The prophet Elijah had just achieved a maor victory over the wicked King Ahab and his wicked wife, Queen Jezebel. On Mt. Carmel, he had just defeated the 400 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah. He should feel quite victorious, yes? No. Instead he goes into depression, even what would be considered suicidal depression. The mental health questionaires always ask, “did you ever consider killing yourself when you were depressed?” Eliah did. After his victory, he heard that Jezebel had sworn to kill him the next day. There would probably be many of her soldiers tracking him down 24/7. 1 Kings 19:³ 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. 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.” That is suicidal thinking. An angel gave him food and sent him on a 40 day journey to Mt. Sinai. 1 Kings 19:⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” “I have accomplished nothing, my life is a failure.”

What happens next is interesting. 1 Kings 19:¹¹ And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. ” In other words: The Lord doesn’t always punish our enemies when and how we want him to. He doesn’t always remove our enemies when we want him to. It would be several years before God punishes Jezebel and the dogs eat almost all of her body and lick up her blood. Sometimes God has a more gentle way of dealing with our depressing circumstances, so we just need to trust him and be patient.

1 Kings 19:¹³ And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” Apparently Elijah didn’t get the lesson with the gentle breeze whisper! God asked him the same question that he did before the breeze. God was not asking that for His sake. He was asking that to challenge Elijah’s depression thinking. In other words: “Elijah, why are you even here? You should not even be here, several days away from the action. You should not be here feeling sorry for yourself.” Self pity is a big part of depression. You get the “victim mentality. You complain a lot. You dwell on things that have happened to you or past mistakes. You look at others who are doing better than you. You just feel sorry for yourself. Why me? Have you ever felt that? Self pity is a symptom of depression or can lead to depression. Of course, if you look at how many others are suffering then you won’t feel so sorry for yourself.

So what did God tell him to do to deal with his self pity and suicidal depression? 1 Kings 19:¹⁵ 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. ¹⁷ And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 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.” In other words: “Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Get back to work using your gift to do what I have commissioned you to do, i.e. to do the work of a prophet. I have work for you to do and this self pity and depression is hindering that work. Go anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: I will use him to punish the idolatry of Israel (and God did that later). Go anoint Jehu to wipe out the household and descendants to Ahab and Jezebel, which he did later. Go anoint Elisha to take your place later, and he will pronounce even more punishments on Israel for their idolatry. But be patient. The strong wind, earthquake, and fire will come, but only when I am ready and how I dictate it to happen. You just get back to work using your prophetic gift.” Elijah apparently immediately did what God said. Maybe it helped him deal with his depression and self pity.

So in part 1, we got lessons from the depression of Job. What is the main takeaway from the depression of Elijah. To me it is this: Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Get up and go use your gift to help others. 1 Peter 4:⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2 main types of gifts: teaching and serving. Using our gifts will help get our minds off our depression and make us feel useful. The world is full of opportunities for us to use our gifts. Find something that gives you purpose and perspective, that gives you a reason to live and gives meaning to your existence.

So, from Job: trust in God that he knows what’s best and humbly accept depressing circumstances.

From Elijah: quit feeling sorry for yourself and go use your gift to serve others.

From Paul: Keep your eyes on eternal life and whatever you face here on earth will be light and momentary in comparison with our eternal weight of glory.

When you have done all that, go get some good home made banana pudding, a good cup of coffee, and make the best of every day that you have left. At least, that’s what I do!