life, getting through transitions, getting through conflicts… today we are going to look at how to get through discouragement…
Everyone of us in this room is susceptible to discouragement… Even the most optimistic person is prone to disappointment and discouragement..
We have all heard or have used the phrase — We’ve hit a wall…
In endurance sports like marathon runners Hitting the wall.. is a common experience… as athletes push themselves past their comfort levels… they often hit this Plato…this barrier…
The day before the Boston Marathon, an article in Harvard Health that predicted 40 percent of 27000 optimistic and determined runners would slam into a wall…at around mile 7 They would suddenly get this sensation of a can't-do-this fatigue ..
The long distance runner Dick Beardsley described this sensation.. as an Elephant jumping out of a tree on your shoulders and making you carry it the rest of the way...
life is more of marathon than a sprint and each of us are prone to Fatigue and discouragement.
What is true for the body is also true for the soul. And there are times when we hit a wall and we feel like an elephant has jumped on our back.
Often as Christians we feel guilty or something is wrong if we feel discouraged… first of all we need to recognize that discouragement is a real battle that anyone of us can face.
John Stott said it like this.....
The Christian's chief occupational hazards are depression and discouragement. John R. W. Stott
What is discouragement?
Discouragement is that sense of loss of confidence — It could be a sense of loss in ones own abilities or the sense of loss in God’s abilities to help us...
T/s This morning we are going to look at one of the greatest prophets in the OT…
He is one of those personalities that exudes with confidence…
We are going to first look at his courage and then look at his recovery from discouragement…
We talking about the prophet Elijah..
Elijah’s calling was during the period of the kings — His ministry was during the reign of king Ahab king of Israel the Northern kingdom…
Ahab was known for being one the most wicked king of Israel -
25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.
The problem really started when Ahab married a Phoenician princess called Jezebel.. which was all part of political alliance between Israel and a neighboring nation .. ..
… Ahab sold out on his Faith… when he, married Jezebel, he also bought into her religion of worshiping of Baal…the god of rain and fertility…
Jezebel was a self proclaimed enemy of Yahweh Jezabel actively killed the prophets……and those who survived were hiding in caves...
What you have is this powerful King and queen that put fear into the nation… and Nobody was willing to stand up to them… this is until we get to the Prophet ...Elijah…
Elijah was different from all the other prophets… Elijah had a bold Confidence in the God of Israel…
Elijah not just a man of words — he was a man of action..… we have more recorded of what Elijah did than what he said…
When it comes to Faith and Practice — Our Actions always trump our words…
James the half brother of our Lord — tells us that Faith on its own is dead… James 2:14 says, some of you say you have faith and I have works.. and I will show you my faith by my works..
Faith does not operate in a vacuum… it require works …they go hand in hand…
One of my favorite quotes is from St Francis of Assisi who gave up his inheritance and life of privilege to minister to the poor… He said, “Preach the word and if necessary use words.”
Elijah lived with that kind fearless faith.… He was a man of both words and actions.
Elijah becomes God’s champion of Faith for Israel.. He is the only one with enough courage to stand up to the Evil King Ahab and infamous Jezebel...
So what we have in our our text is this this perfect set up for a Show down —between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil..
T/S What we learn from Elijah is How we deal with discouragement…
1. Placing your confidence in God.
1. Placing your confidence in God.
In order to understand how to overcome discouragement we need to understand the meaning of Courage..
The word COURAGE comes from the Heb. word ḥāzaq means literally ‘to show oneself strong’
it is being willing to do dangerous or risky things in obedience to God, in the belief that he will strengthen, guard and protect his people
This is the quality we see in Elijah..
A. Elijah is Confident in the of God who Performs.
The first time we meet Elijah is when he shows up at Ahab’s front door… There is no introduction to Elijah…Rather we have this dramatic encounter …Where Elijah announces to King Ahab that the Lord is going to send a severe drought…
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
Elijah says to Ahab…it all stops now… ..for the next few years there is going to be no more rain in the land… only according to my word…
… This is not blind faith or arrogance but this evidence of knowing the will of God..
Elijah confidence comes from his relationship with God… the most important thing about a prophet was his relationship to God… Everything would flow from that relationship… God shapes Elijah not in his public ministry, but in his private life of solitude…
The reason Elijah spoke boldly is because He knew God.....
The only way to develop a relationship with God is in our private lives… God molds and shapes our lives through a devotional life… prayer and reading the word of God.... Elijah had confidence in God in public because he had spent time with God in private..
And as soon as Elijah leaves Ahab’s presence the drought begins.. and it lasts for three years …during this time it doesn’t matter how much they pray in their temples …the rain god Baal...nothing is changing…what God has decreed.
Elijah is Confident that God will perform what he has spoken through his word.… what God says He will do will be done…
There is confidence that God will perform..then there is the.. secondly, there is
B. Confidence that God would Provide and Supply .
Afterward confronting Ahab.. the Lord leads Elijah eastwards to the brook of Cherith… and at this brook God provides miraculously bread and meat every morning and evening…It is as punctual as amazon prime…
… the ravens came morning and Evening...
This went on for some time until finally the brook dried out… When the brook dried up was a a crucial moment of Faith.…
it is easy to serve God when when the brook is flowing… and the ravins are bringing food...what happens when your brook dries up?
Often what happens is that we get anxious and we worry...
What confidence says, that regardless of outcomes.. regardless… of the economy… regardless of sickness diseases… Confidence echoes what Paul wrote to the church of Philippi…..
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
The reason the river stopped is because God wanted to move Elijah onto what was next...
God was going to still supply but he had changed it up...… it is no longer going to be a brook…
instead of sending ravens God was now going to send Elijah to provide… for a widow and her son…
There was this widow who was preparing to eat the last of her food… and they were about to give up… God says to Elijah go to them and encourage them… God performs a miracle the flour and oil that lasted the whole whole time…
God is taking care of Elijah…the whole time during the famine..
Again this season comes to the end…
God says to Elijah, now is the time go show yourself to King Ahab… another season..
God sent Ravens… Now God is sending Elijah from the Widow to King Ahab...
God is going to use Elijah as an instrument of reform and renewal..
The time had come when God was going to revive this people. Not only was there going to be rain but there was going to be an awakening a Spiritual renewal...
Elijah calls for a meeting with king Ahab… When Ahab saw Elijah --- the first thing he says is...there you are you troubler of Israel?
I love the way that Elijah answers… because he points out that it is not his presence but rather… his own guilt that is the problem.
Elijah says — It is not I who has troubled Israel but you because you have abandoned the commands of the Lord and followed the Baals..
When he saw Elijah it trigged his guilt and conviction… In a sense our faith should bring conviction to the world...
What we see is that Elijah is
c. Confidence that God would Reform and transform.
Everything is building up to this show down at Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal...
Elijah invites the Ahab, Israel.. the prophets of Baal to this contest — to see who the real God is… It was Elijah VS the 450 prophets of Baal...
They were to each build altars with a sacrifice… and the “winner of the competition.” Would be the e god who consume the offering with fire..
On one side the prophets build their altar and from morning to noon call upon baal to consume the their offering..nothing… Elijah begins to mock them… where is your God taking a rest or relieving himself...
They get even more desperate and start shouting out louder and cutting themselves…nothing…
Then it is Elijahs turn — He calls the people of Israel to come near.. .. Elijah repairs the Altar of the Lord that was thrown down.. He places 12 stones down that represent the tribes of Israel… He carefully prepares the sacrifice and then three times they douse the offering with four large jars of water…there was so much water that it filled the trench —
Elijah then cry's out to the Lord..… God I have done everything according to your word… Now come consume the offering..
We told that the Fire of the Lord fell down and consumed the offering — burnt everything including the wood and the stones and the dirt and dried the water…
When fire fell from heaven..
There was no doubt in all the people — immediately they fell to their faces and confessed The Lord, he is the God… the Lord…He is God…
Then...
Elijah instructed the people to destroy all the prophets of baal... Elijah gives thanks and it begins to rain again in the land… .
Elijah walks in confidence … and… succeeds in destroying the influence of baal and reestablished the worship of God… Chapter 18 ends with success and victory… Chapter 19 in a few verses we are going to see complete contrast...
At the very apex of his career, the prophet Elijah suffered something akin to a nervous breakdown.
T/S What we learn from Elijah is How we deal with discouragement…
1. Placing your confidence in God.
2. Understand the Nature of Discouragement.
2. Understand the Nature of Discouragement.
In chapter 19 Jezebel gets word of all that Elijah had done and how he had killed the prophets of baal… she is. seething mad… and so she sends a threatening message to Elijah —
the message was simply “may the gods do to me more also, if I not make your life like one of them by this time tomorrow.”
— his message… Sends Elijah into a spiral of despair --
What we learn hear is that we need to be aware that discouragement often comes after we has expended energy… It can often come after a season of busyness or a season of blessing…then suddenly we hit mile 5… that sensation that we are carrying an elephant..
The Scottish pastor Andrew Bonar (1810–1892) said,
“Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” Andrew Bonar
The principle is that when we expend physical and spiritual energy.. we may find ourselves vulnerable to discouragement..
Think about what had been achieved..
Baal worship has just been destroyed and the people are calling on the name of the Lord and faith is being restored…
But because Elijah is tired and wary… He has lost his fortitude…
When Elijah Hears what Jezabel words it sends him into a spiral of dispare and … and he retreats into the wilderness…
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
This is incredible scene…
…Elijah instead of confronting is now retreating he tries to get as far as possible from the problem… He walks a day’s journey into the wilderness … and then he collapse under a broom tree..
Here he asks God that he might die....
Which is kind of Ironic because the whole point of running from Jezebel was to save his life.... If he really wanted to die.. he could have just stayed where he was.
The real problem is that not..
Not only has he distanced himself from the problem but he has distanced himself from God… he has cut himself from God who is the fountain of his strength and confidence… …basically he is saying — Ive completely failed take me home…
What is happening to Elijah Is that he is on spiraling from discouragement into depression—
Something we should be aware of …are the stages of depression
There are different stages of depression..
First there is the...
A. Sense of loss
This happens when one or more three of the following are threatened or missing...
• Our need for Love
• Our need for Significance
• Our need for Security
The theologian Henri Nouwen describes in his journal his depression during his visit to Peru and Bolivia in 1981–1982, his “deep seated feeling of uselessness.”
Nouwen wrote...
I crave personal attention and affection … what I am craving is not so much recognition, praise or admiration, as simple friendship.… I realized that the only thing I really wanted was a handshake, an embrace, a kiss or a smile; I received none…
The sense of loss can lead to..
b. Negative Thinking patterns
These come in the form of ...
• Self-pity
• Self-condemnation
• Fear
• Hopelessness
Instead of being full of courage… knowing that God would Perform… That God would Provide and supply… God would reform and transform… He was fixated on himself…
When Elijah was sitting under the boom tree he was wallowing in self pity…
Self-condemnation, Fear Hopelessness
Sense of loss… leads to negative though patterns… to
c. Repressed Anger
Repressed anger is Buried resentment over circumstances
Elijah had become self-obsessed to the point where he thought the whole future of Israel was in his hand
Elijah was frustrated that all his efforts seemed in vain.
d. Depression
One of the best ways to describe depression..
If you place a heavy weight on a heart shaped foam pillow… the pillow becomes pressed down… “De-pressed” but if you remove the pillow the next day - the pillow returns to its original form or shape…
That is discouragement… having a bad day… feeling a little sad… but you bounce back… However, if you wait 6 months to remove the weight — what happens is the pillow will not return to its original shape it will remain depressed.. A pillow is designed to sustain temporary pressured… it is not designed to hold its shape for a long time under pressure…
God has designed the heart… under normal situations we are designed to rebound once the pressure is removed… But if live with that pressure for an extended time we enter into a “state” of depression.. ”
How do we get through discouragement?
3. Know the Remedy for Discouragement.
3. Know the Remedy for Discouragement.
A man stopped to watch a Little League baseball game. He asked one of the youngsters what the score was. "We're losing 18-0," was the answer.
"Well," said the man. "I must say you don't look discouraged."
"Discouraged?" the boy said, puzzled. "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't come to bat yet."
Just because we may be feeling discouraged or heading into depression… We take confidence the game is not over...
The Bible has a remedy for Depression..Which is both practical and spiritual…
The Bible is interested in the whole person. While the spiritual side of man is emphasized, the physical side of him is not ignored.
First of all Elijah rested.
5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
The angel of Lord came down to minister to Elijah… He woke him up from a sleep and and fed him.... and then he let him go back and rest some more…and then again woke him up and gave him food..
The first principle is really practical and has to with
a. Taking Care of our Physical well being.
The Lord gave Elijah adequate rest and nourishment.
We need to ask ourselves are we pacing yourself, or are you overdoing things?
Are you getting a proper rhythm between work, family and relaxation? Each one of those quadrants are important… we need work… we need family and relaxation..
Notice that after Elijah eats and refreshed he has the strength to go on a 40 day journey to Horeb…The only way he could have done that journey was with adequate rest and food…
The next principle is
b. Allow God’s Word to change your Story.
ELIJAH ARRIVES AT Mt Horeb…He enters into a cave… and it is here that wants to speak to Elijah -… God says go out stand before me on cleft of the rock.. and a great wind came past — so strong it tore part of the mountain away… then an earthquake… then a fire… Gods voice was not in found in those in these huge demonstrations… Elijah found the voice of God in the small whisper....
God says to Elijah--- what are you doing here?
God gave Elijah the opportunity to tell his story…
When I was in Seminary we we had a class where we listen to each others story… Our professor said that the greatest gift you can give someone is to listen to their story...
Elijah says to the Lord that the whole of Israel have forsaken the covenant… torn down their altars… they have killed your prophets… I am the only one left and they are seeking my life...
The reason we might need to express our story --- is it might explain how we got to where we are.... God said to Elijah …
What are you doing here? He got to Horeb…because of his discouragement...
What God does is he helps Elijah contextualize his own struggles…
you are not the only prophet that remains — in fact there are several thousand prophets that have not bowed down..
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.”
God says that he has already saved a remnant that have not bowed down to serve Baal.....
No matter where you are we can take courage because God changes the story..
35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
C. Allow God’s Word to transform and Shift Your thinking
God helped Elijah shift his thinking from himself to God. Secondly
God assigned Elijah a manageable task
1 kings 19:15
15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
God sent Elijah to anoint the next kings of Israel (Jehu) and Syria (Hazael) and the next prophet (Elisha) through whom God would continue to act. This assignment ministered to Elijah in two important ways.
It helped him move from the unmanageable to the manageable.
Secondly, these ordinary tasks brought him back into the world of what he can really do..
Conclusion
William Carey was a missionary in the 1800’s — He is called the Father of Modern Missions — He wanted to get the Bible into many languages as possible.. Carry established a large printshop in Serampore, India.. where translation work was continually being done..
But unfortunately, in March 1812 the print shop caught on fire and everything was destroyed.. it was a huge loss… included two completed translations of the Bible and 14 works that were in the process of being translated. When Carey got the news he was devastated.. He said under his breath..all those years of work gone in a moment....this was a major blow — But…some how he found the resilience to carry on…
Carey wrote in his journal,
“The loss is heavy,” “We are cast down but not in despair.”
When News of the fire reached England.. thousands of pounds were raised to complete the work and by 1832 the Bible had printed into 44 languages and dialects...
The secret of Carey’s success is found in his resiliency. Carey wrote in his journal....
“There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead. Therefore we must go forward.”