Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Hey everybody, welcome back to The Sanctuary. It's great to have you with us here as always.
If this is your first time joining us, let me just take a moment to say welcome.
Now in the wake of Memorial Day, last time we met, we were talking about death and the emotions of dealing with it.
This week we're going to explore a different part of that same theme of death as we take a look at depression and suicide.
And just a small look really. This week we're going to be wrapping up this theme of death and really it's turned into an unintended series.
Coming into the last couple weeks, I didn't look at doing the series. That was not my intent. I just went where the spirit has led.
And this week, sitting down and writing this out, I noticed this theme of this topic.
And it's a good thing. It really is. Because these are things that aren't spoken of a lot or at length.
And they should be because it's part of life. This month it has a lot going on.
The world has been promoting so many different things going on. However, in keeping with what we're looking at, this month also happens to be PTSD Awareness Month.
This is something that strikes deep for me. It's good to know as the stats on veteran suicide, they've been holding to their pattern as they have for years.
As are the stats on suicide in general. And really when it comes to suicide in general, the stats are staggeringly high.
In some years, there's been an increase of well over 30%, almost 40% according to the CDC and various other resources.
And while many look at this as an issue that impacts just combat veterans, that's actually not the case.
This includes those suffering from survivor's guilt and those dealing with a plethora of other issues.
This isn't just the military. This is everybody when we look at it and we look at those numbers.
But while we're looking at veterans in the military, let's address this real quick too. Survivor's guilt.
This is a real thing. And this is something that often does extend to those who never deployed.
Those who took an oath, they put on a uniform, but they never had the opportunity to deploy for a variety of reasons.
And some of those cases never even left the states.
Which leaves some people to feel like they failed in their service and they failed their fellow warriors, which is just not the case.
Of course, there's also those who did deploy who faced death and they wonder why they came home while so many others didn't.
And there's so many other reasons as well.
Many of you likely, for one reason or another, have had thoughts at some point of self-harm or even suicide.
And this is one of those areas where many will point to that commandment of thou shalt not kill and they go off on their high horse.
It's really speaking out of turn. However, what we're going to do today is we're going to look at this from a biblical perspective.
So for those of you who have your apps, those of you with your Bible, or even those of you who are taking notes,
what we're going to do now is we're going to turn to 1 Kings chapter 19, and we're going to look at verses 1 through 5 to start.
And the word says, Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there.
While he himself wanted days journey into the wilderness, he came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.
I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. Then he laid down under the bush and fell asleep.
So let's look at what's happening here. Jezebel, like I said, we need perspective. We need context, right?
Jezebel, she's pretty angry with Elijah. Up until this point, she had invested heavily in her prophets who told her the things that she wanted to hear.
And the key here is that they told her what she wanted to hear and not what she needed to hear.
Elijah, on the other hand, was very much the doom and gloom guy. And he himself was actually, he was responsible for their deaths.
And for her, this hurt her in a number of ways. It hurt her financially, it hurt her support, it hurt her image.
So she wanted his head, she wanted him out of the picture for good.
Because as long as he was around and continued to be a craw in her back, someone who hindered her at every turn,
she had no control. However, with him gone, she could continue down her path of destruction without having to worry about dealing with this wild card that she couldn't control.
So Elijah, looking at it for him, he himself had actually just come off of two really big spiritual victories.
And even after coming out of those and having that high, he found himself very quickly looking down the barrel of a gun.
He was scared, as the word just told us, he was scared. So he ran.
And I'll remind you, there is always a price to pay for victory.
And those in the field, they're the ones who often find it right afterwards.
This is why veterans and first responders, they're not the same after working in their vocations.
And Elijah was no different. He's coming back and all of a sudden, he's seeing all this going on.
And it's just like, wow, it's one thing after another after another.
So he was depressed. He was feeling lonely. He was ready to basically call it good, hang up his boots, and wanted the Lord to end it.
And he prayed like, hey, let me die. This is one of those points that's just, it's lowest of the low.
He hit rock bottom. And it's really, it's so hard to talk to people when they hit this point,
because they're so caught up in their storm and they're so focused on it that they're not really listening to what you have to say.
So it's really hard to get through all that. Continuing on in 1 Kings 19, now we're looking at verses 5 through 9.
And the word says, all at once an angel touched him and said, get up and eat.
He looked around and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water.
He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said,
get up and eat for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank.
Strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Torib, the mountain of God.
There he went to a cave and spent the night. Now you'll notice Elijah, he's tired.
He's tired, he's lonely, he's depressed. So the angel of the Lord went to look and watch over him.
Not to argue with him, not to tell him to get over himself and put away the self-pity wagon.
Not to give him some inspirational monologue or any of that kind of stuff or tell him what he's doing wrong.
No, instead God went to comfort him. And yes, I am saying God here because the word specifically calls out that this is the angel of the Lord.
And when we go back and we read through the Old Testament and we look at the descriptions that are given of the angel of the Lord,
we see that it's very much a spiritual description of Jesus before he was born as man.
And we're going to see a little bit of that here in just a moment. But I strongly implore you to go back,
look up the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament and look at the descriptions that are given throughout it.
Everywhere from Balaam's Mule to so many other places. So go and take a look at that. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about.
Again, God simply comforted Elisha. And let's face it, when we hit rock bottom, when we're struggling, that's what we need.
We need an ear to hear us. Not to talk back to us, but we need someone to hear us and we need comfort.
And it's so easy when things are going good to be like, hey Jesus. But we need to be looking at Jesus for everything at all times.
Especially the hard times. You see, it's when things get hard, and we're at this breaking point really, that we're at our most vulnerable.
And it's also the time that we're more likely to hear what he's telling us.
It's when we realize that we can't just rely solely on ourselves to get through life, but we need God there to pave the way and to help us.
So let's look at what happened here. The very first thing God did, he let him rest.
Elijah, he went, he vented, and then he went to sleep. So God let him rest.
And a little while later, he told him, hey, get up, eat.
God basically went over there and looked over him while Elijah's physical body essentially recharged.
And while that was happening, his spirit started to recharge.
So after he rested, he woke up, he ate, he let him rest a little bit more.
You know, kind of clear out some of that noise that was going on in his mind.
So a short term later, he comes by and he wakes him up again and says, hey, you need to eat some more because you're going to need your strength.
You know, he didn't call him weak. He just said, you know, have some more. You're going to need it.
You need your strength. Right. And I say this, you know, I'm putting it this way basically to point out that there's a mentality out there that says only weak people think the way Elijah has.
Only weak people try to hurt themselves. Only weak people try to kill themselves or do kill themselves.
You know, and these, like I said, I mentioned this earlier, people are speaking out of turn. They're speaking without a proper education.
They don't know what's going on. They don't know what's happening in their mind.
They don't understand the justifications that they have for it.
You know, anything like that, you know, the thought of what they're, you know, that their intention is right.
But the way they're going about it is wrong.
They aren't in the know of what's happening in this person's mind and they don't know how to get through to them.
So they speak from a perspective of the world and all the machismo that's in it. Right.
You know, and that machismo, all that stuff in the world, it's garbage.
It really is. You know, going back to our scripture, so I don't harp on this and go down rabbit trails, you know, we see the second time Elijah was spoken up and told to eat.
Jesus simply put him back on mission.
You know, he had a purpose and he needed to get after it.
You know, he's being reminded, hey, you have a purpose in life.
You matter. I need you to do this.
That, you know, that simple, you know, and we all have a purpose in life.
We all have a mission that we're called to, even if we don't know what it is sometimes.
And we're going to come back to this here very quickly.
But when we look at, you know, people with, you know, suicidal ideations or, you know, looking self harm, depression, that kind of stuff, especially with people that are coming back from the military, you know, or people that are coming out of, you know, law enforcement or
firefighters or EMS and all that kind of stuff, you know, it's because they had, you know, this mission, they had all this great responsibility, you know, and they were in all this chaos and they were able to act and do things.
And now they're coming back and all that's been taken away from them.
And so they no longer, you know, know what their mission is. They don't know what their purpose is. They don't know where they fit in anymore.
And in that confusion, they get caught up in the noise. And that's when the world starts to creep in.
Right. And we've talked about that before, you know, when people start looking at the storm, even though Jesus is calling out to them.
And as soon as they take their eye off of him, what happens? They fall. Right. They sink into that water.
So but continuing on here, you know, Elijah, at this point, you know, he's he's had time to rest. He's had time to reset.
He's been fed. And so he goes off and he goes out to Mount Horeb.
And in doing so, you know, this wasn't a quick journey. This took some time. So like Moses before him,
he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights while he was on his way. And we see Moses doing this in Deuteronomy nine nine and late.
And later on, Jesus did the same thing. Right. We saw this in Matthew chapter four verses one through two with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.
Right. So there is great significance in this fast, you know, that we're seeing in this act alone.
Also, when we look at this, the destination that he's going to is important to notice Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.
This is the same place where God met with Moses and gave him the, you know, his commandments, his laws. Right.
That remember the Ten Commandments in Luke chapter nine verses twenty eight through thirty six. This is also the same place in which Moses, Jesus and Elijah would come together as well.
You know, I encourage you all to go and read that section. So Luke nine verses twenty eight through thirty six.
You can see what I'm talking about and understand the context. You know, it's pretty quick read, pretty interesting.
So go and take a look at that. But picking back up our reading in first Kings 19 verses nine through eighteen, the word says there he went to a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him. What are you doing here, Elijah?
He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.
The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left. And now they're trying to kill me, too.
The Lord said, Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord.
But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake.
But the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire.
But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?
He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.
The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left. And now they're trying to kill me, too.
The Lord said to him, Go back the way you came and go to the desert of Damascus.
When you get there, anoint Hazael, king over Aram.
Also anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, king over Israel.
And anoint Elisha, son of Shefet, from Abel, Mahola, to succeed you as prophet.
Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael.
And Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel.
All those whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.
So out of all those people, only seven thousand were left in Israel who hadn't given in to the idols of Baal or given over to loyalty,
which is what it's talking about when it says mouths have not kissed him, right?
Kind of like kissing the ring.
Now, circling back, Elijah, he forgot that there were others who were loyal to God.
And because of this, he had isolated himself.
This is one of those moments in life where we're all our own worst enemy.
We like to blame the devil and say, oh, the devil made me do it.
But really, it's just our own doing.
Even though he'd seen victory, not once but twice, he wasn't focused on that because he also saw the corruption in the government and the church or religion at that time.
And so he had that feeling of being alone on an island.
And I want to remind you, you're never alone.
You know, for one, God's always there.
And for two, there are others out there who are faithful and are working for the Lord as well.
So don't give in to the pity party.
Instead, pray and God will provide you with other believers to follow him with.
You know, you may not realize it.
You may not even always know who they are.
But if you're faithful and doing the things that you're supposed to, then the work of the church is going to be done.
And every once in a while, if you're paying attention, you'll get to see a piece of that.
So don't ever think that you're going it alone because you're not.
And when we look at verses 11 through 13 here, Elijah, he recognized the voice of the Lord speaking to him.
This is important because the Lord does speak to us.
However, we need to be still and listen in order to hear him.
So often people listen in big events.
They get caught up in all this stuff, right?
Thinking that's where they need to be in order to hear him.
And they miss the Lord as he passes by because they're so focused on the lights and the noise and the pomp and the circumstance.
You know, they give all this noise precedence.
So they miss out when the Lord whispers to them because the Lord tends to be very soft spoken.
Psalm 46, verse 10 says, be still and know that I am God.
Be still.
And this is the same example that we see in Habakkuk chapter two, verse one, which says, I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts.
And I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
We have to be still.
We have to be patient and we have to listen, not follow the crowd, not get caught up in noise and the pomp and circumstance.
You know, and this is part of what Jesus was talking about in Matthew seven, verses 13 through 14, when he said, enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life.
And only a few find it.
Why?
Because they're so caught up in all that stuff that they miss the Lord when he passes by.
They're so caught up in the concert that's out there that they can't hear the Lord.
And everyone gets caught up in it.
It happens.
Everyone, you know, they're so focused on the now and that need and want for instant gratification.
But we can't forget that we need to be patient because the things that matter most and the things that are the most valuable are the things that we wait for and the things that we work for.
We need to tune out the noise and humble ourselves because more often than not, we find God's voice whispering gently in the quiet recesses of our heart.
And frequently in a way that we least expect it.
And telling Elijah to go back the way he came, he was keeping him on mission.
He was putting him back on task.
And I mentioned this earlier, you know, when we're looking at suicide, we're looking at self-harm, we're looking at depression.
One of the biggest reasons, one of the top three reasons is people don't feel like they have a purpose.
They don't have a mission.
They don't know where they fit in anymore.
In other words, they don't know what they're supposed to be doing.
And maybe you're that person. Maybe you don't know.
And it's OK.
It is OK.
It's in these times.
This is the time to pray, to talk to Jesus and tell him what you're feeling.
And that you're lost and ask for guidance.
And then like Habakkuk, be still, be patient and just wait for the answer.
Sometimes the answer takes a little time to get to you.
But don't get so caught up on thinking that you know what the answer is, that that's the only place where you're looking.
Because the answer that you'll get very well may be different and coming from a place that you don't expect it to come from.
And not only that, in those times you might feel like you don't matter.
I'm here to tell you that you do. You matter.
You're heard. You are somebody. You are important. You are valued.
You are valuable to God. And God will answer you.
But again, you can't be so intent on getting the answer that you want and expect it to be.
That you try to manifest it for yourself.
You try to create signs out of nothing and then claim, oh, I got this sign and it has to be from God.
Because that's simply not the case.
You need to be patient. You need to listen.
And when that answer comes, even if you don't like what it is, you need to accept it.
Because it is what's going to do you the most good.
And while you're praying, if you start finding your eyes getting a little heavy, getting a little misty, right?
Your eyeballs start to sweat just a little bit.
That's okay. Let it go. Let it happen.
Let those tears come out and wash out that pain.
Let them flow.
I'll remind you, even the shortest verse in the Bible tells us, Jesus wept.
Jesus wept and it's okay to do so.
Not only that, but unburden yourself to fellow believers.
Part of our purpose as fellow Christians, as parts of the body, as being the bride of Christ, is to help each other with our burdens.
Whether it's to help carry them or to help unload them at the feet of the Lord.
God did not want Elijah to die and he does not want you to die either.
He will comfort you and he will provide for you and look out for you the same way he did for Elijah.
If you let him.
You have to let yourself go.
And you have to let him take over.
Be still and know that he's God.
He's in control and he will take care of you.
And if you do this, he will tell you what your purpose is and he will heal your pain.
He will give you that direction that you're looking for.
That purpose that you're so desperately trying to find.
Remember, you are a blessing and you are loved.
Now go and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all.
God bless.