Glory, that's a great thing. So praise the Lord for that. 1 Kings chapter 19 is where we're at this morning, 1 Kings chapter 19. And as you turn there, you've probably heard the saying, he's marching to the beat of a different drum, right? And that just means somebody kind of doing their own thing. And you know, it can be that way sometimes in life. You look at somebody and think they're kind of maybe doing their own thing. But then there is the reality about life as well, that you look at it and you think it is, there's a lot of similarities, aren't there? You know, there's a reality that we are very much alike. My wife and I, when we had our six children, they all had a head full of hair. And I've shared this before, but we would walk into the shops with them, and it was the same thing every single time, and that was that they would, is the mic on? I just want to make sure it's mic'd. I'm not hearing it. All right. So I don't know if we lost the mic somehow. Let me just check real quick, see what we got. We got power on? It's on. All right, we'll get her set here. One of these days we'll not have to do a mic test. But we'd walk into the shops, and somebody would look at our child, and they would say, look at all the hair, all right? It would be the same words every single time. And we just got to thinking, you know, sometimes we think we're kind of original, that we say things a certain way, and that is kind of our own thing. But we're actually a lot more the same than we are different. The Bible says about Elijah in the book of James, it says in James 5, 17, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. It just means that, you know, here's a great man. He's a great man of prayer. We're going to look at the story today, and it's a wonderful story about the power of God in a man's life. He was a great man of God. He was a great prayer warrior, but it was, Elias was a man, just a man, just a man like you and me. And because of that, he's a man that was subject to like passions as we are. And that means just as we are, he was prone to this idea of burning out or this idea that we could talk about it, the idea of depression that we're gonna think about today. 2 Timothy 3 16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And it's just a good reminder as we come to a story in the Old Testament, and we look at a story, we're gonna take it apart like a case study, but that it's more than just a case study. If it was just a story, an ordinary story, it wouldn't have the impact that it has as a Bible story because about Elijah, God could have told us a lot more about Elijah than what, has been recorded in the word of God but God kept this story in the Bible for us for a very specific reason and as we look at it today it's a great study on this idea of depression and you know as we come into the darker time of the year and I don't know about you I don't know if November is your favorite month or not we're not there yet I know we're in October still but the days are getting and the rain is coming, and it's just a little more bleak out. I don't want to tell you the weather for the next week, but it's not exciting. You know, it's not something like, oh, hey, this is amazing, it's going to be like Florida, or anything like that. And so, with that going on, it's very easy for us to come at this time of year, and in our spirit, just become a little bit discouraged, all right? And I want to preach a message this morning on depression. It's a message I preached before. but I wanna re-preach it. It's one of those ones that's good to come back to, and that is from depression to refreshment. A biblical case study of Elijah and what God did there in his life to bring him to encouragement and refreshment. I trust it'll be an encouragement to us today. Let's pray and ask the spirit of God to bless us as we come to the word of God. Father, I thank you for the grace that you give. I thank you for the time that we get to spend in the word of God. And I just pray, Father, that you'd have your way And Father, I thank you for the opportunity to share the word of God this morning. And Father, we commit this time to you. Lord, it's your time. And I just pray we need to be encouraged. We need to be strengthened. And Father, by re-preaching this, I need it as well. It was good for me to go back and look at the word of God in this story and think, you know what? I can relate to that. I can relate to what Elijah was facing there as he went through that. And Father, there's some things that we could pull out of this text that might be just the thing that's very helpful to somebody. And I pray for that today. Lord, we all struggle. If we live in Scotland in the wintertime, we struggle to maintain joy in the face of some of the darkness and things that we'll face in the winter months. And I just pray, Spirit of God, would you give us what we need today? Satan would love nothing more than for us to be depressed and to the things that follow depression Lord the things that get us out of the battle get us out of what we need to be doing for God and and We know today the Word of God says the joy of the Lord is your strength and father. We need that joy And so I pray for your help. I pray, Spirit of God, that you just have your way now as we come to the Word of God. I pray that you'd be glorified to bless and guide and give us wisdom as we seek your will and seek your leading. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, and so a biblical case study of depression. So we're gonna look at the causes of depression and then the potential cures of depression as well. And so what can cause depression as we look at this story? Again, as we're just looking at one, and this isn't all inclusive, this is just the story of Elijah, but it has a lot to do with somebody in the will of God, serving God, doing things for God. But you're in danger of depression when you go from a mountaintop to a valley. Okay, you're in danger of depression when you go from a mountaintop to the valley It says in verse 46 and the hand of the Lord of chapter 18 was on Elijah And he girded up his loins and he ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel Okay, it's the end of chapter 18 and end of chapter 18 is mountaintop. It is amazing what God has done and so this is the victory lap that Elijah is running as he's running before Ahab's chariot. I mean, God has shown himself mighty in behalf of Elijah. And so let's turn back there to 1 Kings chapter 18, verses 30 through 40, and just look a little bit at what's just taking place. It says Elijah said unto all the people come near unto me and all the people came near unto him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob unto whom the word of the Lord came saying Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and poured on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. He said, do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel. Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I've done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, the Lord, he is the God. The lord he is the god and elijah said unto them take the prophets of baal Let not one of them escape and they took them and elijah brought them down to the brook kishan And slew them there. All right, and so Amazing things are happening fire has fallen from heaven in answer to this man's prayer I mean, can you imagine that if we're having a prayer meeting as I had a prayer meeting this past tuesday? I mean we're praying for the power of god and the fire of god falls from heaven And then you know that it hadn't rained for three years and Elijah, Elias was a man subject to passions as we already prayed earnestly that it might not rain. It rained not on the face of the earth for three years. And then he gets on his knees and he prays and that cloud comes and God sends rain to Israel. The blessing of God again comes back to Israel in answer to this man's prayers. You know, should we be surprised that as we get into chapter 19, he's gone from a mountaintop that now we find him back in the valley. Now life's back to kind of normal. It's back to the battle that it was, the three years that he'd been in it. I mean, he'd been kind of in hiding from King Ahab, and there'd been this adversary that was against him. And now he's going back down into that time of difficulty. And so, danger and depression can follow times of victory and rejoicing. You know, when God created, it was good, it was good, it was good, and God's creation was glorious, and then man was there, and God gave them a will, and then man's temptation came. And again, it went from the high of the glory of God, the purity of that, to sadly sin and failure there in the life of Adam and Eve. We see Jesus Christ at his baptism. as the spirit of God comes upon him, his earthly ministry is beginning, and then again, his temptation. We see the church born in the glory of that, but then you've got Pentecost, and then you have a persecution that takes place. Elijah was coming out of a three-year valley to a brief time in the spiritual mountaintop. I mean, we're the same way. We just want to stay on that mountaintop. We just want to just enjoy that a little bit longer, and yet God's going to take him back down into the valley. It's true about us today that There's going to be high times in our life. There's going to be great times. We're going to see God answer prayer. We're going to see God really working in our lives, maybe in some very specific ways, maybe in some glorious ways, but the reality is that there's going to again come that normal Christian experience. And if our expectation is that we're going to be on the mountaintop all the time, sadly, we're going to be very disappointed. I like the statement. I've quoted it before. It's a poem that I found in Spurgeon's lectures to my students. But it says, they on the heights are not the ones who never erred nor went astray, who strode unswerving to their goals along a smooth, rose-bordered way. No, those who stand when first comes dawn are those who stumbled but went on. And the Christian life, it's not a bed of roses, is it? It's a battle. And so if our expectation is that it should always be a mountaintop, again, there's gonna be those times where we go down into the valley and we need to be prepared for that. So there's a danger of depression at a time like that. But then secondly, you're in danger of depression when enemies are intent on your destruction. It's a tough thing. You know the old saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. I mean, we said it as kids or might've been said as children, but we understand today that that's not a true statement, that biblically there's a lot of hurt that can be involved in somebody saying something that hurts us or having somebody against us. The Bible says here now in chapter 19 verse one, it says, and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them tomorrow about this time. Ab comes back and says, Elijah killed all those prophets of Baal. And she sends out a letter, wicked Queen Jezebel, and says, hey, Elijah, I'm just going to let you know, I'm going to swear by my life that your life is going to be taken from you just as that life was taken from the prophets of Baal. It's a tough thing to have an adversary like that. It's kind of like back in the day, you got John Knox and you've got Mary, Queen of Scots. You know, you've got that constant adversary against the man of God. My dad's first wife, you know the story about my dad's family, my dad's first wife and three kids were killed in a car accident about 60 years ago. And my, or 50 years ago, my dad found his wife in the kitchen that morning of the accident. It was at five in the morning. She's got her Bible out and she's sitting at the kitchen table and she is weeping. And dad came up to her and said, you know, Pat, what's the matter? And she said, it's just this person in the church that was really troubling her and giving her a hard time. And she's just in her Bible and she's weeping. Why? Because she had a difficulty that was an interpersonal type difficulty with somebody. In the Bible, we've got the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, verse 5. It shares a bit about it, but you know the story, Hannah couldn't have children. Penina, Elkana's other wife, did have children, and Penina made it really difficult for Hannah. But Elkana loved her. The Bible says, unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. But the Lord had shut up her womb, and her adversary also provoked her sore for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her. Therefore, she wept and did not eat. Then said Alcina, her husband, to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? Why eatest thou not? And I mean, we'd look at it and say, you know, it's just somebody that's just saying something against you. You know, maybe that we feel like it's not that big a deal, but anybody that's been in a situation like that, that has somebody that's criticizing and critical and hurtful in an area that is an area that is dear to you or is taking a position against you, it's very difficult. to have an adversary against us. And so that's where Elijah is. He's got an adversary that is seeking to destroy him, and we need to be aware, you know, if we're facing something like that, I mean, that could be a cause or, you know, that triggers this idea of depression or difficulty. in our life. So you're in danger of depression when you have an adversary intent on your destruction. You're in danger of depression when fear takes the place of faith. Elijah was a man that is known for his faith. I mean, of all prophets in the Bible, he is lifted up as a man of faith, and yet the Bible tells us again, because of this story, because of this testimony, yet he was a man subject to like passions as we are, but he was a man of mighty faith. Let's look back again. at chapter 18 verse 27 and 28. All right, just looking back in our text here. to verse 27. This is Elijah, just the chapter before. It came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is talking or he is pursuing, or he's in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manor with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. Okay, here's the man of God, he's mocking them. These are 450 men that have knives in their hands. But I mean, there's a courage in the heart of the man of God as he stands for his God. And I mean, he is bold and he is facing it. But it seems like a different man when we get into chapter 19 in the beginning of the passage as we read in verse three. It says, and when he saw that, she threatened his life. He arose and went for his life. And he came to Beersheba with belonging to Judah, and he left his servants there. Now as you read that, what you don't read in verse three is that he did this in obedience to the Lord. or that he sought the Lord's mind, and God said to rise, and later God's gonna give him some direction, but right now, there's just this idea, not of faith, but of fear, when he saw what's happening, she's threatened his life, that he's gonna go and seek a place of safety, and he's running for his life. You know, fear is a powerful motivator. Fear has incredible power. God used fear many times in the Bible to put his, the armies against Israel are his enemies to flight. We see that in Samaria, 2 Kings 7, verse 3 tells us the story of the siege of Samaria is taking place and the lepers are there and they're gonna starve to death in the city. So they decide they're gonna go out to the Syrian army that's encamped around about the city. And so they said, why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore, come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight to go into the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore, they arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and they fled for their lives. You know, and it's amazing that the army flees. Why? Because they hear annoying. Why? Because they're afraid. Fear is powerful. Gideon, you know, Gideon's 300 men, as he's there, and they break the pitcher, and they sound the trumpets, and the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon, what caused the host of the Midianites to flee? Again, it was fear. Fear is powerful. Proverbs 29, verse 25, a verse that we thought about recently, the fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be saved. You know, a fear is gonna be something that trips us up in the will of God, but faith is gonna be the anchor point. It's gonna be our strength. Back when Katie and I were in Bible college, when we got married, we decided we were gonna live debt-free, and that we weren't gonna get student loans, and that we were gonna trust God to provide financially for us. And we didn't have a lot. We had my job as a there at the university that provided for basically my food and my housing. But when we got married, I lost that benefit as we moved off campus to have a house. And I got 70 bucks every two weeks. That was my pay. We got provided a man that we could work for that paid us well on the weekends and things. But we got about halfway through the year and it got so tight that we thought there's just no way. that we could do it. And so we decided we're gonna go into the financial office there at Bob Jones and get a student loan. And we walk in, I walked up to a lady that I knew there, and I said, you know, we're here, we'd like to speak to the man about getting a student loan. And I was almost ashamed to be there, you know, because of the way God had worked in our hearts about it, what we'd committed to God. And she said, he's not here, you'll have to come back. And we walked out of there, and I said to Katie, I said, you know what, we're just not trusting the Lord. God's faithful, God's able. But you know, fear is something that, it creeps in, and with that, there comes anxiety, and there becomes, you know, is it gonna work, is it not? By the way, and you know this story, I've shared this story before, God totally took care of us that year. God miraculously took care of us that year, but fear almost got us to exit from what God wanted us to do. And so, fear is something. when fear takes the place of faith, we could be in danger of depression. You know, we gotta examine that and say, you know, am I in a position of fear or a position of faith? And so then the next one, you're in danger of depression when fatigue makes death desirable, okay? When fatigue makes death desirable. It says in verse four, But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and he came and he sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die. And said, it's enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I'm not better than my father's. And I wanna point out, Elijah was not suicidal. Elijah was saying to the God that our times are in his hands. I saw that verse in Psalms this past week, and it's a neat statement. It's appointed unto men, right? Wants to die, we understand that. He's just saying, God, move that up. He said, God, just move it up. He said, I am so ready just to get away, to get with you. He's all in physically, mentally, spiritually, nutritionally. He's just all in. He's ready to throw in the towel, and he's just saying to God, God, it's enough. Just take me home. You know what's very interesting about Elijah? Elijah is one of two men in the Bible that never dies. you know, or that we don't know about, or Enoch is the other one, I guess, and then we've got Elijah. Lord, just take my life. But God's not gonna take his life. When God does finally take him, he's gonna take him by a fiery chariot, and perhaps it's an answer to this request, God, I'm just ready to go, and God's okay, you know, it's coming, you know, but he is exhausted with life. There's a student at Bob Jones, and my heart goes out to college students. I had a professor that said this. He said, these are the easiest days of your life. This is what he said to college students. And he said, it's only going to get tougher. OK, I am 20-some years past that, and I'll say this. I look back at those days as some of the tougher days in my life as far as scheduling and busyness and working and whatnot. But I got to Bible conference and I've been ill and I was all in physically and I guess as as a young man growing up I'd never faced depression. But I got to that point, that school year, and I would categorize it as depression. It was just a heaviness in my heart. And I never faced anything like that. And I've shared this story before. I had the preacher preach that day at a Bible conference. And he said, if you're struggling with depression, he said, just take out a piece of paper and a pen and begin to write thankfulness to God. God, I thank you for this. God, I thank you for this. God, I thank you for this. God, I thank you for this. I went back from that service. I went to my room. I started doing that. I got to page two, writing that, and God just lifted my spirits. It was wonderful. But I was facing it. Why? Because I was exhausted. And sometimes we gotta understand our body and understand, you know, if I get all worn out and exhausted, that that's dangerous for me to, it could cause a time of depression. And so to understand that. And then, You're in danger of depression when you do what is right, and it seems like everything's going wrong, all right? You do what's right, everything seems like it's going wrong. It says in verse 10, and he said, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. all right he's saying lord haven't you seen it the last three years i have been zealous for you god i've been fighting for you i've been i have been championing the cause of christ i just stood on that mountain side and i fought in spiritually against the prophets of baal and it was a great showdown and it's not that he doesn't understand that god is faithful but he felt completely isolated and god i'm doing what's right but it's really rough while I'm seeking to do that, which is right. You know, I remember as the assistant pastor in Michigan, as I was up leading the scene on a Sunday, getting ready to leave the service, after I got done leading the scene to head to Baptist world mission orientation and pastor Clark stood up and he said pray for the shores that they never doubt The will of God for their life and God's call upon them to Scotland I was leaving to go to orientation with BWM and we're gonna drive across there that day and that was gonna be our first association with the mission agency and That was gonna be us preparing to start on deputation, to raise support, to go to Scotland. I mean, I knew it was the will of God. I knew it was exactly what God had called us to do. And I remember in my heart a smirk on my face almost, you know, as I'm sitting there thinking, I will never doubt the will of God about that. But I've shared before that that morning our house had been teepeed in the night. It's kind of a funny story, except it kind of interrupted our sleep. And so then we get to church. We're kind of tired already. We got a long drive. We drive there. We get to the camp. And the first thing I hear as I get to camp, we didn't have a cell phone, is Ben, you've got to call your parents. Your gran has passed away. And so we've driven from Michigan to Wisconsin. Now that we're in Wisconsin for what we thought would be the Baptist World Camp, we've got to get out to Colorado for my grandma's funeral. So it's kind of pointless, the drive that we've taken to get there. We're not even able to stay. There were some other things taking place. And I remember as I got out to Colorado, there's a lot more to that story that I've shared before, just a lot of tests. It's just there's that thinking in your heart, God, I'm seeking to do what's right. I know that you've led in this, and yet there is a huge battle. It's kind of what Paul speaks about, isn't it? A great door and effectual is open unto me, and there are many adversaries. As you begin to take a stand for God, as you begin to do what's right, there's a reality that it's gonna be difficult at times. Like somebody in rugby, the only chance that you're gonna be tackled is if you pick up the ball, right? If you really got it and you're really going for it, then there's gonna be those that are gonna pose you in that. I like what the hymn writer wrote as he said this. Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this foul world a friend to grace to help me on to God? I mean, do we think that the world should pat us on the back and say, hey, that's great, keep on going? Or should we expect that maybe the world's going to be against us? sure i must fight if i would reign increase my courage lord i'll bear the toil endure the pain supported by the word it's got to be that heart that said all right it's tough in the will of god sometimes i mean that's elijah he's there i mean he's serving god but it's tough and he and he's doing what's right but everything seems like it's going wrong. There's gonna be times like that, where you're in the center of the will of God, you're doing what's right, and you're like, Lord, what's going on? I'm just trying to please you, but it's like everything is against me. It's okay. Be aware that might cause depression, right? It might get kind of tough, and you're going, why is it like that? That's where Elijah was. And so we need to be aware of these possible causes of depression. We're in danger of depression. When you go from a mountaintop to a valley, when enemies are intent on our destruction, when fear takes the place of faith, when fatigue makes death desirable, when you do what's right and everything's going wrong. Okay, so those are causes, potential causes of depression. Then we want to look at the cures or possible cures of depression here in this story. Okay, so what can help us to deal with this discouragement that we're wrestling with? Well, first of all, get proper rest and nourishment. Get proper rest and nourishment. It says in verse five, And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was a cake, bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink and laid him down again. You know, the best nurse of all time is right there with Elijah. An angel come. An angel takes care of him. He eat, eat and sleep. You know, just go to rest and get some proper nourishment in you. There's a good friend of mine, I spoke about him at Sunday school, Pastor Walter Burrell, that was the pastor down there in Georgia. But Pastor Burrell, in college, he just, he was going all out, preaching on the weekends, doing school during the week, and preaching during the week as well. And he just got to a point where he felt like he just had no desire for ministry. And he called a preacher friend and he said, I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know what's going on. And I just, you know, this is the way I feel about it. And the man says, will you follow the advice if I give it to you? He said, I'll follow it. He said, all right, as soon as you hang up the phone, get your pajamas on and get in bed. He said, what? Just go to sleep. And he said he slept for 24 hours. And when he got up, he said his energy was back and he was back at it. Why? Because he had just worn himself out physically. Though we want to serve God and we want to be faithful to what God's called us to do, we also have to be aware of our body and we have to be aware of when we need to eat, when we need to sleep, we need to do that. God is aware of our need for those things. Mark 631, Jesus said unto his disciples, come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, they had no leisure so much as to eat. The Savior looked at him and said, hey guys, all right, it's time to get a break. And it's time to rest up. It's time to get some food in, right? And again, we can't, though we wanna do our best for God, we gotta be aware of these things. Jesus cared about the feeding of the 5,000. He looked at them and said, they've been following me for three days, they haven't eaten anything. And we need to provide for that need. Psalm 127, verse two, it says, it's vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. All right, so practically speaking, and the Bible's a practical book, we gotta be aware that, you know what, let's get proper rest. Let's make sure that, get proper nutrition, maybe proper exercise, right? Take care of the bodily needs that we have, and that could help us. And then the second thing is recognize your need for God's help. Recognize your need for God's help. It says in verse seven, the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee. All right, I like statements like that in the Bible. You can stop and think about that statement. Because we can think like this, hey, this is too great for me. And we feel like that. But it's neat when the Bible identifies it and says, you know what, this is too great for thee. God said to Israel, you're gonna go in and you're gonna fight against these nations, and it says seven nations greater and mightier than thee. You know, the reality is that Israel couldn't do it without God. Elijah couldn't do it without God. It was greater, and so there needs to be a supernatural enablement. There's a woman by the name of Diane Nyad. She was the first one to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. It took her 53 hours to swim the 110 miles. The story is told by Linda Robertson, the Miami Herald. She says there were ocean swells that washed over her head. She swallowed mouthfuls of salt water that made her retch. Swollen lips and tongue turned each breath into a scraping suck from the bottom of her soggy lungs. Her arms windmilling 50 times per minute felt as heavy as anchors. Her brain counting to 20,000 in Spanish and back to zero in French felt like flotsam drifting away. She flinched in flashback horror. as she stroked into a jellyfish minefield. She hallucinated, she laughed, she sang, she bargained, she cried. She had tried four times, this was her fifth attempt, and she finally made it. But you know what? As she did that, she didn't do it solo. She had a team of 44 people that weren't in the water with her, but were there with a boat and helping her prepare and helping her get ready. And those 44 people made it possible for her to achieve that. Again, as we think about what God desires us to do, it's good for us to go back and to say, but I can't do this without God. I've gotta have God's help, I've gotta have God's enablement. The Apostle Paul was told by the Lord, 2 Corinthians 12, verse nine, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And Paul says, most gladly, therefore, will I gladly, glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It reminds me as well of what the Bible says in Matthew 11, verse 28, where it says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And again, at that point of depression, it's good to remember I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. There is a God in heaven that is able to help me to get through this. There is a God in heaven that's able to sustain me and to get back to that place of dependence upon God. And so a great cure for depression is to recognize our need for God's help because the journey's too great for us. And then retune. Retune your spiritual reception. It says in verse nine. He came thither unto a cave, and he lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, what doest thou here, Elijah? He said, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with a sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by. and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break 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. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. You read this story and think, I mean, surely God's in the wind, surely God's in the fire, surely God's in this, but God wasn't in that. What God was in was what? Just a still, small voice. You know, as Elijah was on the mount, he's there, again, he just says, Lord God of heaven, hear me, that this people may know that there's a God in heaven, and that I've done this according to thy word. The offering has been put there on the rock, and the water has been poured on the offering. And again, he prays, and fire from heaven comes down. Again, he gets on his knees, he prays, and God sends rain in answer to his prayers. And I think it would be easy in a life like that to say, You know what, how do you see God work in your life? You know, it's kinda like this, every time fire falls from heaven or every time rain falls from the sky, when I pray, then I know that God's heard me when I pray. But God's retuning Elijah back down to the reality that, you know, it's just a still small voice. It's just God speaking in the quietness. Back when we came to Scotland, We had to be sponsored into the country, and our sponsor was Tom Gritz down in Wolverhampton, England. And the government guideline says this, you've got to be in constant contact with your sponsor. In fact, the guidance said daily. And when I got that, I could have let it be a burden to me and thought, oh, this is horrible. I've got to contact my sponsor every day. You know, hey, Brother Tom, I'm still here. I could have done it like that, but I didn't. Instead, God worked in my heart about journalizing everything that took place. And so I would write a letter to Brother Tom saying, Brother Tom, I just want to share kind of what's going on today. And I would document things that took place that day. But what it made me do is focus on the fact that, do you know what? God's working today. God gave me a divine appointment. God answered prayer, provided something, you know, I was praying about. God kept me safe. God, you know, and whatever's going on in the church, whatever's going on, it just was a reminder to me, you know what, God's doing a lot. Because we can look at maybe the size, you know, of our ministry and, you know, our desires as a church that we're praying about, we can look at those things and say, God is great and God answers prayer if God does these big things, but the thing is, God is still God when God does the little things. and that if we go through our Christian life and experience expecting always to, and there's gonna be times, there's gonna be glorious times where we're gonna get to see, you know, mountaintop experience and the fire of God's gonna fall, but a lot of times it's just in the valleys, being faithful to God, obeying God, and seeing the hand of God just continually encouraging us. And so it's good to retune our receptors and say, you know what? God is still working. And then, Another thing that can help us with depression is to humbly share your complaint with God. You know, it's okay to go to God and say, God, you know, I just, I am, I'm really struggling. It's tough. It's okay to really just bare our heart before God. Verse 13, it says, it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in the mantle and he went out and he stood in the entering into the cave. And behold, it came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, throw down thine altars and slain thy prophets with a sword. And I, even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. You know, his statement, we're gonna talk about his statement in just a second, but Elijah is wrong, and yet God is revealing himself to Elijah. He's coming to Elijah and letting Elijah enter into his presence and share his complaint. All of us have probably had times where we shared a complaint with somebody, we're really burdened about something, or something's a big deal to us, and you share it with somebody and they go, oh, that wouldn't bother me. Or they say something, oh, that's no big deal. In our hearts, it's something that's really tough. But there's not a lot of sympathy, and it's kind of like what Job said in Job 16, two, to the guys, his friends that came to him, he said this, miserable comforters are ye all. If it was me, I would get there, I would care for you, but you've come to me and you've just made it worse. And it could be like that with people. But you know, praise God, there's a God in heaven that understands us and knows us and knows exactly what we're facing. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter four, verse 15, for we have not in high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. And it means that as Jesus lived through it, Jesus experienced it, praise God, he never yielded to it, he never failed in it, but he's faced it just like you and I face it. And we're facing it and going, man, I'm going through this. And we get on our knees, not only has he experienced it, but he is God and he is present and he knows us inside and out. He knows why it's tough for us because of our personality. He knows why it's tough for us, because of somebody else's personality. I mean, he knows all the ins and outs of everything that's there, and if nobody else gets it, if nobody else understands, guess what? God gets it, and God understands. And so, praise God, we can just bear our heart to somebody that's sympathetic like that, and say, God, I am really struggling, this is what it is. It's okay to really bear our heart before the Lord. And so go, go to God, and share, and share your heart with him. That's a cure. And then another cure is go do what God wants you to do. Go do what God wants you to do. Verse 15, it says, You know, he listens to his complaint, then he just says this. Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. When thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abba Meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. "'And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth "'the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, "'and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu "'shall Elisha slay.'" And he's just saying to Elisha, go, I've got it, I'm taking care of it, but go. It's interesting that God doesn't deal with Elijah's complaint with modern day methodology. He just says, you know what, there's something to do. There's a work to be done and he recommissions him out into the battle. You know, have you ever noticed that depressed people don't feel like doing anything? We've all been there. This rainy weather and stuff, I got out and I mowed my grass yesterday between, it's finally almost dried. You see that all the rain is still coming. But just to get out there, just to get yourself out into that maybe inclement weather or something like that. If there's a depression or I just don't feel like it, But God just says, hey, go. I want to remind us this morning that Jesus has told us, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. that work for the day is coming, for the day cometh when no man can work. There are great things that we need to do as a church. There's great things that we need to do as a believer. There are great things that need to be done, and we need the Spirit of God to motivate us and get us back into the battle and say, hey, I can't just stay here in this place of, yes, I've got my burden, I've taken it to God, and I say, God, this is where I'm at. I'm really struggling, but I gotta get back at it. I gotta be faithful to what God has called me to do. And so really God is helping Elijah get out of place of self-focus and self-pity to get back into the place where he is living his life to do the work of God and get it done for God and for God's glory. And that's the final point. The final point is get your eyes off of self. Get your eyes off of self. It says in verse 18, the Lord just says to him, he says, yea, I have left me 7,000 in Israel. All the knees which have not bowed unto Baal. in every mouth which hath not kissed them." Okay, Elijah, we've read it in the story. Lo, even I only am left, right? Lo, even I only am left. He says that, but Elijah had met the man Obadiah back in the beginning of chapter 18. We didn't read it, but when he met Obadiah, Obadiah said to him this in chapter 18, verse 13. Was it not told my Lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, and how I hid 100 men of the Lord's prophets by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water? Obadiah says, Elijah, you know I fear God. You know that I've done something in this time, these three years. I have sought to care for God's servants. I've done it at the risk of my life. Obadiah had done it. Those prophets were still there, though they were in hiding. But Elijah says what? "'Lo, even I only am left.'" Why? Because Elijah is self-focused. Elijah's forgotten that there's other people on the same day, at the same time, serving God, burdened for God, standing for God. He thinks that he is the only one that's there. You know, again, we could be like that in ministry. And I'm sure I could get this way where I look at, I say, we're the only ones standing for the truth. We're the only ones that care about the gospel and evangelizing. We're the only ones that really desire to obey God and honor God and please God. But the fact is today, we're not. And the same truth is about depression. If I feel like I'm the only one that struggles with this or struggles in this way, God has a great verse for us. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, it says, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. And that means this, that though we may not all struggle exactly the same, the fact is there are people all over this world, and I'll tell you this, I have preached this message more than once, and when I've preached it, it's been the most listened to message online of the sermons that we've put out there. And it reminds me of this truth that there's people out there going, I'm struggling with depression, I need help. I'm struggling with depression, I need help. And the reality is there, again, we're in Scotland, I think this is a lot more common than we give it credit for to understand there are a lot of people really struggling with this. And so God helped me to get my eyes off of self. and to look at others and say, you know what, I'm gonna start praying for other people that are struggling with this. I'm gonna start seeking to encourage others and strengthen others because it's a common thing. The rest of that verse, by the way, it's common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted. Above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. that ye may be able to bear it. I can tell you today as a fact that we can endure, that we can have victory, and that if we have to struggle, that we struggle with the grace of God and the help of God and the hand of God. And it's like what Paul said, I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And so we look at Elijah and we think, well, you know, praise God that the Bible records the beauty as well as the difficulties, right? It's an honest book and it honestly shares with us a story of a great man of God that was going for God, but then he got into difficulty as depression came into his life. The things that we saw that took place, he went from a mountaintop to a valley. Enemies were intent on his destruction fear took the place of faith fatigue made death desirable He was doing what's right. Everything was going wrong, and it was like ah he was struggling but then the cures of depression Get proper rest and nourishment recognize your need for God's help, retune your spiritual receptors, humbly share your complaint with God, go do what God wants you to do, and get your eyes off of self. And I mean, these are great things to look at, a great passage to go to if you're struggling, just to say to God, God, help me through this time of depression, just like he helped Elijah, because God, you're faithful. All right, let's pray. Father, we praise you that you're a good God, a loving God, a gracious God.