I invite you to open up the first Kings chapter 19 as we continue in our second part of our series mixed emojis
learning to master our emotions and when we came up with the schedule of these
these emotional
topics as Pastor Miles had said last week we are
Utilizing a resource of another
Pastor Adrian Rogers and chapter 2 was the chapter that we're gonna cover tonight and
As we're thinking about it. I was like wow, it's kind of funny that it lines up on Valentine's Day weekend
But tonight we're gonna be talking about depression
So it has it's just coincidence. I think but we're gonna be in second Kings
Chapter 19 some of you may be very familiar with the picture that you're about to see but around 2008 a
Hungarian
Electrician was approached by a photographer
And on vacation of all things and he said hey, can I take a few pictures of you smiling and in various spots?
Acting as if you were a specific person like as an electrician or as a teacher
We need some stock footage and so the guy said yeah sure fine
I can make a few extra bucks on vacation and so he sat him down and told him hey
Just smile in different various positions and we'll take some pictures of you
And he thought nothing of it
But what was interesting about this in this picture in particular and many of the other pictures that he came up with is that you guys know him on the
backside
of
this story
But what was interesting is that when people began to look at his photographs or the photographs that were taken they began to see that the
photograph seemed to have captured a very a
Guy that's smiling but kind of seems to be hiding behind very melancholy
Sort of smile there seemed to be some discomfort in his eyes
But it took a few years, but in 2011 this picture became
World famous because it became known as the picture that was used for memes and so he was
The hidden picture in fact is called hide the pair hide the pain Harold the guy's name is not Harold. It's Arato
But he became famous as hide the pain Harold and many of you have probably seen different memes
You might even shared the memes of this guy and just hit this guy's it seems to be hiding
behind this fake smile and what's funny is that the irony of this is that
At first when he took these pictures, you know, they were just stock footage
And then when he began to circulate all over the internet and go viral
He was very
Perplexed and actually pretty sad because he thought it would hurt his reputation. He thought it would hurt
His ability to get jobs. He was a very prominent like Christian in in in Hungary
And he thought it would mess up his whole life
But actually and he ended up embracing the awkwardness and in fact he's been on
television and different TED talks giving
lectures
Just kind of explaining that this is not I wasn't hiding anything. This is just my face and this is
learning how to how to deal with how people and how things can happen in life
And now his face is legendary, but unfortunately sometimes when we think about
the way that we handle anxiety and we really be handled depression sometimes
We can be a lot like this hide the pain Harold meme and we've kind of live in a culture where we feel like sometimes
Instinctively when we deal with sadness when we deal with depression we tend to choose to hide it
We choose to head we choose to stuff it we choose to pretend like it's all fine
We try to learn how to fake it until we make it
But really the reality is that this is not exactly the very best way to handle how we deal with this emotion of
Melancholiness and depression now depression is characterized by emotions of helplessness or hopelessness
Which leads to a deep despondency?
oftentimes it's associated with the feelings or the
Feelings of nothing matters or it's never going to be okay or nothing nothing is ever going to get better and sometimes in our Christian culture
We try to well kind of pretend these emotions away. We don't want to admit that we deal with sometimes
Depression and in a dark state we feel like it doesn't really add up to
The people that we see in scripture sometimes we see the heroes of scripture and we think well
They would never act like that or they would never deal with this deep deep dark
Despondency, but that's not really true and what I love about the scriptures many times especially in the Old Testament and in the new is that we see
People in their real light that the scriptures don't a gloss over or hide
The realness of people in fact there are two people prominently in the Old Testament
They're mentioned many times together
meant one represents
The the law the other the prophets the two major things in fact both of them are seen in the New Testament
Present with Jesus at the transfiguration one was Moses and the other was Elijah
Now these two men who became very prominent both dealt
Explicitly and their responses are captured in scripture of dealing with anxiety
despondency and depression
Listen to this numbers chapter 11. This is Moses
Moses says to God I am not able to bear all these people alone because it's too heavy for me
If thou deal thus with me kill me
I pray out of the hand if I have found favor in thy sight and let me not see my
wretchedness
Moses came to a point of breaking point in his ministry where he has bearing all of the weight of the ministry of the people of God
By himself and he gets to this point of depression. He says God it's never gonna get better
Can you just kill me and get it over with at this point?
His father-in-law says hey you need to appoint elders and you need to share the ministry
You need to get some rest and you need to move forward and that's exactly what he does
Elijah this in the same way
Is like us James chapter 5 says this expressively it says Elias is another
Spelling for Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly
That it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months
James says Elijah was just like us
He was a man who dealt with emotions and specifically we're gonna look into his life today in first Kings chapter 19
at a time of his lowest a time where he dealt with
Depression so first Kings chapter 19 want to bring you up to speed before we jump into the first couple verses here
But Elijah if you're not familiar with his story was a man called by God and
Transformed of God to be a prophet in fact some people would say that he was the prophet of prophets
He challenged idolatry and the polytheism of his day and in fact in fact
It's first Kings chapter 17 and 18 the chapter is leading up to 19
He had some of the highest highs of his ministry
In fact most of you probably know if you don't know much about Elijah
You know about Elijah on Mount Carmel where he calls down fire from heaven and it consumes the offering
It consumes all the water that they place and he has an incredible
Victory he prays and after three and a half years of drought
It rains
It should have been a high time for Elijah in his ministry
He saw God answer by fire and in first Kings that chapter 19. We should see a man who's on fire
for God
But what we find is quite the opposite in first Kings chapter 19. We see a man
Overwhelmed with depression. Let's look at verse first Kings chapter 19 beginning of verse 1
It says an ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and wherewithal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword
And that's exactly what had happened in first Kings chapter 18
Answered from and God answered with fire. He had a incredible victory and he slew the prophets of the bale
Verse 2 then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying so that the gods do to me and more so also
If I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time
now ahab who was married to Jezebel was the king of Israel at this point and he had basically
Given over his reign of his country and his of his of his life to his wife a wicked woman by the name of Jezebel and
Jezebel
Threatened Elijah and she says I'm going to kill you. Let's see how he responds in verse 3 verse 3 Elijah
It was was this is how he responds and when he saw that this is Elijah
He arose and went for his life and came to bear sheba which belonged to Judah and left his servant there
Now the man who we thought would be on fire for God a man who had be on that has just experienced
one of the most incredible victories in his ministry
When he is threatened by a woman who says I'm going to kill you turns tail and runs
How strange Elijah?
Look on in verse 4 it says but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a
Juniper tree will stop there for a second
Elijah at a time where he should have been on a high for God
Ends up in a very low point in his ministry
He throws a pity party for himself and he requests the same as Moses
He requests that he would die read on in verse 4 it says he came and sat down under a juniper tree
And he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now
Oh Lord take away my life for I am not better than my
Fathers let's go ahead and go to the Lord and prayer real quick before we continue on God
I pray that you would help us Lord to understand the meaning of this passage tonight
Lord that there may be one in here tonight who is going through a deep despondency a deep depression in their life
Or Lord others who are about to enter into this season
Father I pray that you would help illuminate our hearts Lord to understand both what not to do and what to do for your
Scripture give us gives us both it is profitable for docks and for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness
Father I pray that the words of your word and father your spirit would
Work upon our hearts tonight to help us to know both how to deal with depression Lord
To move through it and to honor you with our lives and our emotions. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen
If you're taking notes tonight, I want to share with you very quickly four easy ways to get depressed
All right, you're probably gonna be like what wait a minute. I don't need to know how to get depressed
Well watch and stay with me. All right, cuz we're gonna move very quickly tonight four easy ways to get depressed number one from
Elijah's life wear yourself out
Wear yourself out look back at chapter 19 verse 3
It says and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to bear sheba which belongeth to Judah
Now Elijah had been running like the Energizer bunny you guys remember those commercials
He keeps going and going and going that was Elijah in
1617 and 18 those chapters in Kings
Miracles fasting spiritual warfare physical battle
He had run and run and run and now he is running physically for his life from Jezreel
Which is where he was down to the most southern tip of bear sheba there
He drops off his servant and then he continues on another full day into the wilderness
If you're tracking that that's over a hundred miles of running for Elijah
Elijah leaves his servants there and he continues on until the wilderness and to be honest a lot
Like us a man of the same kind of like passions
He was running ragged and a lot of times we can be like that especially in our culture. We can run ourselves
Ragged we have no margin of time
We're involved with all kinds of things from kids games to try to stay up to the latest cooking trends from house improvements
To late-night works to staying and trying to stay up with friends finding time somehow for entertainment or for our favorite hobbies
And we go and we go and we go and we go and we go and we wear ourselves out
Second easy way to get depressed is to shut people out
We see this in the end of chapter 19 verse 3 verse 3
It says and he came to bear sheba which belonged to Judah and he left his servant there now Elijah
Abandons his second hand man his right hand man this servant had been with him through thick and through thin
But now he has shut out his very closest friend. He goes through what I would call the martyr complex
Whoa is me nothing's ever going to get better. No one can help me and
Oftentimes like us when we're hurt we put up walls and we shut people out. We shut out our friends
We shut out those who speak into our lives. We shut out our spouses. We shut out our kids. We shut out
Everyone who can speak into our life
We think things like no one could understand
No one else really really truly cares
We shut people out
Number three focus on the negative
Focus on the negative look at verse four again verse four in chapter 19 says he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness
Came and sat down under a juniper tree. He requested himself that he might die
He said is enough now. Oh lord take away my life for I am not better than my fathers
Elijah here says I'm not better than the people around me. This wasn't an admission of repentance
This wasn't one of him trying to get right with God. This was remorse over the course of his life
It was self pity. He was exaggerating the fact that all the people around me don't serve the lord
My parents I'll grow up in this bad family
I'm no better than anybody else. It's all
gone
the wrong way
A lot like us
if we focus on the negative if we focus on
oftentimes
The lies of satan
We can get to a place where we believe well, it's never going to get better. We have this defeated mindset
Number four if we're taking notes
Another easy way to get depressed is to forget God
It's exactly where Elijah was
Versus chapter 17 chapters 18. There was a spiritual high point
There is literally a point in time where he's sitting by the rook the the brook of charath
And the birds are coming and feeding him steak dinners. They're bringing him flesh
And bringing him things to eat. He's sitting by a brook
In the middle of a drought and God supernaturally allows this brook to flow and give him the water that he needs
In chapter 17, he goes on to outside of the borders of Israel
And he speaks to a widow and he does a miracle in her life
But then that widow's son dies and for the first time in scripture the first time ever recorded in scripture
Elijah but through the through the power of God raises someone from the dead
That hadn't happened in the bible for us. We think oh, yeah raising from the dead
That's just like another thing that happens in the bible that hadn't happened
Until this point in Jewish history
Something incredible
raising from the dead
And then of course in chapter 18 calls down fire from heaven
Chapter 19
Doesn't seem like the same man of chapters 17 and chapter 18. Why?
Well because he had forgotten the god that he served
A woman had said i'm gonna kill you Elijah
And he ran for his life
forgetting that he served the lord who answers by fire
Oftentimes that's like us god shows up in our life over and over and over again
We come to god in prayer. We need god to show up. He shows up. He blesses our lives
He brings us through the hardness. He brings us through the pain. He brings us through the turmoil
And then the next thing happens and where are we?
We've forgotten the god
We've forgotten that god has answered before that god has brought us through the pain brought us through the turmoil
But we're in the pit again
When faced with difficulty we forget his faithfulness
That's where many of us are
But we don't have to stay there
So what I want to share with you from the rest of our time today
Is the reality that if we're going to deal with this emotion of depression which we all deal with from time to time
How can we do it? How can we learn to manage the feelings of depression?
Well, I want us to apply four remedies exemplified in our life
Of Elijah from 1 Kings chapter 19. All right, let's jump into it
The first one if you're taking notes the first remedy to get out of this pit of depression is a rested capacity
It's a rested capacity look on again at verse 5 and following
It says this and he lay and slept under the juniper tree
And behold then an angel touched him and said unto him arise and eat
And he looked and behold there was a cake baked in the pit of the first king
A cake baked in on the coals and a cruise of water at his head
And he did eat and drink and laid him down again
And the angel 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 arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights unto horrib
The mount of god
Now I can't prove this
But I want to say that
God might have been a Baptist
Because in the midst of this problem, what's he do pot luck?
All right, Elijah. I'm gonna send an angel. Here's some food for you. We got some cakes on the coals
Here's some water get up. Let's have a pot luck Elijah
You understand what I'm saying
In the midst of his tiredness physical
He needed nourishment. He needed rest and god the creator of us understood that he needed to rest and to recuperate
Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is rest
It's a commandment of god. Is it not the Sabbath day was given for man to what?
to rest
And I know that sometimes this word rest seems like the opposite of what our culture asks of us
Go go go do do even when we're laying in the bed. What are we doing?
We're we're doing something with this right? We're never truly resting anymore
But we need to
If not we'll become overcome
Elijah had been overtaxed
physically mentally emotionally
And he had worn himself out and needed to rest again
Recently many studies have been done linking and connecting between physical exhaustion and depression
a study that came out just a few years ago by a New York University professor tracked over 7 000 Americans
across three decades of time from ages 22 to age 50
Revealing that only one quarter of workers maintain traditional daytime hours while 75
percent worked variable schedules including night shifts and rotating shifts and those with volatile schedules reported
significantly less sleep and higher rates of depression and poor health
quality by the age of 50
People are wearing themselves out in our culture
By doing nothing, but just keeping pace with our culture
In this passage God's remedy for Elijah wasn't a sermon
God's remedy for Elijah wasn't a rebuke
It wasn't shame
It wasn't just get over it Elijah
God's remedy
was I'm going to meet your need
As a created being
Not once
But twice we see in this passage God sends an angel to instruct
Elijah to eat drink and rest
This is a principle of stewardship just as much as a principle of practicality
The lady evangelist Dr. Vance Havener once commented very poignantly
We had better come apart or we will come apart
You see our physical restoration is important because physical restoration enables spiritual
readiness if you have worn yourself out
You will not move forward very triumphantly
spiritually
So the first remedy is a rested capacity
The second remedy we see from verses 9 through 10 is a replaced focus
A replaced focus look on it verse 9 and 10
And he came there unto the cave and lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came unto him and said unto him
What do us thou here Elijah?
And he said I've been very jealous for the Lord a god of host for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant
Throne down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and I evened I only am left
And they seek my life to take it away
Here God has a one-on-one counseling session with Elijah
Now God knew where Elijah was he says hey Elijah. What are you doing here?
It wasn't a question of he didn't know
He wanted Elijah to reveal
By speaking the lie that he had believed that had refocused him off and away
From the god that he served
He wanted Elijah to verbalize the lie
So that he could reveal it and replace it with his truth
Here God has a one-on-one counseling session
And he says Elijah. Why are you here? And Elijah's response is thusly
I've been very jealous for you Lord now was that true?
Yeah, that was true. He had been very jealous for the Lord zealous would be another way of saying that
He had been very zealous for the Lord
He said the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant. Was that true?
Yes, it was the people of God had no longer been serving God because of ahab and jesabel and their leadership
They had served Baal
He says they've thrown down your altars. Was that true? Yes, it was
They had thrown down the altars of God and had built in its place altars for Baal
They had slain thy prophets with a sword that was true as well
In fact, Jesus would say that
He would say they have slain the prophets
He says I even I am left
Now was that true?
Was that true?
You know the story
No, it wasn't true
Everything else he said was true
But that one piece of deception that one lie
Was enough to refocus himself off of the God that he served
You know, it's amazing I find how a little lie can poison us
Just one little lie
We say things like I'm the only one who cares
I've been doing all the work by myself
They never they always
I'm the only one that can get it done
The conversation is repeated in verse 14. He says it again
And then God responds to Elijah in verse 18
We'll come back to the time in between look down at verse 18
God responds by replacing the lie that Elijah believes with truth
To help him refocus
Verse 18 says yet I have this is God responding to Elijah yet I have left me how many?
7,000 in Israel
All the knees which have not bowed unto Baal
And every mouth which hath not kissed him
Elijah God says
You're not the only one
There are 7,000 other Jewish men and women like you who have stood their ground at great peril
Who have continued to serve me
God shifts Elijah from the self pity to divine perspective
He moves from the I'm all alone God to seeing God's bigger plan in place
What lies are you focused on tonight?
Sometimes it's been said that the most dangerous deception is self deception
Is what you're believing about your situation about where you are
About what you are going through
Does it line up with what scripture says?
What you believe about yourself?
What you believe about your spouse?
What you believe about your future?
About your children?
About your career?
About your school your friend group?
Is it based in scripture?
Or is what you're believing a lie?
Has it distracted you from what you ought to be focusing on?
When I was in middle school and then going into high school. I was into karate
I went to karate weekly grandparents took me and during that time
I was really obsessed with a certain movie the karate kid anybody ever seen the karate kid
There's a point in time in the movie of course the climax of the movie at the all valley tournament
The final point is about to be one. It's Daniel's son and he's been in the army for a long time
It's Daniel's son and he's been injured
And he attempts to win with the iconic crane kick
Now those of you who have been in karate know that the crane kick is not an actual real karate move
It was actually created by the screenwriter of that movie for this scene specifically
But what it was supposed to do is it's supposed to give the appearance of being
unbalanced
It was an evolved one person standing on their foot
as a stationary target
their arms are spread wide
They're leaving their head and their center mask where most of the points would be collected
undefended or seemingly
And at the right amount of time when the defender would be attacked they were going to counter attack with a strike
And that's exactly what happens
They say go
The attacker comes in and Daniel's son
Right wins
And that's the end of the movie, right
You know in the spiritual battle that we face
Are we the defenders or are we the attackers?
Well, I want to say to you that all authorities been given
to Jesus
and heaven and earth and then he passes it along to us and he tells us to go and make disciples
That doesn't sound like defenders to me. That sounds like people who need to be on the charge
Our spiritual enemy will do everything that he can
Everything that he can to lead us into deception
It's his native tongue the Bible says lies and deception
And if you're believing a lie
Most likely you've been refocused off of the mission
And it's time to identify that lie
And replace your focus back on the God who's given you the mission to go and make disciples
Thirdly, if you're taking notes
A refreshed presence
A third remedy that we find here in scripture is a refreshed presence
An understanding that God is with Elijah
Now go back a few verses. I told you we'd go back to the scene in between
Chapter 19 verse 11 let's pick up there. It says 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 rock meant at mountains and break in 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 of fire
But the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire
A still small voice
And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went to the mountain
Mantle and went out and stood in the entering of the cave and behold there came a voice unto him that said
What do us now hear?
Elijah
In the middle of Elijah's depression
In the dark of the cave God demonstrates and communicates one theme I believe and the theme is his presence
Elijah
Who is used to ministering to a god who answers by fire and answers by not allowing the rain to happen for three
Years
Who is used to a god who has done the impossible the magnificent the miraculous
At his lowest god speaks his softest and he says
I am with you
He sends a strong wind some people think that that may have been even a tornado
But it says he's not in the wind. He sends an earthquake
But scripture says he wasn't in the earthquake a fire, but he wasn't in the fire
But following those catastrophes it says that god appears in a gentle
Wistoper I still small voice
An intimate personal encounter with Elijah
You know in my experience following christ
When I've needed it the most
Maybe it's been just a word
Maybe it's just been one verse of scripture
But when I've needed it the most god has always shown up and is still small voice to encourage me
I believe that god still speaks to us today
He speaks to us through his word. He speaks to us through his spirit
And what his spirit says to us will line up with what his word says and it will always be
What you need
In the middle of your melancholy in the middle of your anxiety in the middle of your depression
You can be refreshed
Understanding that he is with you
His presence has not left. He is with you
Jesus says I am with you even into the end of the world
He will never leave us. He will never forsake us
In the summer of 2006
I had just finished high school and I was preparing to go off to bible college
I stayed an extra year to save up money because
Those of you who may know my story
My parents basically said if you go off to bible college
You're on your own
You're gonna have to pay for everything. We're basically just gonna cut you off right here
And for that year, I just wanted to say
And for that year, I decided, you know, I knew that the Lord's calling was on my life
I knew that I needed to go and I needed to serve him and I was going to go to bible college with or without my parents' help
And so I spent that year cashing out savings bonds and working extra odd jobs
I literally had a garage sale where I sold everything in my room except for what I needed to take to college my freshman year
By the end of that year, I had saved up exactly what I needed with some scholarship money
To pay for my first year of bible college
But in between that time
Every single week I had an experience that to be honest, it's still heartbreaking to think about to this day
Every week on a wednesday when I would go to church
I would go to youth group and of course I was driving myself to youth group
My parents would sit me down and they'd try to talk me out of going to bible college
And oftentimes it would always kind of come down to this
this this
Dispusting, depressing, dejected
Argument and I was constantly defending what I believe was the Lord's calling in my life
And I'll be honest that after a year of dealing with this I felt alone
I felt depressed
But that summer a song came out
It was released and I remember
In a way it was God's still small voice reminding me that he was with me
I
Remember driving to church with tears flowing down my face
And I was trying as much as I can to choke out the words
I'll praise you in the storm
I will lift my hands
For you are who you are no matter where I am
And every tear I've cried you hold in your hands
You've never left my side
Though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm
And God refreshed me with his presence
Finally if you're taking notes we're almost done
A renewed purpose
For Elijah it was time to get back to work
To do what prophets are to do
And God would renew his purpose once again
Look at verse 15
It says the Lord said unto him go
Return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus
And when thou comest anoint Hazazel to be king over Syria and Jehu the son of Nimshi
Shout thou anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Mola
Shout thou anoint to be prophet in thy room or in thy stead
And it shall come to pass that him that escaped the sword of Hazazel
Shout Jehu slay and him that escaped the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay
Following a time of gaining the capacity that he needed through rest
Replacing his focus back on truth and refreshing himself and God's still small voice
The presence of God God says to Elijah get up
It's time to get back to do what prophets do
Depression often leads us to a loss of drive and an overwhelming apathy
But God says enough is enough
It's time to get up out of your sorrow Elijah and get back to doing what you've been called to do
Elijah had been brought back to a place of strength and he was able to get up and move forward
These three men Hazazel, Jehu, and Elisha would be the final death below
In the land of Israel for the worship of Baal
Their times they would remove Baal from the people of God
These three would band together to finish the work of driving out the idolatry that was dominating Elisha's time
And soon God would bring Elisha along to Elijah's side
They would start doing what prophets do together
Elisha, of course he tells Elijah, I want to do it
I want to double portion the spirit that you have Elijah and Elijah says well if you're with me when I go you can have it
You know to us in our depressed state, I think oftentimes God would say to us
You're ready
It's time to get back to doing what I've called you to do as my child
God will bring back life to you in a place of deep despondency
When you've rested when you've refocused on the truth
When you remember God's presence, he will give you a new purpose
Restore back to you that fervor to go and make disciples
When you do what God has gifted you to do he will bring life back to you
You can't just keep sitting in your pit of depression and expect God to shove you
He's not going to shove you
But he will give you what you need to stand back up again and say
God all I have is yours use me as you see fit
And give me the strength to do it and he will
Now I want you to go back for a second because I think this is this is incredible
I want you to go back for a second to the beginning of this chapter
chapter 19
What started Elijah's spiral into depression
Well, he had done the four things to get depressed
But what was the capstone what forced him what pushed him over the edge?
What was that needle that that that that that that broke
For him
Well look at verses two and three again
It says, Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying so let the gods do to me and more so also
If I make not thyself as a life of one of them by tomorrow about this time
Who was the them?
It was the prophets that he had slain
She says, I'm going to kill you by this time tomorrow you're gonna die
What did Elijah fear the most?
What started this spiral of depression?
Death
The threat of death
His fear
Was that it would happen
And that became the key that unlocked the engine
That started the engine that spiraled him into depression
The fear of death
Now what do we know about Elijah?
Stay with me
What do we know about Elijah?
God at the end of Elijah's life
Sends a chariot of fire
Picks him up
And he goes to glory
The greatest fear of all for Elijah
Death
Was something he never experienced
Now let that sink in
Because you may be in a point in time in your life right now
In the state of depression
Over something that hasn't even happened
For many of us
Much of what we fear
Much of what becomes that key
That unlocks that engine
That leads us into the spiral of depression
Is something we never even experience
And if we allow fear to overtake us
We can easily slide down that slippery slope into depression
Especially if we've worn ourselves out
If we've forgotten about God
What are some things that we can take away?
Because our time is through
What are some ways...
What are some things we can walk away with?
What are some practical things we can walk away with?
Well, first of all, we can watch out
For the things that can lead to depression
We can try to be wise
In how we steward our lives, our time, and our physical bodies
But most of all, we can do this
We can prioritize weekly rest
So that we'll have the capacity to serve Jesus
Rest is not a dirty word
It's okay to rest
Get the rest that you need
Focus on truth
Why?
So that we are...
So you are able to not be led astray
By the lies
By the deception
Thirdly, remember God's presence
He's always with you
And you're not alone
And restore your focus
Focus primarily on Jesus
And the mission he's given you
And you will be able to lead a life
And manage depression when it comes
By remembering those four remedies
Would you pray with me?