#7
(The “Great Escapes” Series)
"ESCAPE
FROM DEPRESSION!"
TEXT: 1
Kings 19:1-21
INTRO:
Depression
can be a very debilitating experience. Sometimes depression can be caused by
really depressing circumstances:
ILLUS: Like
the man who went in for a corn on his foot, it was too painful to ignore. Because of the pain he asked for an
anesthetic. It was injected and he
had an allergic reaction so severe his heart stopped. The frantic doctors immediately operated
and administered direct heart message to revive him. In the process of the operation an
accidental overdose of oxygen was given and another surgery had to be performed
to deal with the swollen stomach that resulted. After 2 operations now he was being
returned to the recovery room when the elevator jammed. They decided to transfer the man to a
stretcher to get him out of the elevator and while doing this an intern slipped
and the man dropped to the floor of the elevator breaking his arm and collar
bone, he immediately started gasping for air and so they rushed him into his
third surgery ... a tracheotomy!
After all this the doctors had completely forgotten about his corn which
still existed untouched! This guy
had reasons to be depressed!
– Source Unknown
At
other times, depression is more a problem of perspective than of objective
reality. Depression is our reaction
to the circumstances of life around us, good or bad ... perceived correctly or
incorrectly. Sometimes even good
news can be overwhelmed by bad news and depression can still
result:
ILLUS: Like
the doctor who told his patient: “I have good news and bad news for you, what
would you like first?” The patient
said, “Give me the good news first.”
The doctor said, “You've only got 3 weeks to live.” The patient was shocked at this being
the good news and said, “If that's the good news, what's the bad new?” The doctor responded, “I should have
told you 2 weeks ago!”
– Source Unknown
All
joking aside, depression can grip the human heart so strongly that the
individual loses all sense of balance and perspective ... this then can play
havoc with faith, love, relationships, and can warp a person’s entire sense
of well being. GOD HOWEVER HAS
GIVEN WAYS TO ESCAPE THE HORRORS OF
DEPRESSION.
PROP.
SENT:
The Bible teaches us that there is
a road out of depression ... this road must be traveled to find deliverance
however, the path is there but we must take it!
1. DESCRIPTION OF DEPRESSION 19:1-18
A. Panic!
19:1-3
1. Ironically, depression often hits
shortly following great success situations!
a. Elijah’s depression hit immediately
after a great victory! He was just
coming away from a great successful event, overcoming the prophets of Baal – and
depression hit hard!
b. He discovers a certain strange
reality; successful ministry often brings about opposition and with it
depression!
c. Great trials are often the
result of successful ministry; it riles Satan when he is beaten
down!
2. The result of Elijah’s success in
ministry was the basis of the death threats of Jezebel. She planned to take his life within 24
hours!
a. Elijah taunted the 450 prophets of
Baal, teasing them by accusing Baal of sleeping, he teased the prophets about
their missed prayers suggesting Baal might have gone to the bathroom at the
moment (see emphasis in text next) ... (Notice the statement he uses: "About noontime
Elijah began mocking them. You'll have to shout louder," he scoffed, "for surely
he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in
thought, or he is relieving
himself. Or maybe he is
away on a trip, or he is asleep and needs to be wakened!" 1 Ki.
b. His emotional energy had been spent
on the first event; perhaps his reserves were now low.
3. The result was panic, fear, an
early warning system of depression.
4. These are the warning signs of
emotional trauma that encourages depression.
5. Unfortunately fear causes us to do
many stupid things that may actually make our depression
worsen!
a. Like isolation ... Elijah runs for his
life and leaves his servant so he can be alone!
b. This is one of the most effective
methods for INSURING depression's hold on you!
c. This isolation ... self imposed,
will begin a whole string of mistakes that will only build the depression and
make it drive deeper in his soul!
d. The results of this fear and
isolation will be a series of irrational responses that will only result in much
wasted time and energy, depression will usually drive us to do
counterproductive things!
ILLUS: Like
the old parable of a certain man who one day was confronted face to face with
Death. As the Angel of Death
approached him he noticed in Death's face a strange look of surprise, but the
Death Angel passed by him without saying a word and without incident. With great fear the man sought out a
wise man who could explain to him the strange meeting with Death. The wise man told him that Death had
probably arrived a day early to claim his soul the next day there in town ...
that he should flee to a far away city to avoid the meeting with death. So the man drove to the farthest point
like a madman ... covering a distance greater than any man had every covered up
to that point in time. When he
settled in for the night he congratulated himself on having eluded Death! Just then, Death came up to him and
tapped him on the shoulder. Death
said, “Excuse me, but I have come for you.” The frightened man thus exclaimed, “Why,
I thought I saw you yesterday near my home, you should have missed me!” Death said, “Exactly, remember the
confused look on my face then ... the reason why I looked confused is because I
was told to meet you here in this far-away city today and I couldn't believe it
when I saw you in your home town yesterday ... but now everything is as it
should be, let's go.” His fear had
only made his situation worse!
– Source Unknown
B. Physical
19:4-9
1. Elijah's depression was encouraged
by several physical issues, ones that we must realize if we are to discourage
depression finding a hold on our hearts and mind.
2. Leading up to the
moment:
a. Elijah had acted
alone even though in Chapter 18
Obadiah had told him there were 100 prophets of God he himself had hidden for
safety reasons.
b. Elijah had not
eaten properly ... he had skipped meals, poor nutrition thus the
result of being keyed up emotionally, true with both good and bad
emotions!
c. He skipped a
great deal of sleep ... running long distances over very short
periods of time, just going from Mount Carmel to Beersheba was about 100
miles!
d. Lack of sleep, lack of food, lack
of company, lack of emotional balance: (great highs to
great lows -- fear), lack of prayer, (didn't pray about this trip at
all!) lack of
faith, (trusted God against prophets of Baal but not against
Jezebel!) all this created a lack of perspective!
3. These physical dynamics needed
addressing in order to deal with the other issues, thus God begins to meet the physical needs
first!
a. After sitting down he finally prays
for the first time since Mount Carmel's prayer for fire and water ... except
that this prayer is way off balance! It
is a prayer to die! (*note: a prayer that God has never yet answered yet for
Elijah ... he never did die! He was
translated directly to heaven without experiencing death! Thank God for unanswered prayers
sometimes!)
b. God lets him
sleep for a period of time and has a meal waiting for him when he is
awakened by an angel ... he needed to eat something to return strength
to his body!
c. He evidently only nibbles on this
food and falls asleep again. God
allows this for some time then awakens him again and tells him to get up and
finish eating. 19:6-8
d. It is interesting that when he went
into the desert he took no food or water, a dumb thing to do physically. God however met those
needs!
e. God also meets
his need of shelter by providing a cave for him to sleep in, a place
of safety!
C. Perspectives 19:1-18
1. After having now met the physical
needs and allowing Elijah to catch up on sleep and safety ... God begins to
probe his emotional needs, to restore
perspective.
2. The first issue to deal with was
why Elijah had not conferred with God about where he was suppose to be, God had
not sent him into the desert, God had sent him to minister to
a. The first question by God then is
“WHAT ARE YOU
DOING HERE, ELIJAH?”
b. God's point was probably to get
Elijah to admit his need, to recognize and face realistically his problem of
depression!
c. One cannot be rescued if they
don't admit their problem!
3. Elijah however didn't admit his
need, only that he had been very zealous for the Lord and that he was the only
man of God in the whole nation!
a. This must have made his friend
Obadiah feel really good!
b. What about the 100 prophets of God
Obadiah had told him about earlier; they were still very much alive ... Elijah was just
wallowing in self-pity and refused to see the other faithful servants
of God!
c. God had a problem on his hands;
Elijah wasn't facing up to the real issues here!
4. Elijah was mad because Israel
didn't respond even after great miracles had taken place, at least they didn't
respond the way he thought they should!
a. God
tries to speak to Elijah that miracles are fine for drama but it is the Word of
God alone that will speak life to God's people!
b. God sends wind, earthquake, and
then fire ... but God was not found in any of these spectacular things, God was
found in the gentle whisper, the Work of the Kingdom would be accomplished
through God's Word, not through spectacular miracles!
c. The spectacular events only got the
peoples' attention ... it would be the Word of God that would bring them life
and revival!
5. Does Elijah get the message? NO!
Same response from the same question by God reveals the stubborn refusal
to see the truth! 19:13-14
6. God takes a more direct approach to
correct Elijah's depression, He outright commands Elijah to return the way he
came! 19:15
a. Rather than
spend hours on end trying to deal with his feelings God gives him a job to do,
to restore purpose to his life and
ministry!
b. Purpose and mission would help
restore perspective and start the healing process of depression!
c. Too often this is where people get
bogged down; they spend countless hours trying to explore feelings and their
past and don't move beyond this point. They then get trapped at this stage in
their depression, there needs to be some constructive measures taken to begin
movement toward healing even if you still want to explore your feelings! DO SOMETHING POSITIVE, PUT PURPOSE BACK
IN YOUR LIFE ... START TO MINISTER TO OTHERS!
II. DESIGNS OF DELIVERANCE 19:3-21
A. Practical
19:3-9
1. Let's look at what God does for
Elijah:
a. Feeds
him.
b. Allows him
rest.
c. Finds him a
secure place providing safety ... a sheltered cave in a neutral
territory.
d. God spends time
with him.
e. God challenges
his distorted perspectives firmly but with love and acceptance of him as a person!
f. God tries to
restore Elijah's faith by appealing to the simple basics of faith,
the gentile whisper as opposed to the desire for the
dramatic.
g. When exploring feelings doesn't
solve the problem God assigns a task for Elijah to do … restoring
usefulness and purpose back to his life.
h. God takes the
focus off the past and puts it on the future ... “anoint
kings” ... etc. “and anoint Elisha to succeed you...”
i. God reminds
Elijah that he is NOT alone ... there are 7,000 other faithful
servants who love the Lord like he does!
j. Assures Elijah
that he will no longer have to minister alone, God would grant him a
partner of like faith and commitment!
(Thank God for marriage partners like this
too!)
2. These are some of the things we
too can do for others who are struggling with
depression!
3. So often we want supernatural
deliverances from depression ... but even God used many "practical" and "normal"
processes for bringing healing to Elijah; so can we!
ILLUS: Like
the story of a Chinese Confucian scholar who had converted to Christianity, he
told this story: "A man fell into a deep dark pit with slimy sides that made it
impossible to climb out. Confucius
came along and said to the man, "If you had listened to me, you would never have
got in there!" This didn't help the
man however! Next Buddha came along
and said to the man, "Poor fellow, if you'll come up here I'll help clean you
up." He too left the man in the
pit. [Marquardt's additions]: Next came modern philosophers, they
said, "Why do you think these pits exist like this? ... Who do you think made
them? ... What's it like down there? ... Do you think you will ever get out? ...
if not, is there any meaning you can glean from the experience?" Then came the counselors, "What do you
think happened to you in your childhood that made you wander into these pits?
... How did you feel about falling into the pit? ... How would you feel if you
could be rescued? How would you
feel about not ever being rescued? ... How do you feel about those who are not
in the pit with you?" Then came
Jesus Christ, He said, "poor fellow!" … And He jumped down into the pit and let
the man out by using Himself to help the man escape!
– Source Unknown
B. Patience
19:9-15
1. Notice God allows some significant
time for this process of healing to take place!
a. Depression rarely disappears
instantly, it usually is a process!
b. Notice how things begin to look up
after a good nights sleep!
2. God has great patience with us in
restoring us, THANK GOD FOR THIS!
3. Allow yourself some time when
healing from depression, don't take an extended vacation of depression, but
do allow some reasonable time!
4. The process of "TRANSFORMATION" can
be time consuming, that's ok as long as the process
continues.
5. God is quite capable of
transforming the worst "dirty rags" into valuable stock if we will stick to the
process!
ILLUS: In
England there is a factory that creates the finest stationery in the world. A visit to the factory however will
surprise you, as one man discovered one day while going through the factory.
What he saw was huge piles of dirty
old rags! He was told that these
were the main ingredient in determining the fine quality of the stationery!
He just refused to believe this was
possible. About 2 weeks after
visiting that factory he received a package from the company of some of the
finest stationery he had ever seen with his initials embossed on it. On the top piece were written these
words, "DIRTY RAGS TRANSFORMED" … written by the man who sent the package from
the factory! It was an amazing
transformation, but it took time and effort!
– Source Unknown
C. Partnership
19:14-18
1. Another avenue of God's healing for
Elijah was to confront him with the "aloneness" issue!
a. Elijah had chosen this method of
dealing with depression. Obadiah
had told him about 100 fellow prophets “I hid a hundred
of the Lord's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food
and water.” 1 Ki
b. God now tells him about 7,000 other
such saints scattered all through the kingdom, some of which he could have
bumped into somewhere in Israel had he stayed in Israel instead of going out of
the Kingdom and hiding in the desert!
c. This
is a common error on the part of those who are depressed, they run from their
brother and sisters in Christ!
2. Isolating yourself is not likely to
bring spiritual strength back to your system!
ILLUS: Those
who live an idle lifestyle have more problems with "BLOOD PRESSURE, WEIGHT
PROBLEMS, CHOLESTEROL, ATROPHY IN MUSCLE GROUPS, METABOLISM IMBALANCES, ETC.
This happens spiritually also!
– Source Unknown
3. Depression is conquered much more
easily in fellowship than it is in an isolated room where self-pity distorts
reality!
4. It is much easier to climb out of a
pit with someone else's help than doing it alone!
D. Personal!
19:19-21
1. The final gift of God in helping
Elijah overcome his depression was giving him a close personal friend like
Elisha!
2. The days of single prophet ministry
was coming to an end ... indeed many of the ministries of God's servants as time
went by was done in two's ... we need others to be all that we can be ... “in
God's army!”
3. Elisha was plowing when Elijah
showed up to get him ... even though the man was probably wealthy he was found
working! God seldom calls those who are
idle!
4. This was the final stage of
healing Elijah's depression, the cap on a process of restoring the perspectives
of a wonderful servant of God who fell into
depression!
a. This depression didn’t destroy the
final decision to take Elijah straight to heaven without dying; our moments of
depression won't disqualify us for heaven either.
b. God knew the kind of friend Elijah
needed and He steered him right to him!
5. Each of these steps are designs for
deliverance; followed they will lead us out of
depression!
CONCLUSION: God does have a program for dealing with
depression! When those steps are
taken they will lead us out of the pit of depression that even the godliest of
people can experience at times in their lives! It is depressing to see people fail to
take those steps, why continue in misery when you don't have
to.