What to do with the Blues
WHAT TO DO WITH THE BLUES
Dealing With Depression
TEXT: I KINGS 19:1-13
INTRODUCTION: Christians don't get depressed. How many of you believe that? A popular speaker has asked more than 100,000 Christians across America this question: "Is there anyone present who has never, ever, been depressed?" And the answer? Through all his speaking engagements, not one single person responded.
"Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down/standing in the need of prayer," the old spiritual goes. Do Christians get depressed? Of course they do. And they always have. From the writer of old spirituals to the spiritual giants of the Bible, Christians have struggled with depression. It is both an ancient and a universal problem. And very few people, Christian or not, have escaped its numbing effects.
There are several types of depression. Some people suffer from a chronic sort of depression, a clinical one caused by a malfunction of our brain's chemicals. Thankfully, modern medicine can now treat this sort of chemical disorder.
But the type of depression the rest of us suffer is the type the psalmist knew when he said, Oh, my soul, why art thou cast down within me? History is littered with great people who have battled depression.
Some of God's mightiest heroes have struggled with periods of dark, desperate depression.
Read Numbers 11 and hear Moses cry out, God, I wish You'd kill me! I can't bear leading these people any longer! All they do is grumble about how good the food was back in Egypt. Please just kill me! Look at Jeremiah 20:18 and you will find Jeremiah the prophet depressed over the response of the people toward him as a representative of God, Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? In the fourth chapter of Jonah, where the prophet, strangely enough, is depressed because his "revival" was a big success. He didn't like God giving all those sinful Assyrians a second chance and asked God to just take his life. The more we look, the more we realize that depression is no respecter of persons.
But the worst case of all seems to be that of Elijah. From God's Word we find that his depression seemed to be the mother of all depression. This is the prophet that the Jewish people of Jesus' day considered to be the greatest prophet in their history. And yet no man in history could have possibly served God with greater integrity in more difficult circumstances with more complete surrender and undivided loyalty than the prophet Elijah. But from our passage this morning we find he was terribly depressed.
The background of our passage this finds Elijah having served as the spokesman for God in the nation of Israel for three years. During those three years tremendous progress had been made to return the nation to its covenant relationship with God. There seemed to be a spiritual awakening taking place in Israel to return the nation from its pursuit of pagan idol worship to the worship of Yahweh as the one and only true God. Elijah was at the pinnacle of his prophetic career. And yet there was one person in the nation who was not so impressed with Elijah. That person was named Jezebel. Jezebel was the queen of Israel at the time. She was a very wicked woman. Jezebel did not like Elijah because he had so much influence in the nation.
Immediately following a tremendous miracle performed by God through Elijah which resulted in a victory over the prophets of Baal, the report was brought by King Ahab to Jezebel in verse 1, Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. And then in verse two it tells us that Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. What she was saying was that his life was not worth a plugged nickel. She was so upset that she threatened Elijah's life.
Now get the picture. Here was Elijah, who had been fearless for three years, threatened by one woman, becoming frightened, tucking his tail and fleeing to the desert. Notice what it says in verse 3 and following, Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. Elijah was in deep depression. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors. Elijah was a prime candidate for depression. He was physically tired and emotionally exhausted. He was an emotional basket case at this point. And if we look at his struggles, I believe we can find exactly how we should handle the blues in our lives.
I. WHY DID ELIJAH BECOME DEPRESSED?
Elijah became depressed because he played four mental games that we all play.
A. He focused on his feelings rather than the facts.
1. When we are depressed, one of the things we do wrong is to focus on our feelings rather than the facts.
a) Elijah was a tremendous prophet. He was coming off a tremendous victory for the cause of God, but because of one incident he felt like a failure and ran.
b) He was made to feel like a failure by Jezebel and so he said, "I must be a failure." That is called emotional reasoning and it is wrong. He based his reasoning on feelings and that will play tricks on you every time.
2. The truth is feelings are not facts.
a) They are highly unreliable.
b) The reason we get in trouble with depression is because we go by our feelings instead of the facts.
c) You cannot stay on an emotional high forever. Feelings will fool you.
d) When you focus on your feelings rather than the facts, you will soon find yourself in trouble.
e) The Bible does not say to get in touch with your feelings, but get in touch with the truth. The truth is that God loves you enough to give his Son Jesus Christ to pay for your sins. The truth is that God has placed potential in your life, and He wants to work in your life to help you reach that potential.
f) You may be "feeling overwhelmed, feeling hopeless. You feel that your problem is impossible to solve or overcome. Some of are saying, "I feel like God is far away, therefore He must be mad at me." Not true!
g) You say, "I feel inadequate, therefore I must be worthless." That is not true either. Don't focus on your feelings. Focus on the facts.
B. We start comparing ourselves to others.
1. Listen to Elijah's words found in verse 4, I have had enough Lord, take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.
2. You think "I wish I could be like so and so. Then everything would be OK." Believe me. When you start comparing yourself to other people, you are asking for trouble.
a) The Bible tells us not to do that because He has made every one of us to be different.
b) There is only one person that you can be and that is yourself. If you are trying to be something you are not, you are setting yourself up to be a failure. That will lead to depression.
3. When I get to heaven God is not going to ask me why I wasn't like Spurgeon or why weren't you like Elijah? He is going to say, "Ron, why didn't you be yourselves? Weren't you satisfied with the job I did?" God wants you to be you because that is who He made you to be.
4. When we compare ourselves to other people, we always compare our weaknesses to their strengths. We seem to forget that they have weaknesses as well.
5. We often say, I wish I was more like that person. I should be able to act better. I ought to be able to do that. I should be able to stop that."
C. We blame ourselves for negative events that are not our fault.
1. Notice verse 10, Lord, I have been zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down our altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. Elijah said, "I have worked my fingers to the bone and the people are no closer to you than before."
2. In his depression, Elijah blamed himself for failing to change the nation. He took the lack of response personally. We do that. We say things like, "maybe I could have done something different". Or "I could have tried harder ".
3. When we assume responsibility that God never intended for us to have, we become depressed. Why? Simply because that is a burden that God never intended us to carry.
4. Any time you try to help someone, you will sooner or later realize that people do not necessarily respond the way you want them to. It may be your spouse. It may be your children. It may be a stranger. People do not always respond the way you want them to.
5. Listen. You cannot assume responsibility for someone's response. God has given everybody a free will. If you try to carry your load and someone else's you will soon find yourself depressed. Yes, you can influence people, but you cannot control them. The final decision is theirs. So, don't get yourself depressed over something you cannot control. That is what Elijah did.
D. We exaggerate the negative
1. Notice again verse 10, I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too
2. He believed that everyone was against him and no one cared about him. We do that too. Everybody in the church is against me! Nobody in the church loves me! Nobody in the church cares about me; if I quit church they would never know that I was gone.
3. He said, "Poor pitiful me." Elijah sat down and had a pity party.
4. The fact is not everyone was against him. Only one person was against him and she had no power. If Elijah had thought about it instead of following his feelings, he would have realized that there was no way Jezebel was going to kill him. If you look back to verse 2, you will see that Jezebel sent a messenger to tell him she was going to kill him. If she intended to kill him, she would have sent a hit man without warning him. It was just a threat. She let him get away to the desert. Why? Simply because she did not really want to kill him. She only wanted to make him a coward before the people. Elijah did not stop to think. Why? Simply because when we are depressed we always exaggerate the negative. When you are depressed, everything looks bad.
II. WHAT WAS GOD'S REMEDY TO ELIJAH'S DEPRESSION?
God's remedy for Elijah's depression is the same remedy he has for you.
A. Take care of your physical needs.
1. Look at verse 5, Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by the food, he traveled forty days and forty nights. God's remedy for Elijah's depression began with rest, food and relaxation. Sometimes a good night's sleep will do wonders for your attitude.
2. The thing I like about this passage is the tender way God dealt with Elijah. Elijah had basically quit on him. Instead of coming to Elijah and scolding him, He took care of his physical needs first and restored him. If you are depressed, your road back may begin with getting yourself in shape physically.
B. Share your frustrations with God.
1. Look at verse 8 & 9, Elijah spent the night in a cave and the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." God let Elijah let off steam. I like this passage because you will notice that God was not shocked with what Elijah had to say. Listen. When you are uptight, the best person you can talk to is God. He is ready to listen. He already knows what is penned up inside. And He is willing to let you vent yourself to him. God let Elijah express himself without criticizing him or condemning him. One of the best things you can do is release the pent up emotions you have.
2. Notice the pent up emotions of Elijah. In verse 3 you will find fear. In verse 4 you will find resentment. Also, in verse 4 you will find a low self-esteem. In verse 10 you will find anger. Again in verse 10 Elijah says he is lonely. Also in verse 10 you will find him worried that he is about to be killed. When you take fear, resentment, a low self-esteem, anger, loneliness and anxiousness, you are asking for depression.
3. God let Elijah get it all out. Sometimes that is all we need to do. If you go to a counselor and pay him good money for counseling, one of the things he will let you do is get it all out. He will let you tell him what is bugging you. So if you are depressed, begin by getting some rest. Second, share your feelings with the Lord.
C. Get a fresh awareness of God's presence in your life.
1. Notice verse 11, The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. God told Elijah that He had something to show him. Elijah stood there and God put on a show for him. All of this was a reminder to Elijah just how powerful God is. But I find it interesting that God was not choosing to speak to Elijah in those manifestations. What really got Elijah's attention was the still small voice. God is not always in the spectacular. God may use it to get our attention, but God speaks in the still small voice. The Bible says, Be still and know I am God. If you are depressed let me suggest that you get away with God's Word and let Him speak, let Him love you, let Him meet your needs, and let yourself feel His presence. The greatest antidepressant is the fresh presence of God. You see, when we are depressed, we think God is a million miles away. But the truth is, He is just as close to you now as He has ever been in your life, but you must listen.
D. Let God give you a new purpose
1. Notice what is found in verse 15, The Lord said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet."
2. God gave Elijah a new assignment. The quickest way to defeat depression is to quit sitting around in self-pity, get your eyes off yourself and start looking at meeting the needs of other people.
Conclusion: There may be someone here that is struggling with this thing called depression. there are some days you don't feel like getting out of bed. Some days you probably feel that you cannot make any important decisions. there are some days when you feel life is hopeless. You feel like Elijah. You just want to run away. If that is you, then I have good news for you. God wants to help you with your depression. It begins with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. No, that will not solve all the causes for your depression, but without Christ in your life, you do not have the power to change. It begins with Christ.
You may be depressed because you are feeling guilty for your past sins, your mistakes. I have good news for you. The Bible says that when we bring our sins to God, He removes those sins from us as far as the East is from the West and remembers them no more. That is good news.
You may feel depressed because you do not like yourself. The Bible says that when God created you, He said that you are something special. Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. You are special enough to God that He was willing to give His Son's life for you.
You may be depressed because you are evaluating your self-worth by your achievements. If this is the case, you will always struggle with depression because there will always be someone who is a little better than you. Your self-worth must be based on something that cannot be taken away. You base in it on the fact that you are a child of God. And if you are a child of God you are significant.