This is what happened with Elijah: 1 Kings 19:1-4 AMPC
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword. [2] Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. [3] Then he was afraid and arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba of Judah [over eighty miles, and out of Jezebel’s realm] and left his servant there. [4] But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a lone broom or juniper tree and asked that he might die. He said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.
Have you ever considered the possibility that the lows of sadness frequently follow significant spiritual achievements? Having genuine faith does not guarantee that you will never go through these moments.
Jezebel, the queen, made a death threat to Elijah just after he had won a significant victory over the prophets of Baal and had seen his prayer for rain answered. Because of this, he got the urge to end his life and ran away to the desert. Elijah was under the impression that he did not measure up to others’ expectations and that he had atrociously failed in both his life and his mission.
God sent an Angel to provide for Elijah’s needs. The Angel touched Elijah, even though it didn’t need to. The Angel gave him food twice and let Elijah rest well enough so that Elijah could go on a long journey to meet with God.
God’s response to Elijah’s losing it has a lot to teach us when we are going through moments of low.
Elijah was tired and scared, but it didn’t mean his faith wasn’t sincere. It means that we are all human beings, and because we feel we should be tough and never give up, we are never properly prepared for moments of low self-esteem, loneliness, or difficulties. The first thing we can take away from this is the knowledge that we will inevitably experience setbacks, exhaustion, and feelings of sadness and loneliness without ever, ever, being a failure.
It’s also crucial to be in the company of those who appreciate and cheer you on. The angel’s touch on Elijah was meant to show how much value there is in receiving comfort from a friend, just as much as receiving God’s own touch.
And then there was Elijah’s requirement for solitude in the face of the crisis. It was necessary for him to take some time away from the battleground, and there was nothing inherently wrong with it. Because he was able to escape, he was finally able to get some sleep, which allowed him to restore both his mental and physical energy. Elijah was also served food by the Angel.
In His solitude, he could get the sleep and nourishment he needed. These material considerations are often overlooked, but they are of such paramount importance to God that He personally dispatched someone to Elijah’s side to provide for his needs.
The second thing that you should take away from this is the importance of looking after yourself first before worrying about other people. Before you can help someone else win their war, you have to win the wars that are raging within yourself. To be able to assist others in being healthy, you must first ensure that you are in good health yourself. You need to strike the proper balance, and you need to battle for the right balance, because if you don’t, your lack of balance will not only endanger your life but also make it impossible for you to accomplish your mission.
1 Kings 19:7 AMPC
The angel of the Lord came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.
Here we see God restoring Elijah’s perspective on His life and destiny. You’ve got a long road ahead of you. The goal of the trip was a face-to-face encounter with the Creator. And that, all by itself, is a volley of power and optimism being fired at someone’s life. Elijah went from saying, “I want to die because I am not good enough,” to being told, “There is a long path ahead of you, and this trip will lead you into experiencing powerful meetings with the Father that will change your life forever.”
The third thing that we pick up from this experience is that it is always important to have a change of perspective in our minds in relation to our lives and destinies, and that it is also important to have the assurance that God is always close to the broken and contrite heart.
I love this quote by Cristine Cain that says: “Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.”
― Christine Caine
Feeling depressed doesn’t imply your faith isn’t genuine, it just means that you are a human being that has feelings. Some of these feelings may be awful loneliness and misery, but you will never be defined by how you feel, but by God, who made you and loves you. You may fail, but in God’s sight, you are a magnificent success.
The second lesson you should take away from this is the necessity of first taking care of yourself before worrying about others. The third thing that we should take away from this is that God wants to transform our perspective for our lives and destiny by assuring us that He is with us in our brokenness and that He will restore our sense that we have a purpose in life.
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