A Lesson on Depression form the Prophet Elijah

 As one who has for many years now, wrestled with the struggles of depression, this morning’s Bible reading brought great comfort. The Bible presents what we might call its heroes, it main characters if you will, as real people. We see men such as Moses, Noah, David, and many others as people, flawed just as we are. The bible does not hide their faults or their failures. This morning as I was reading in 1 Kings, I read about Elijah, the great prophet, who God used to defeat the false god Baal in the great confrontation in which fire was called down from heaven and showed the power of the only God, Yahweh. Then in one of the great demonstrations of the power of perseverance in prayer, God responds to Elijah by ending the drought that Elijah had prophesized upon the land years before. Elijah was right where any of us would want to be as we read in 1 Kings 18:46 that says, “And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah…”

But then what happens?

1 Kings 19:1-3
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

Elijah goes from seeing the very power of almighty God displayed in response to his own prayers, to a place of complete fear. It gets worse.

1 Kings 19:4
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.”

Elijah falls completely in despair and depression and even prays that God would just let him die. This my friends, is the deepest of depression. It doesn’t even seem to make sense. Just four verses before we see that Elijah had the very “hand of the Lord” upon him and suddenly he just wants to die. I can relate. I have felt that hopelessness. No, it makes no sense. But it is the face of true depression.

Charles Spurgeon said of Elijah here that he had “retreated before a beaten enemy.” Elijah had stopped walking by faith and instead started walking by sight. This is exactly what depression can do to us. We start reacting to what “might happen” even before it does. We worry, we get anxious, and we forget that if we are His, we have the very ‘hand of God” upon us.

But Elijah did one thing right. He was tired, exhausted is a better word, so he stopped and sat down under a tree. As we serve our God we will often see great victories in our walk, but we then come to expect to see God always move in powerful displays of His might. Then we feel let down when things settle back into the more normal way God works, which is often simply in the quiet day to day life. So, we begin to think He left us. He did not; He has promised to never leave our side, He promised never to forsake us. And He does not. The problem is we start to try and walk by sight, instead of by faith.

The answer? We must stop and do what Elijah did. Sometimes we just need to rest. We need to sleep. We need a nap. We must humble ourselves before Him and just pray for Him to strengthen us to move on, then we need to stop and wait. Watch what happens when Elijah does this.

1 Kings 19:5-8
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 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.
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.” 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.

Elijah was fed by Jesus (as seen by the title Angel of the LORD) and that gave him so much strength that he could go on for forty days and nights.

The battles don’t end. They won’t until Jesus returns. But we must learn to find our rest and our nourishment in Him. He will provide, but not if we keep trying to be strong and do it in our own power.

I still wrestle with my depression. But I know where to go when I feel as Elijah did. I humble myself before God and ask Him to sustain me. He does. Every single battle I face, I seek Him in. Sometimes I feel beaten and worn down. I know then, like Elijah, I need to find a tree and lay down for a nap. I need to pray and tell Jesus I just cannot go another step. Then I just need to let Him provide.

Prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship with other Christians is the way God often feeds us. But He won’t force us to eat. He won’t force us to rest. He will allow us to collapse if that is what it takes to let understand we must let Him be the source of our strength.

Take time today to read the story of Elijah. It will bless and encourage you.

God bless.