A song about the Father's love. You know, a lot of times we look at Calvary and we see the sacrifice that Jesus made, legitimately, recognize that and see that. But in Isaiah 53, it pleased the Father to bruise him for us. He had made his soul an offering for our sin. There's so much that the Father did, just like that story we see of Abraham and Isaac on the mountain. Even so, the God the Father sacrificed his son for us. How deep the Father's love for us! How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son! To make a wretch his treasure, How brave the pain of searing loss! The Father turns his face away, As wounds which mar the Chosen One, and His Son's true glory. How high, how wide, how deep the Father's love! Behold a man upon the cross, my sin upon His shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice Cry out among us all of hurt It was my sin that held him there Until it was accomplished His dying breath has brought me life I know it is finished How deep the Father's love for us. I will not boast of anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer, But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. How high! How wide! How pure! How strong, how deep the Father's love for us. Amen, all right. Praise God for the love that God has for us. And it's a precious reminder, isn't it, to think, you know, Satan's pretty sly if he can get us to doubt God's love when you look at Calvary and see what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. And so praise God for that reminder. And so this morning, we'll dismiss our kids to go to class with Mrs. Shore to the creche. And the rest of us, please open our Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. And if you have a church Bible, it's page 416 in your church Bible, alright? Page 416. And have you ever heard the saying that he's marching to the beat of a different drum? You might say that about somebody that kind of looks original. And certainly the military idea comes in where somebody's off and everybody else is marching the same. And it's interesting, that statement, because generally speaking, we're pretty much the same when it comes to humanity. And notice that similarity in humanity when we take our infant children into the grocery store or some place in the mall. And our children, all of them, were born with a full head of very thick, curly hair. And so as we take that little infant with the wig, it looks like, into the store, everybody would say the same things. And they would say this. look at all the hair. It wasn't just that they expressed it, the fact that the child had a lot of hair, it's that they expressed it in the exact same way. It's kind of funny, because we think we're a little bit original in the things that we say or the things that we do. But again, humanity is very similar, so we're not as different as we think. With regard to that, we have a lot of the same struggles, a lot of the same difficulties that we face. The Bible speaks about it in this way in James 5, 17, about Elijah, who we've already read about. Elijah, or Elias, was a man subject to like passions as we are. And it's just saying that he was just a man. He was a great man. He was a powerful servant of God, and he had a powerful prayer life, but he was just a man. He struggled with the same struggles that you and I struggle with. And as we come to him today, we're coming to him as an illustration to us of a person that has gone through it in obedience to God, and that God brought through it as well as he went through the trial that he's facing. But it reminds us this morning, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3.16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And so as we look at Elijah, and we're going to use him as a case study this morning, particularly with regard to the idea of depression, that as we look at him as a case study, he's not just an ordinary case study where you look at somebody's life and say, well, that person struggled with that. We're looking at his life as recorded by the Holy Spirit in the sacred word of God for our edification, for our understanding, And we're going to consider it as well with how God ministered to this man as he went through this trial that we could again call depression. So as we consider it this morning, I've entitled this message Dealing with Depression. Dealing with Depression. And so we're gonna look at the causes of depression and also the cure of depression as we see it in the Word of God here in this story. So let's pray and ask that the Spirit of God would help us as we come to the Word of God this morning. Father, we thank you for bringing us to the end of a decade as we come to this Sunday and to the end of the year. Lord, this is our last opportunity to look into the Word of God as a church and family. Today it is. So I pray, Father, may the Spirit of God bless the way that we conclude this year. And Father, this is a timely message as well as we're in the dark part of the year. And the weather, Lord, in Scotland, it seems often that it's long, prolonged periods of difficult weather. Father, these are long nights right now. And so, Father, this topic is a pertinent topic that probably the majority of us have struggled in some regard with this topic in our lives. And so, Father, I just pray that the Spirit of God bless, as we consider it this morning, that it be helpful, that it be insightful. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God will give me liberty as I speak. I pray that you help me preach biblically, practically, lovingly, powerfully. Father, I pray that my speech and my preaching will not be with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. And Father, we have ears to hear. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Father, we could listen this morning, and it could be meaningless, or we could listen, and it could be purposeful, and it could be helpful. And so Father, give us grace, not just to understand truth this morning, but to apply truth. And Father, we pray for the light to give insight into our life, just like Elijah needed, but he really needed light at this time. God, give us that light, help me as I preach, help us as we listen now. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. And so we're gonna begin, what can cause depression? And then the second part, what can cure depression? And so what can cause depression? Again, just with Elijah as our example this morning, it would say, you're in danger of depression when you go from a mountaintop down into a valley. Okay, spiritually. When you go from a mountain top experience that God has given and you go into a valley. And so verse 46 of chapter 18 It says, in the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins, and he ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. And you can really say about that statement is that Elijah is running a victory lap. He is just seeing God do something incredible. And I can just imagine, as a man of God, he is on a spiritual high because he has experienced it. He has seen the power of God in a few of us. have ever seen the power of God physically demonstrated. And if you look at the story, 1 Kings chapter 18 and begin at verse 30, they're on Mount Carmel, they're in Israel, and it's the great duel between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal. And he's challenged them to say before the people, the God that sends fire from heaven, he is the God. So you call down fire, you prophets of Baal, or I'll call down fire from God. And let the God that is reveal himself through this great testimony that God had directed Elijah to bring before them. And so in verse 30, it's Elijah's opportunity to have the altar. And so Elijah said to 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 pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And 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. 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 have 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 to them take the prophets of Baal let not one of them escape and they took them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and and slew them there. I've been there, Israel, on Mount Carmel, and a place where there's blackened stones on the top of that mount that they assume is from this event that took place as the fire of God fell. And there's a brook that is down in the valley, just like the word of God says, where they took those prophets of Baal. And so you look at Elijah, And what he has seen God do after three years of hiding in the wilderness and being kind of in a valley, he's finally been brought up to a place of honor before the people as the man of God, the servant of God, and the glory of God. And what has taken place in the great victory that's been won. But then we get to 1 Kings chapter 19. It's the day after. And we find him in a deep, deep valley spiritually. Should we be surprised this morning that danger and depression follow victory and rejoicing? Should we be surprised that, from a mountaintop, that there is a departure down into the valley, just like we see at the Lord Jesus Christ as his baptism in the dove comes, and yet he departs from that place of spiritual high to the 40 days of temptation in the wilderness? with creation, we see the glory of God's creation, then we see the sadness of man's temptation. At Pentecost, we see Pentecost take place and then we see persecution. And so often that as we have those brief seasons of God really working in our life, and there's great things happening in our lives. It's going well spiritually. We're faithful in our Bible reading, faithful in our walk with God, faithful in the Word of God. And maybe in a very special way, God has revealed himself to us. Should we be surprised? That from that high place that we've got to depart again down into where the rubber meets the road as a believer to see if we're going to stand the test that is coming next in our obedience to God. There's a poem that I memorized when I was in college that was in Spurgeon's lectures to my students. And it says, they on the heights are not the ones who never erred or went astray, who strode unswerving to their goals along a smooth, rose-bordered way. Nay, those who stand when first comes dawn are those who stumbled but went on. Because it's an easy thing, I would think, to say, you know, if Christianity was just a mountaintop experience, and every time we came to church there was revival, and every time we opened our Bible, I mean, it was just like crystal clear connection with heaven, and every time that we prayed it was that liquid entrance into the presence of God. I dare say nobody would quit being a Christian. But there's often times where we've come down from that height of what God is doing in our life, and we've got to walk back in that place of the valley. And so we're in danger of depression or spiritual battle when we've been on a mountaintop, and then we have to depart back down into the valley. And secondly, as far as causes of depression, you're in danger of depression when enemies are intent on your destruction. You're in danger of depression when enemies are intent on your destruction. Verse 1, now chapter 19, says, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal, 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 by tomorrow about this time. And so wicked queen Jezebel has heard about it. She wasn't there at Mount Carmel. King Ahab was there. He gets home. He tells her, this is what Elijah did. And she sends out a letter and a messenger to go to that prophet and say, listen, buddy, you killed all my false prophets. Just note this. By tomorrow this time, it's going to be you. And she threatens him. And he's got an adversary that he's always had in Jezebel. It reminds me. similarly to the great man of God that was here in Edinburgh, John Knox. And his great adversary was Mary, Queen of Scots, the Queen of England that was so opposed to the Christianity of Knox. So often we find ourselves as believers having an adversary. Something that physically, the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world. We understand that. The real dynamic is beyond that. Yet as far as what we can see, there's that difficulty with that person or that individual that's resisting us as we seek to live for God. I just read recently the biography of Ron Comfort, a preacher in the United States that started Ambassador Baptist Bible College. in North Carolina. And I appreciate the fact that in his autobiography, he gets to the point where he says, I just want to share with the men in ministry some of the struggles that I have faced. And some of the struggles that were the biggest struggles were just what people said against him. And if you think about it, what Elijah is dealing with is not physical, it's an adversary that has said something that was against him, and how difficult that is. My dad, at the age of 26, he was pastoring a church in Gainesville, Wisconsin, a young wife and pet, and three boys that they had three, two, and one years of age. And my dad, in the middle of the night, found his wife after Easter Sunday. She's in the kitchen at 5 in the morning. She's reading her Bible, and she's weeping. He said, honey, what's wrong? And I heard my dad tell this story so many times as I was growing up, because this is the story of my dad's car accident that he had. He lost his family in a car accident. But what got them onto that trip was this experience in the kitchen, his wife. And she's grieved by an adversary that was in the church that was just so making life difficult for her that he found her struggling in the kitchen, weeping. So they decided the next day to go up to Minneapolis-St. Paul to visit a deacon's son that was out of the will of God from the church in Colorado that they knew was there. and Minnesota, and they were going to visit him and go to the zoo. But you know what? It was tough for her. What was tough? It was an adversary. It was somebody that was just against her. Hannah knew what that was like. The mother of Samuel. In 1 Samuel, chapter 1, verse 5, when she was childless, The Bible says about Cana that she was there and the Lord had, to this point, shut up her womb. And her adversary, that's Penina, the second wife of her husband, 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 Ocana, her husband, to Ocana, why weaknest thou? Why hatest thou not? We know the story. I mean, she gets on her face before God, and God's going to answer that prayer, and it's going to take her to her knees and to a glorious victory. But what she was struggling with was the fact that she had an adversary that was just cruelly saying things. And as we take a stand for God, we seek to live our life to the Lord, so often there's going to be those that will oppose us, And it's just going to be that they're going to say things that make it very difficult for us in our heart and our walk with God. Matthew 5 verse 11. It says, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. There's going to be those times, I mean, it's going to happen when we stand for God, where it may be family, it may be friends, it may even be at times family that are saved, or Christian friends. that say things that are hard things. And just as we consider the story, there's a danger of depression when we have an adversary that's intent upon our destruction. So we can recognize that and understand, you know, it is legitimately difficult to have somebody that is saying things, even as here in our story, the threat that was against Elijah. Then you're in danger of depression when fear takes the place of faith. When fear takes the place of faith. Turn back to chapter 18 in verse 27 and 28 Elijah had been so bold just previously as he was at Mount Carmel and the Bible tells us in verse 27 and 28 It came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked him and said, cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he's in a journey, or a care adventure he sleepeth and must be awake. They cried aloud and cut themselves after the manor with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. And I can only imagine being there on Mount Carmel as this duel is taking place and seeing the bold prophet of God standing up against this group of 450 men that are there. They've got lancets. They've got weapons, which they're thankfully not abusing him, but abusing themselves. And he boldly just mocks them and says, maybe your God's sleeping. Maybe your God has gone on a journey. And as we come to chapter 19, and we read about Elijah again, we almost wonder, is it the same man? And Elijah is a great man of God, and yet the word of God is clear. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. The boldness that we see in the man of God is just because of the strength of that man's faith. But as we get to chapter 19, it seems as if in Elijah's life, fear has taken the place of faith. Instead of being that bold servant of God that has a complete dependence upon God, the Bible says in verse 3, And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and he came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there. And what the text does not say is that he went for his life in obedience to the Lord, or he went for his life after much prayer. And there's a time to walk away. I mean, the Lord Jesus himself, at times, there was a time for him to die, so he disappeared into the crowd. And so it's not necessarily wrong that Elijah is departing to a place of safety, but it seems as he depart that rather than departing in faith, He's departing in fear. A wicked woman has cursed him, and he's running for his life. You know, fear is powerful. Fear is something that has great ability to motivate, all right? God used fear. In the Old Testament stories, there's a story of the siege in Samaria that's taking place, and there's no food in the city anymore. And the Syrian army is outside the city. And the lepers are sitting outside the city, they're about to die, and so they start to talk among themselves and say, why sit we here until we die? If we say we'll 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 unto the hosts of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall but die. And they arose 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 fled for their life. God put the whole army to flight. How? Just by fear. Making him afraid. It was the power of God, but the power of God made him afraid. Gideon, 350 years previously to this story, with 300 men and pitchers and trumpets, you know, had stood up for God. Yes, in the power of God, but God used fear. to take that army of Midian and to destroy them and to cause them to flee. Listen, God knows wisely to use fear for His glory. Don't you think Satan has an understanding that fear is a great tool that he can also use against us to motivate us against God so that we're not standing in faith? The Bible says in Proverbs 29 verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be saved. There should be times where fear will take the place of faith, where there's that anxiety instead of that dependence upon God, and when fear takes the place of faith, we're in danger of depression. My wife and I, when we were going through our first year of marriage, got blessed and we got married by faith that God was going to provide for that year. She was a full-time student as a senior at Bible College. I was a graduate assistant. That meant I got my tuition free. And I would have gotten my housing free if we lived on campus. But because I'd gotten married, I would have had to pay dorm rates for my bride. And so we actually rented a house off campus. And so I got my tuition, and I got $70 every two weeks as pay. And so there were times where it was kind of tight. Going through that year, Joppa and I did a great job off campus. A man that would hire both my wife and I to work, and we'd get $10 an hour, which back then was a lot of money, to just work in his office. He was a landscape architect, and he would design huge parks and things. And so we would go work in his garden. So God provided some ways. But it got to a point where things were very tight. My dog that we had, I've showed that story before, but we had a little puppy. And she hadn't had shots yet. And we were at my wife's parents' house in Michigan. And out in the back garden, I had a puppy, and my father-in-law had his dogs out. And they came around the corner and went to jump on us. I grabbed the puppy, and the puppy bit me. And I had gone to the doctor to get a jab because of the puppy not having its shots. And I was waiting for that bill. And I knew that bill was going to come. And I knew we couldn't afford it when it came. And so we got to a point around February or so of that year, we just became really, I guess, kind of afraid, thinking it's not going to work out. We need to go to the registrar, and we need to get a loan. And so we went up to that bank that was at the university where you could get student loans, walked in there, asked for the man, and he wasn't there. And I'm thankful he wasn't. Because I walked out and I said to Katie, I said, we're just not trusting the Lord. And I've shared this story before. God got us through that year. It's not enough time right now to share this story, but to a matter of a few dollars, God supplied for us in that first year of marriage until we got the job that we had in New York City as an assistant pastor and then had regular income that God gave for us. But there's going to be those times in life where fear takes the place of faith, and we just stop trusting God. And in those positions, yeah, it's a difficult position to be in, because it's a position of terror, just like the disciples on the boat. I mean, why were you afraid? Why didn't you have faith? He had little faith. We're in danger of depression when fear takes the place of faith. And then another danger of depression is when fatigue makes death desirable. When fatigue makes death desirable. Verse 4 says, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. And he came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested it for himself that he might die. He said, it's enough now, O Lord. Take away my life, for I'm not better than my father's. And you think about Elijah. He just, again, dueled with the prophets of Baal on that mountain. The intense emotion of that and the spiritual atmosphere that was there was charged. And he had just run that race back in front of King Ahab, back to Jezreel. And he's physically drained. He's emotionally drained. Everything about him is just exhausted. And he's ready to turn the towel. And he says to God, it's enough. It's enough. Just take away my life. He doesn't attempt suicide. He doesn't seek to take his own life. He just looks up to the providential God and says, God, go ahead. Take my life. Because he's so weary of life. Interesting, with regard to Elijah, he asked God to take his life. He's one of two men in scripture who never died, right? And God took him and took away without death. I've shared before, as a student at Bob Jones, I got to a point where I really faced depression, And I'd never really experienced anything like that growing up in my life. But at Bob Jones, I was physically exhausted. It had been tough academically. It had been tough physically. I'd been ill. And I just remember at that Bible conference that we were at, just feeling overwhelmed with life. And the preacher I shared before, he got up there and preached actually on depression. And he said, if you're struggling with depression, just start a list of thankfulness to God and start writing the things. God, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Why? Because I was getting to the point where it's like, in my life, what's the point? And that's where we find Elijah. He's at that point where he's all in. He's been going all out for God, zealous for God. He's so tired, he's so weary of the battle, that he's finally to the point where he just goes, enough. Listen, we're in danger of depression when we hit the point of complete exhaustion. Again, just for our understanding of where we're at and what's taking place in our bodies, that is logical and understandable that if we're physically worn out that there's a danger of depression. And then we find as well, you're in danger of depression When you do what is right, and it seems like everything is going wrong. You do what's right, but it seems like everything's going wrong. Verse 10, 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. He's standing before God and he's saying, God, I've been faithful. The whole nation has rejected God, but I have stood for God, and I've been zealous for God, and I've done all these things, and they're just trying to destroy me. He felt like it should be going better than it was going, but it wasn't going well at all. Why is it, when you take a stand for the Lord, life suddenly gets difficult? Why is it that, I mean, you're making a great decision for God, you think it'd be easy. I remember in Michigan, the day that we were going to leave from our church in Michigan and go to Wisconsin to a camp, Camp Joy, and for Baptist World Orientation. Our mission agency is Baptist World, and when God called us to come to Scotland, that's the agency that God led us to go with. And this is our first opportunity to get into that environment. But that morning, I've shared this story before, but that morning, at like two in the morning, our house was teepee, all right? Toilet paper. And my dog woke me up, and it's a funny story, but I mean, I lost sleep that morning, and that morning I was getting up, I was gonna teach my Sunday school class, I was gonna lead the scene, and then right after leading the scene, we were actually gonna leave the service, because we had to drive straight just to be there in time for the beginning of camp that night in Wisconsin. And so, I'm already tired, and the pastor got up and he said, Pastor Clark, said, pray for the shorts that they don't doubt God's meaning in their life. And I guess it was pride. I'm sitting back behind him on the platform because I was a song leader, and I think it was probably a smile that came on my face because God had made His will so clear to us that in my heart I just thought, there is no way Now I'm going to doubt this. Scott has absolutely called us to Scotland and I know that. But anyway, get to camp that night and as soon as we got to camp, we didn't have cell phones back then, I found out that my parents had called and that my gran had passed away. And so Grandma Shore, my dad's mom, And so it's not just the loss of my gran. We knew she was older. It's the fact that here I've driven eight hours. I've got two little kids at this point. And somehow I've got to get my family from Wisconsin now, where I am. I live in Michigan, so I'm like eight hours away. I've got to fly to Colorado. What am I doing here? And then, I shouldn't have started before, but another humorous part, Dr. Cummins, his son-in-law at his funeral said, someday we're going to get to heaven, and God's going to say something, and we're going to go, I've heard that voice before. And it's because Dr. Cummins could put the fear of God in you, and he's, I mean, if God has a voice, you would think it would be his voice, because he goes, Brother Schumer, I've got some questions about your doctrinal statement. And so, I mean, I'm having to deal with that, that night as well. Dr. Cummings, he's just loving and wanted me to make sure I said things just right because it'd be presented to the board and he didn't want me to get a tougher spot than dealing with him, all right? And so that was good, and I appreciate it. But that made it tough, too, and it was all these things, and it just seems like, God, I'm trying to do what's right, why is it so tough? Listen, if you're playing rugby, you can be fine until you get the ball, right? It's a person with a ball that gets tackled. The thing is, if you don't stand for God, don't be surprised if life can be kind of easy. But when you stand for God, you understand that there's going to be a battle that takes place because you're standing for God. And it's like the hymn says, are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me unto God? Cherub, I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the twelve. Endure the pain. Supported by that word. If you thought Christianity was a picnic, then you're going to be sadly disappointed when the trials come. Because here we've got a great man of God aligned. He's standing for God. He's fighting for God. And it's bad and it's tough. And we've got to understand that When we do what's right and everything's going wrong, that we're in danger of depression, because it seems contrary to our human reasoning why that's taking place. So you're in danger of depression when you do what's right and everything's going wrong, or it seems like it. Or when you go from a mountaintop to a valley. When enemies are intent on your destruction, when fear takes the place of faith, or when fatigue makes death desirable. As we see in the story, those are some things that we can look at in our life and say, I understand why I'm struggling. So what can cause depression? Secondly, what can cure depression? How do I deal with that? What, you know, the message is dealing with depression. What do I do to deal with this? Well, let's again consider what God does with his servant in this story. And so a cure of depression is to get proper rest and nourishment. Get proper rest and nourishment. Verse five says, and as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and sent him to rise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baking on the coals, and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. It's very interesting, isn't it? It's just a story. But it's there for a reason, isn't it? And the way that God personally ministered to his servant is a very precious testimony of God's desire to help somebody that is a believer that's in a situation like this. He comes to his servant. He does, hey, food and drink and sleep. Why? Because, again, Elijah was all in. He was really tired. I heard a friend of mine that's passed away. Actually, if you come on Tuesday night, you'll see him in the movie. He's in the movie. He's the preacher at the camp meeting. His name's Evangelist Walter Burrell. But he talked about the message that I listened to. He talked about in college, he was preaching, coming back studying and preaching. He got to the point where he just was done. He had an opportunity to take a big meeting, a youth rally, I think it was of some sort. He had to call the preacher and say, I can't do it. I'm done. And he spoke with an older man in the ministry. And the man said, get your pajamas on. Actually, I think he said, promise me you'll do what I say to do before you get off the phone. He says, go get in your pajamas, son, and get in bed. And he basically slept the clock around. And then Astaid started to come back. He started to get his energy back. He started to get his motivation back. Why? Because he had been so busy serving God that he hadn't taken time to get proper rest and refreshment, which our bodies need. Jesus knows that we need that. He said to his disciples in Mark 6, verse 31, He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." And Jesus said to his disciples, come apart a little bit. We've heard the saying, come apart before you come apart. You've got to take that time to physically rejuvenate and to be refreshed by proper sleep, proper diet. You know, it's interesting, God does care about the physical needs of his people. Think about the 5,000 that were following Jesus, the men and women and children, and they hadn't eaten for those days. And the Bible says in John 6, verse 5, when Jesus then lifted up his eyes, he saw a great company come unto him. He said unto Philip, when shall we buy bread that these may eat? You say, let's get some food. Let's provide a meal. Let's refresh them before we send them away. You know what's good for us if we're struggling with depression is to consider, how's my sleep? How's my diet? You know, to take care of that, we're making sure we're meeting our body's needs, even though we want to be selves for God and obedient to God, that we're taking that time to be refreshed. And then recognize your need for God's help. Recognize your need for God's help. Verse 7 says, 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. And he rose and did eat and drink. And what is the strength of that meat? Forty days and forty nights until Horeb, the Mount of Galilee. Okay, now, I don't know what he's eating, but it's high octane. Alright, it's good stuff, whatever it is, because it's not natural, it's supernatural. How do I know? Because in the strength of that, Elijah is going to go forty days and forty nights. God came along and Elijah's all in, he's weary, but God refreshes him, not naturally, strictly, but supernaturally. Why? Because the journey is to great relief. In your Bible, when you read through the accounts of the children of Israel getting ready to go into battle and take the promised land, God promised them that they'd take that land from seven nations which were greater and mightier than them. It's not just that Israel would get into that battle and think, you know what? I feel like they're better than I am. I feel like they're going to win. It wasn't that they just felt like they're a bigger adversary. The reality was, it was a bigger adversary. And the reality may be this morning that we look at and say, God, I can't do that. And the reality is, yes, you can't do that. Why? Because there's a lot of things. that God has given us to do that we can't do, and yet, I mean, you could say alternates, right? When it comes to spiritual things, and what God wants us to do, and getting it done, we've got to understand that we can't. And so, when it comes to a matter of discouragement or depression, it's casting ourselves upon God and saying, God, I'm depending upon you. Dianne Nye. became the first swimmer without a shark cage to swim from Cuba to Florida. Why? I don't know. But she did. And it took her 53 hours to swim 110 miles. And the article written says about her, Diane Nya swam through five-foot ocean swells that washed over her head. She swallowed mouthfuls of salt water that made her wretch. 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. That's how Linda Robertson gave an account of her swim, Diane Nyad's swim of 110 miles. You read the story and think, oh, that's incredible. This lady swam that distance through that kind of environment. But it also spoke in the article about the fact that she had 44 people that were part of her team. that made it possible. They couldn't swim for her, but they did everything else they could possibly do for her to help her to achieve that incredible goal. The thing is, for us, again, as we look at our life, is that we can. And like Paul, a lot of times we want to say to God, but God, make it so we can. But God doesn't always make it so we can. God said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And Paul goes, you know, most likely we're only there for a rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. A lot of times we want to say to God, God make me strong instead of depending upon God for his strength. And when it comes to depression, I doubt anybody in here relishes it or thinks, hey, this is a great thing that I struggle with this emotion that seems deep and dark and I seem unable to get out from under it. And yet, in that position, it's a great opportunity for us to express dependence upon God. And say, God, I can't. I can't change the inside, I can't take it away, you know? I mean, if we could, we'd just reach in there and hit the happy button and, you know, smile. But it's not there. But in our dependence upon God, we can say, but God, I trust you. But God, I depend upon you. God, I need you. Give me some of that food you gave Elijah that strengthens me emotionally, physically, spiritually, so that I can be, God, what you desire me to be. The journey was too great for Elijah. He needed God's help. And then retune your spiritual reception. Retune your spiritual reception. 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 hear, Elijah? 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 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 mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and breaking pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind and 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, still small boys. And I can imagine that Elijah, having seen the fire of God fall from heaven, is going to have a bit of difficulty in perceiving that God is with him when fire is not falling from heaven. And so God gives them an object lesson, and the great wind comes, even as we have blowing outside today, and that wind comes and blows the rocks, but God's not in it. And then an earthquake takes place, but God's not in the earthquake. And then the fire, just like the light of Saul in Mount Carmel, but God wasn't in this fire. And then it still swallows the waste. You see, I think a lot of times, in our Christian life and experience, we want the highest. Again, we want to open up the Bible and just... We want that crystal clarity to be able to go to God in prayer and that immediate sense of the presence of God. We want that person that we're evangelizing to get saved. I mean, not just saved, but weep themselves into the arms of the loving Savior and follow God and be baptized biblically. And join the church and be faithful to God. Right? We want to see the big things that we know God can do, and yet we take our eyes off of the ordinary things that God is doing every day. Like Naaman that expected, you know, the prophet to come out, strike his hands, and heal the leper. But Naaman had to just go to the basic. Go down and baptize himself seven times in water to be healed of his leprosy. And so it might be that for us today, that we just got to get back in tune and not look for the signs and wonders, but just accept the fact of God's love given to us by the Word of God and the sweetness of the presence of God by faith, and the still small voice of God speaking to us by retuning our spiritual receptors. And then, humbly share your complaint with God. How to deal with depression. Humbly share your complaint with God. In doing that, you're spending time with God. And so verse 13 says, and it was so when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and he went out and stood in the entering of the cave. A small voice has spoken, and Elijah responds. And behold, there came a voice unto him that said, what doest thou hear, Elijah? And he said, I've been very jealous of the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with a sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. Now Elijah's wrong. He is, and God's going to respond to that. But Elijah just bears his heart before God and says, God, I'm troubled. It's tough, what I'm going through. And he unburdens himself before God. The Bible says that we're to do that. The Bible says, casting all your care upon him for he'll care for you. That care is anxiety. It's worry. Just go to God and say, God, I'm going to unburden myself. I'm not going to carry this anymore. I'm going to set this at your loving feet. And aren't you thankful today that God is a God that's sympathetic? Does it help you when you're really struggling with something? It's really tough for you to go to somebody and unburden your heart to them and say, this is tough. I'm really struggling with that. And they say, big deal. Get over it. That's not something that encourages us. It's like Job's friends. Job says to them, if I came to you, I would seek to assuage your grief. But you just keep it upon me. It was a great thing, praise God. When we go to God, we have a God that is sympathetic, He's understanding, He's been where we are. Hebrews 4.15, for we have not in high praise which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Don't say this morning, God, you've never experienced this. The Lord experienced it without sin. He went through everything that you and I face and we struggle with and go, hey, this is rough. Doesn't God understand? Yes, God understands because God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, went through it. But He went through it with victory. But He's sympathetic. He understands. And so He cares about what we're facing. And so a cure for depression is just humbly sharing your complaint with God, going to God and saying, God, I am really struggling. God, I really do need your help. And you might be wrong about what you're struggling with, as Elijah was. Elijah, he wasn't seeing it right. God's going to change his perspective, and yet he unburdens his heart to God. And so another cure for depression is to go do what God wants you to do. Go do what God wants you to do. Verse 15 says, And the Lord said unto him, Go and return on thy way to the wilderness of Danascus. And when thou comest, anoint Hatzeel 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 Abel-mehulah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. And it's interesting. You read the story and you think, God, didn't you hear what he said? Ah, you bet I only am left. And God says, you know, I've got something for you to do. There's work to be done. There's help to be had. These are people that are going to stand up. But I've got something that I want to send you back into the battle to accomplish. Have you ever noticed that depressed people don't feel like doing anything? It's like the person that has dirty glasses on, it's so gross outside, they don't want to go outside because of what they perceive outside to be. It's just hard to get that motivation. But God doesn't go, well, you're an unmotivated prophet, so there's nothing to do. He just kind of says to Elijah, you'll get back into battle. There comes a point where that burden becomes self-pity. And it's just being consumed with self and just focusing on self. And God just says, hey, look, there's still something to do. Get out and do it. And so part of maybe the cure of depression is letting God force us out of the place of self-pity and just get back involved in doing what God desires us to do and being diligent to accomplish the task that God has designed us to accomplish. And then, with that, there's also the idea of getting your eyes off of self. Getting your eyes off of self. Verse 18, remember Elijah said, Lo, even I only am left. Verse 18, God says, Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. In his depression, Elijah felt very isolated. So much so that he thought he was the only prophet of God, saving from God, even though he knew that was not the case. How do I know that he knew that? Because remember Obadiah? If you know the story, at the beginning of the story, there's a servant of King Ahab that's out looking with King Ahab for water to water the horses. And Elijah comes to Obadiah. And Obadiah is scared to tell Ahab where Elijah is, because he says, you're going to disappear before I get back, and then my master's going to kill me. And I have stood for God, Obadiah says. I've taken two companies, I think, of 100 prophets, hid them in caves. I've fed them. I've given them water. And so Elijah knew not only of Obadiah, but of all those in the caves. But Elijah, in his self-pity, he thought, I'm the only one standing up for God. It's a good thing when God by his grace helps us to get our eyes off of ourselves and to begin to understand. You know what? A lot of people struggle with that, too. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. That means common in the sense that I struggle with it, you struggle with it, we struggle with it, if not exactly, somebody else does. In other words, Satan would come to us and say, you're the only one that struggles with your purity. You're the only one that struggles with loneliness. You're the only one that struggles with depression. You've got a case unlike no other. There is no cure. You cannot be helped. No one else has been helped, and it's absolutely false. Why? Because everybody else struggles with it. Everybody else has faced it. But our self-pity and our depression makes us look at ourselves as unique in what we're struggling with. And that's not the case. And so what do we do? Get our eyes out of the cell. Remember, there's a lot of other people that are serving God, particularly if we look at it like this story. Obedient to God. We can look around in our day and age and see, God, we're the believers that are standing up for God, and we can feel isolated. We're the only independent Baptist church in Scotland, but we're not. We're the only people that still believe in the old-time religion, the old-time stand with the Bible, but we're not. Praise God, we're not. But Satan likes to isolate us. And it's good for us to remember, you know there's other people that struggle with this. And God has helped other people through this. And God can help me through this. And by the way, when God gives you grace for it, you can go to somebody else and say, God gave me grace for that, and it'll help you too. Right? So Elijah, 1 Kings 19, he's a good case study for us on depression. And so we considered it this morning, what are the causes of depression? What should I be aware of that affects me? Well, when we go from a mountaintop to the valley, we've got to be faithful whether we're up on a spiritual high or a spiritual low and just say, by God's grace, I'm going to go through it, God will bring me up again. When enemies are intent on our destruction, we've got an adversary. It could be family, it could be friends, it could be because we're standing for God. When fear takes the place of faith. You know, I'm not any longer believing God. I'm not longer trusting God. I'm running without praying. When fatigue makes death desirable. Alright guys, you know, we gotta be more in there. You know what, I'm struggling with depression. I need God's help. When you do what's right, and everything's going wrong, you know, again, I'm trying to, please God, I'm trying to obey God. Doesn't God know what I'm doing? Why is it so tough? But that's the way it is, so often. And so what are the cures for depression? Again, get rest, nourishment, recognize your need for God's help. Retune your spiritual receptors and get the still small voice of God. Humbly share your complaint with God. Go to God with the burden. Get out and do what God wants you to do. And take your eyes off the self. Start looking around at others and see what God's doing in their lives. And may God use that this morning to help us in an area that affects probably all of us in our walk with God. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God give us grace to do battle. I know as I've studied this, and Lord, this isn't a new message. I preached this message first six, seven years ago. And Father, I remember preaching in New York City on her last furlough, and the pastor said to me that week, that was the most downloaded sermon that was on their webpage. And Father, I'm not flattered by that, I think I'm a great preacher, but I recognize that depression is something that touches a chord with a lot of people, especially in the winter. And Father, I would anticipate that everybody that's heard this message this morning recognizes that there's warning signs in their life for causes of depression and that they need to cure for depression regularly. And Father, this message has helped me this week in my own life. And so I pray, Spirit of God, give us grace to be faithful soldiers And to understand that we're subject to like passions, just like Elijah. He was just a man. But praise God, he restored him. He was a faithful man, and he didn't quit. And so I pray the Spirit of God.