By Paul W. Powell
Elijah is singing the blues. He feels he has done his best for God and it has been to no avail, so he has a pity party. All of us get down like that sometimes. Business men get down; pastoral leaders get down; women get down; teenagers get down. We know people in our offices and in our homes who are down. At times, we all feel ourselves pulled down.
Elijah's depression wasn't bound up in any one cause. Rather, it stemmed from a number of things. I want you to notice the four factors in his depression found in this experience.
The first is fear (
v. 3). Elijah, frightened by the threats of Jezebel, runs for his life. Fear is almost always a factor in depression. Many times, like Elijah, we become afraid of failure, of loneliness, of not getting a job completed, of not making it through school, of not having our marriage go the way we'd like.
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Second, failure (
v. 4). Elijah held a negative opinion about himself. He felt he was no more successful in checking the nation's apostasy than the prophets who had gone before him. It's easy to think: "I'm no good. I'm incompetent. God made a mistake when He made me."
Third, fatigue (
v. 5). Elijah was emotionally drained and physically exhausted. Mountain tops can leave us that way. He needed rest and relaxation. Depression is always related to or reflected in our physical condition.
Fourth, futility (
v. 10). Elijah said, "I am the only one left and now they are out to get me." He feels alone, hopeless and has negative expectations about the future. Elijah is paranoid. He thinks everybody is out to get him.
I read a statement sometime ago that captured my attention. It said, "Just because you aren't paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." Remember that!
Elijah was looking at life through dark-colored glasses. He saw no way out.
Have you ever felt like Elijah? Perhaps you are feeling like him right now: afraid, alone, exhausted, burned-out, and hopeless. Maybe you are singing the blues. If so, you are a good candidate for the juniper tree.
I want you to see what helped Elijah climb out of the valley of despair and go on to a lifetime of useful service. It can help you too. Through the experience of Elijah, God gives us some divine principles for dealing with depression.
Take Time Off
The first thing that helped Elijah was to take time off so he could get physically and emotionally rejuvenated. He had been so busy taking care of the needs of the nations that he had neglected his own needs.
When we use up our physical energy we become exhausted. When we use all of our emotional energy, we become depressed. We must therefore find some way periodically to replace the emotional and physical energy that life and work drain from us. If we do not, we will experience burn-out and depression.