WEBVTT 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:07.560 I want you to know that today we're going to talk about a sensitive topic and so, if you've got some happy thoughts, think about those right 00:00:07.560 --> 00:00:10.320 now because we're going to deal with the idea of depression this morning. 00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:14.800 So, for me I'll be reflecting on the Super Bowl throughout the duration of this series. 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:20.520 I want you to know, if you've ever wondered why the Patriots keep winning so many Super Bowls, I'll tell you the secret. 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:22.680 Everyone thinks it's Belichick and Brady, but it's not. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:24.980 It's every time I talk about he Patriots winning, they always win. 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:28.200 And so it's the magic of the pulpit that the Lord uses here. 00:00:28.220 --> 00:00:31.380 So, all that to say, go Jazz, right? 00:00:31.700 --> 00:00:35.600 Can I get some support at least on the local team, right? 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:36.800 Go, Jazz. 00:00:37.360 --> 00:00:42.960 But we are going to be talking about the idea of depression and I know this is a difficult topic. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:50.060 And we typically as a church, if we pick a season to discuss the subject, I would say the most favorable 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:57.140 season would be this time of year because we all are hunkered in, you've battled sickness, you can't get outside as much. 00:00:57.220 --> 00:01:02.060 I think seasonal depression is something people tend to deal with. 00:01:02.060 --> 00:01:09.300 And so following that thought, this topic related to 1 Kings 19 I think fits wonderfully to 00:01:09.300 --> 00:01:10.490 our season. 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:18.240 And this section is such a good portion of scripture I think that God can use to speak into our lives because if you've followed along 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:25.380 with us on the life of Elijah, you can get to the place where you start to picture him as a spiritual giant and when you 00:01:25.380 --> 00:01:32.660 try to compare yourself to someone like Elijah, you fail in that, like you think, here's Elijah, 00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:35.740 God called him, he jumped on the train, he was on board, he pursued after God. 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:39.040 But when God did that for me, I didn't get on the train. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.260 I failed to do that years ago. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:44.960 And in fact, I did get on the train a little late in life but every once in a while I just keep jumping off that train. 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:46.050 So I'm not like Elijah. 00:01:46.440 --> 00:01:50.340 He seems to have it all together and this isn't true for my life. 00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:58.500 I want you to know, 1 Kings 19, if that's your thought of Elijah, it is such a beautiful chapter 00:01:58.500 --> 00:02:05.580 now to consider how God continues to work in his life because this chapter identifies the frailty of really 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:06.760 humanity. 00:02:07.580 --> 00:02:09.600 And especially in the life of Elijah. 00:02:09.660 --> 00:02:14.020 He gets discouraged, he struggles and he has depression. 00:02:15.160 --> 00:02:22.160 So when you look at this in the beginning of this chapter, chapter 19, the first few verses, it says this, "Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done." 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:29.440 You remember last week we talked about Mount Carmel and Elijah tells all the prophets to meet him at Mount Carmel, the false gods, 850 00:02:29.440 --> 00:02:30.100 of them. 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:37.260 They go up Mount Carmel, Elijah calls down thunder and demonstrates his God is the true God and the false prophets couldn't demonstrate the same 00:02:37.260 --> 00:02:38.370 thing about their god. 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:40.380 And right after that, the prophets are slaughtered. 00:02:41.640 --> 00:02:42.800 The false prophets are slaughtered. 00:02:44.600 --> 00:02:47.180 And Ahab is there during that event, but Jezebel isn't. 00:02:47.200 --> 00:02:54.200 So Ahab goes and tells this to Jezebel, all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword, which that's 00:02:54.200 --> 00:02:56.440 another theological topic we will deal with, okay? 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:58.820 But he kills them all with the sword. 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:06.220 "Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, 'So may the gods do to me and even more if I do not make 00:03:06.220 --> 00:03:11.880 your life as a life of one of them tomorrow about this time.' And Elijah was afraid. 00:03:13.260 --> 00:03:18.940 And he arose and he ran for his life and came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:23.560 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness." Let me stop right there for just a minute. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:32.380 Elijah, when you think about his life to this point, we've seen him as a tremendous God-fearing, powerful 00:03:32.380 --> 00:03:35.280 individual in his faith before the Lord. 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:43.780 And Ahab comes before Jezebel and it's showing us that Jezebel really carries the authority for Israel and Jezebel takes a stand, threatens to kill Elijah, 00:03:44.100 --> 00:03:44.820 and Elijah runs. 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:50.420 Now, we know from studying this together that Elijah, where he is in this time period is he is in the northern tribes of Israel. 00:03:50.420 --> 00:03:54.360 Remember Israel's had a civil war, there's ten tribes to the north, two tribes went to the south. 00:03:54.620 --> 00:03:57.260 And Elijah's with the ten tribes, ministering to them. 00:03:57.260 --> 00:03:59.120 The northern tribes never had a godly king. 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:07.100 And Elijah is used by the Lord to go to speak truth into their lives and when Elijah does this, Jezebel goes 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:08.300 for Elijah's life. 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:11.160 And Elijah freaks out and he runs. 00:04:11.160 --> 00:04:18.459 After showing all of this faith, he goes before Ahab at one point and he says, "Look, there's going to be a drought for three years, my name's Elijah and the Lord is my God." 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:22.260 And then there's this famine, Elijah in the middle of the famine, he's faithful to the Lord. 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:28.940 When he goes to the Kerith Ravine, in Zarephath with the widow, and then he goes on Mount Carmel before all of these false prophets. 00:04:29.640 --> 00:04:31.060 Elijah stays true to his faith. 00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:33.940 And now, all of a sudden, he walks in fear. 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:40.820 I mean, at one point he even told the widow in chapter 17, "Don't be afraid." Now he is afraid. 00:04:42.780 --> 00:04:47.280 So much so that he leaves the northern part of Israel and he travels into Judah. 00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:51.400 And it tells us he goes to Beersheba and Beersheba is the southernmost town of Judah. 00:04:51.400 --> 00:04:53.830 I mean, he literally went as far as he could go. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:05:00.820 And after going that far, he leaves his servant who is going with him, and he goes 15 miles further into the wilderness by himself. 00:05:00.840 --> 00:05:07.040 He is so afraid that Jezebel's spies are going to find him that he just isolates himself from everyone and he runs. 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:16.940 And then in verse four, "He himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a Juniper tree and 00:05:16.940 --> 00:05:18.760 he requested for himself that he might die. 00:05:20.820 --> 00:05:24.820 And said, 'It is enough now, O Lord, take my life. 00:05:25.780 --> 00:05:35.340 For I am no better than my fathers.'" Elijah's words are suicidal. 00:05:35.780 --> 00:05:36.380 A tough place. 00:05:39.200 --> 00:05:46.260 I think about in my own family's life, the impact those words being lived 00:05:46.260 --> 00:05:47.420 out has had on us. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:56.680 I asked my wife if I could just share just a brief story, but just a little portion of it. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:04.060 It's her story to tell, but two months after we were married, we were working a 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.160 lot of hours in order to move back to Utah to start this church. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:15.980 And my wife was working late one evening and I went to this class that my church was offering on marriage, how 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:16.630 to have the great marriage. 00:06:16.820 --> 00:06:18.580 And so, two months into this, I'm a perfect husband. 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:20.580 I haven't messed up yet, right? 00:06:20.580 --> 00:06:21.870 So I got to keep the streak alive. 00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:29.520 So I remember attending this marriage conference and we're in this room and this room was set up in such a way, it was full, but the only way into this room was in the middle of 00:06:29.540 --> 00:06:29.900 the room. 00:06:29.960 --> 00:06:34.840 And I knew she was working, but I didn't care, I was going to attend it anyway because I wanted to be the kind of husband that God called me to be for her. 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:38.880 And we're all sitting in this room and I remember I'm on the opposite side of this door. 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:40.900 And all of a sudden in walks my wife. 00:06:41.820 --> 00:06:42.720 And she's supposed to be at work. 00:06:44.420 --> 00:06:51.370 But it was one of those moments where her face had such brokenness on it, the whole room just stops. 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:54.980 And everybody's attention is on her. 00:06:56.060 --> 00:07:03.930 And all she says is, "My mom is gone." All of a sudden your world, right? 00:07:04.280 --> 00:07:04.980 So small. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:13.770 Two months into marriage, I remember going up to the home, going through everything. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.600 Trying to figure out how to love on my wife. 00:07:18.760 --> 00:07:24.580 And the first funeral being a pastor, a new pastor, the first funeral I ever have to lead is for my mother-in-law. 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:29.420 Depression's a serious thing. 00:07:32.440 --> 00:07:40.420 And sometimes the consequences that come along with it, people can sometimes make longterm decisions 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:42.680 towards temporary problems. 00:07:45.440 --> 00:07:52.680 I think about the extreme that depression will bring as regards to suicide, people often ask questions of suicide. 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:58.820 And one of the most prominent ones I think I hear is, if someone commits suicide, do they go to hell? 00:08:01.380 --> 00:08:08.620 And I want you to know that suicide has nothing to do with whether or not someone goes to 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:09.000 heaven or hell. 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:17.920 Suicide is a reflection of something deep happening in the life of an individual and it also acknowledges the need to 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.820 gather around, circle the wagons around a family that's going through difficulty. 00:08:23.320 --> 00:08:31.160 But if you believe that suicide sends someone to hell, I want you to know that demonstrates 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:32.980 that you don't understand the gospel. 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:41.350 The gospel for us, our salvation isn't based on what we do or don't do. 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.710 It's based on what Jesus has done for us. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:51.650 When Jesus hung on the cross, he died for your sins before you would even commit them. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:52.640 Right? 00:08:53.140 --> 00:08:57.020 And he calls you by faith to trust in him for that sacrifice. 00:08:59.020 --> 00:09:04.420 And so that's why, as a believer today, if I have trusted in Jesus, I don't have to keep asking Jesus for my salvation. 00:09:05.020 --> 00:09:08.300 When I come to Jesus for my salvation, he covers all of my life. 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:11.270 The good things and the stupid things. 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:13.960 His cross is sufficient. 00:09:13.980 --> 00:09:21.080 In fact, just last night in spending time with the Lord, I was doing some devotions out of Revelation and 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:26.920 one of the verses the Lord used in my life just to reflect on was Revelation 1:5. 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:32.360 I didn't even think about sharing until this morning, but in Revelation 1, I want you to hear how Jesus describes this. 00:09:32.540 --> 00:09:38.860 He says, or John's writing this about Jesus, "And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. 00:09:39.680 --> 00:09:46.740 To him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood." It's interesting when he says he loves 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.500 us and released us from our sins because it's in two tenses here. 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:52.760 When it says he loves us, it's in the present tense. 00:09:54.160 --> 00:09:56.470 When it says he's released us from our sins, it's in the past tense. 00:09:58.560 --> 00:10:01.840 When Jesus covered your sins, if you trust in Jesus, it is sufficient. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:03.300 Paid in full. 00:10:04.880 --> 00:10:09.270 And because Jesus covers your sins actively, he loves you where you are. 00:10:11.260 --> 00:10:12.100 Jesus knows you're not perfect. 00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:20.920 What suicide demonstrates, what depression, I think, in general demonstrates is it's a place to be a friend. 00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:25.780 To make your presence known, to love and to listen. 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:33.960 I find oftentimes when people go through hardships, we as people, we want to have the magic words to take away the pain and oftentimes we'll just say things to try 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:34.520 to make it better. 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:39.500 Or we'll try to be the people that bring the silver lining, "Oh, that's bad. 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:43.140 Well, at least...," and we sort of walk away from their paid because of that. 00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:49.340 "You know, that's hard to hear, but at least..." And it's like you're abandoning where they are to just get them to focus on something else. 00:10:49.400 --> 00:10:50.680 But they want you to meet them where they are. 00:10:52.160 --> 00:10:57.340 And I find sometimes in those moments, it's far better not to say anything and just listen. 00:10:59.160 --> 00:11:00.920 Love them. 00:11:01.020 --> 00:11:01.580 Show that you care. 00:11:01.900 --> 00:11:02.840 Your presence matters. 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:05.450 People know that words can't fix things. 00:11:07.660 --> 00:11:12.490 But your presence shows that you are concerned for them and you care about them. 00:11:14.040 --> 00:11:21.560 In regards to depression, it's interesting when you just read studies on depression that American Medical Association says 12% 00:11:21.560 --> 00:11:26.800 of men, 26% of women will experience major depression during their lifetime. 00:11:28.300 --> 00:11:35.960 In fact, I was reading a study that said pastors actually tend to rank on the manic depressive scale more than most people because they come 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:40.520 on a Sunday morning, you share this message with really high highs that follow really low lows. 00:11:40.520 --> 00:11:45.450 And you just walk life with people, it goes like this, you usually are there for the high moments or the low moments. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:46.260 Right? 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.380 And so it tends to take you on the emotional gamut. 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:56.920 In this study that I was reading, Matthew Stamford, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University, said one 00:11:56.920 --> 00:11:59.180 out of every four pastors is depressed. 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:05.480 Now I'm not giving you that stat to secretly tell you that I've got this battle going on, I feel fine right now in my life. 00:12:05.920 --> 00:12:11.620 But it's an interesting statistic to just recognize in life that it's something that people deal with. 00:12:13.520 --> 00:12:15.200 And learning how to deal with it becomes important. 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:24.160 I want to tell you this morning, we're going to talk about this topic and I realize in our lives we encounter depression in 00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:25.300 different ways for different reasons. 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:29.190 So I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm going to give you everything as it relates to your life and it's going to fit you perfectly. 00:12:29.780 --> 00:12:35.810 It matters where you're coming from, but what we're going to do is we're going to look at the life of Elijah as he struggled with it from these moments. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:42.630 Use Elijah's story to speak truth in our own lives as we recognize as people we battle with things as well. 00:12:43.410 --> 00:12:44.880 So what do we learn from Elijah? 00:12:47.180 --> 00:12:51.080 It tells us in verse three that Elijah ran because he was afraid. 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:53.920 Verse four, he goes into a day's journey by himself. 00:12:54.680 --> 00:12:55.700 Requests that he would die. 00:12:56.040 --> 00:13:00.430 And then verse five, he lay down and slept under a Juniper tree. 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:08.540 If you think about Elijah's story, Elijah's depression really came after large life events. 00:13:09.880 --> 00:13:16.960 I think one of the most vulnerable moments for us as people come after significant life changes. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:25.120 In fact, counselors will often say that the five most stressful things, life events that someone can go through, that might put you in a place to begin to feel 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:32.180 depression is number one, the death of a loved one; number two, divorce; number three, moving; number four, major illness or 00:13:32.180 --> 00:13:33.680 injury; or number five, job loss. 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:43.380 If you go through any of those events in your life, you should be able to stop within those moments and think, you know whatever you go through now that you've had 00:13:43.380 --> 00:13:49.260 this happen or you're going through the middle of this, that it's okay in these moments to not feel okay. 00:13:52.430 --> 00:13:54.040 In fact, you should expect it. 00:13:56.920 --> 00:13:59.720 With significant life change comes adjustment. 00:14:02.060 --> 00:14:02.720 A new normal. 00:14:04.300 --> 00:14:11.880 You think about the life of Elijah, for three years he found his identity as it related to confronting Ahab, surviving this 00:14:11.880 --> 00:14:15.050 drought that was taking place that would lead to Mount Carmel. 00:14:15.260 --> 00:14:17.700 Now all those events have transpired and now what? 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:20.020 Job change. 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:26.280 And a move, from the top, all the way to the top in Israel down as far south as he could go. 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:32.490 Stress, wrapped up in his old identity. 00:14:34.040 --> 00:14:41.280 The moment happens on the top of Mount Carmel and then on the top of a mountain, the only place that you can go from there is 00:14:41.280 --> 00:14:41.580 down. 00:14:43.560 --> 00:14:49.000 When you go through significant life change, you should prepare yourself from the battle that might happen within. 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:58.060 And if you battle with depression, one of the things that I have found tremendous encouragement in my life is that some of God's greatest servants 00:14:58.060 --> 00:14:58.780 battled depression. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:08.300 Moses, in Numbers 11, starting in verse 10, he asked God to take his life because it had become so hectic he didn't 00:15:08.300 --> 00:15:09.280 feel like he could maintain it. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:15.060 Jonah was frustrated, in Jonah 4:3 asked God to take his life. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.600 Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:8 said he despaired of life. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:21.280 Elijah, in these moments, the same thing. 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:25.500 If you read the Psalms at all, it seems like King David every day is that way. 00:15:26.900 --> 00:15:33.680 In fact, in Psalm 38:6 David says, "I am bent over and greatly bowed down. 00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:35.420 I go mourning all day long. 00:15:35.660 --> 00:15:38.780 I am benumbed," in verse 8, "and badly crushed. 00:15:38.800 --> 00:15:45.820 I groan because of the agitation of my heart." One of my favorite people to read, I even have one of his books in my 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:47.200 backpack this morning, Charles Spurgeon. 00:15:48.800 --> 00:15:55.820 Charles Spurgeon in history, some people will say apart from the Apostle Paul, no one after New Testament time has done more for Christianity than Charles Spurgeon. 00:15:56.260 --> 00:15:57.950 He is referred to as the Prince of Preachers. 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:04.560 Charles Spurgeon, in a day when there was no amplification, had a church of up to 20,000 people. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.680 And Charles Spurgeon battled depression greatly. 00:16:11.280 --> 00:16:15.980 I think it was one of the reasons that he was such a great preacher is because he understood the wrestling that took place within a soul. 00:16:18.220 --> 00:16:22.620 And God used Spurgeon to start some 80+ ministries in his lifetime. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:31.520 Seeing him struggle, seeing God's faithful struggle, it helps you to feel a little normal, doesn't it? 00:16:32.660 --> 00:16:39.260 You ever get to that place in life where you look around, you're experiencing something, you're going through something, you see everyone else around you just kind of reacting different. 00:16:39.300 --> 00:16:40.760 You start thinking, "Am I crazy? 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:47.980 I feel like I'm in reality, but doesn't feel like anyone else around me is there." And all of a sudden you meet that person that's going through that same experience with you. 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.280 And they just describe it without maybe even knowing that you're in. 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:55.260 They just describe it and you're like, "That's exactly where I am!" Like, "I'm normal! 00:16:55.740 --> 00:17:01.380 Or at least if we're both crazy, we're going to be crazy together, right?" There's this comfort in knowing that. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.540 Elijah struggles in this life event. 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:12.690 It's time to pause in our hearts and just ask, what major life events are you going through? 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.040 And if you're going through them, it's okay to not feel okay. 00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:21.079 Give yourself some grace. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.790 Don't place your expectation beyond where you are. 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:31.480 Not only that, but verse four tells us where Elijah got lost. 00:17:31.780 --> 00:17:35.010 Let me back up for a minute, he gets lost in self-pity. 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:41.740 Look at verse four, he says, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under the Juniper tree. 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:43.560 And he requested for himself that he may die. 00:17:43.860 --> 00:17:51.000 And said, 'It is enough now, O Lord, take my life.'" And then listen to this, "For I am not better than my fathers." 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:53.140 Self-pity. 00:17:55.320 --> 00:17:58.080 Self-pity is a powerful toxic emotion. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.790 It will lie to you, it will exaggerate. 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:05.600 It will drive you to tears. 00:18:06.080 --> 00:18:09.960 In a worse case scenario, bring you to the place of wishing that you were dead. 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:12.840 And this is where Elijah is. 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:16.520 "For I am no better than my fathers," he says. 00:18:18.320 --> 00:18:19.690 What's the problem with that? 00:18:22.300 --> 00:18:29.780 I would think, if God were just to respond to this statement immediately where he says, "I am no better than my fathers," it would be to say this, "Elijah, 00:18:29.780 --> 00:18:34.820 whoever said you had to be?" Who said? 00:18:37.540 --> 00:18:39.460 Why is that what is important? 00:18:41.780 --> 00:18:43.940 Nobody told him he had to be better than his fathers. 00:18:45.600 --> 00:18:52.200 In fact, in this room this morning, we're not better than anyone else, nor did God make us beneath anyone else. 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:52.840 God made us all equal. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:58.940 Our goal in life shouldn't be to be better than other people. 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:05.800 And so, Elijah in his disappointment, he's falling into this self-pity because he set this standard for himself that's impossible. 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:09.160 And God never told him he needed to be better than anyone else. 00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:15.650 You know, in these moments, I'm glad Elijah's giving up that identity of trying to be better than others. 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:16.820 It's a losing battle. 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:20.060 But you know it needs to be done in a healthy way. 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:29.340 Not to simply look at it defeated to say that you in your own strength could never do this, but rather to give up that battle of trying to be better than others because your identity isn't about 00:19:29.340 --> 00:19:30.280 being better than others. 00:19:30.280 --> 00:19:32.580 Your identity is who Jesus created you to be. 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:38.530 And when we create an unrealistic standard in ourselves and we can't live up to it leads to depression. 00:19:40.340 --> 00:19:43.520 One of the most dangerous things that we play today is the comparison game. 00:19:45.020 --> 00:19:50.280 I think this section, this verse, this phrase, I feel like from this point we should write a letter to Utah. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:20:00.560 Dear Utah, we see the perfection of life that you portray on the outside, but 00:20:00.580 --> 00:20:01.100 we aren't fooled. 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:07.970 We know that while you try to live up to the standard of the Jones' beside you, there is brokenness on the inside. 00:20:11.080 --> 00:20:13.230 Who told you had to be better than anyone else? 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:16.400 And why strive to do that? 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.100 Because God doesn't call you to be like everyone else. 00:20:22.600 --> 00:20:24.080 To not play the comparison game. 00:20:26.060 --> 00:20:28.980 God rather calls you to live to be who he has called you to be. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:30.200 Don't try to be like other people. 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:36.680 Be the person God gifted you to be, that's why he made you. 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:42.170 Don't let other people create your standard, let God create it. 00:20:42.760 --> 00:20:48.860 Because God is the one that's always loving, always affirming, always accepting, always faithful to uphold you. 00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:57.690 I know it can even get that for pastors in the pastoral world, like if I just use my own situation for comparison. 00:20:58.260 --> 00:21:02.290 You think about pastors in churches and you see success or whatever you might deem success. 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:08.560 And you compare that to yourself or you think in your own work environment and you might compare yourself to other people. 00:21:08.600 --> 00:21:15.500 And you say to yourself, "I can't be like them." God never called you to be like them. 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:25.280 When we set that standard for ourselves and we can't achieve that standard, what happens is we find ourselves that we're not content to live 00:21:25.280 --> 00:21:28.080 the way that God has blessed you to live. 00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:36.380 And rather than be thankful for when God works in us and in others, we get jealous 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:42.240 or we get depressed or we get defeated and angry. 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:46.920 Or even worse, we achieve our goals and when we look at other people we become arrogant and proud. 00:21:51.100 --> 00:21:58.320 In our self-imposed standards, Elijah got lost in the self-pity because 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:00.940 his standard in life was to be better than others. 00:22:03.100 --> 00:22:04.580 But that's not who God called him to be. 00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:08.520 Guys, are you comparing yourself? 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:12.100 I would encourage you, give yourself grace. 00:22:14.040 --> 00:22:16.200 Don't pressure yourself into being someone else. 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.300 But rather be who God made you to be, faithfully before him. 00:22:22.340 --> 00:22:22.940 Can I tell you? 00:22:24.760 --> 00:22:25.800 God's aware of where you are. 00:22:28.040 --> 00:22:28.860 He knows what you have. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:32.660 He knows what your strengths are, he knows what your limitations are. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.470 Just be faithful with who God made you to be. 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:41.520 Don't put those standards of other people on you. 00:22:43.520 --> 00:22:44.210 But look to Jesus. 00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:53.840 Elijah not only got lost in the self-pity, but he was also physically exhausted and emotionally spent. 00:22:55.260 --> 00:23:01.040 For years Elijah had lived on the edge, he was hunted by man, considered by the king to be public enemy number one. 00:23:01.060 --> 00:23:08.880 We saw last week, Obadiah came to Elijah and said, in chapter 18, verse 10, that Ahab went to all the kingdoms and 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:12.220 he made the kingdom swear that you were hiding there because he wants to kill you. 00:23:13.620 --> 00:23:17.300 And so Elijah's life, he was exhausted, he was emotionally spent. 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:26.140 There is a Greek proverb that says this, "You will break the bow if you always keep it bent." Some 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:29.990 of us are worn out and depressed, honestly because we should be. 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:33.680 How else is God going to get you to slow down? 00:23:35.520 --> 00:23:40.340 I mean, when you put the RPMs in red all day long, something's going to give, right? 00:23:41.580 --> 00:23:45.250 You see, in the life of Elijah, he's worn out in these moments. 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:52.520 I think about that for us as a church, Utah is the youngest state in America, which means families are young and kids 00:23:52.520 --> 00:23:53.240 take time. 00:23:55.300 --> 00:23:58.820 And your number one ministry should be your family. 00:24:02.300 --> 00:24:06.530 Church isn't here to wear you out, but to encourage you. 00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:10.030 It's important to rest. 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:18.640 I've found in my own life that if I ever feel down, I'll say this to my wife frequently, even if she says that she is, you should rest. 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:22.560 Sleep does wonders for the soul. 00:24:22.600 --> 00:24:24.960 Not only sleep, but even eating right does wonders for the soul. 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:32.660 You see in the life of Elijah, in verse five it says this, "He lay down under a Juniper tree and behold there was an angel touching 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:39.720 him and he said to him, 'Arise and eat.' And then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:40.880 stone and a jar of water. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:42.480 So he ate and drank and lay down again. 00:24:43.280 --> 00:24:50.420 An angel of the Lord came to him a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise and eat because the journey is too great for you.' So he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength 00:24:50.420 --> 00:24:56.320 of that food for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mount of God." I love this. 00:24:56.380 --> 00:25:03.500 The first thing in the middle of the struggle that God offers to Elijah, doesn't judge him, doesn't say, "What's wrong with you?" Doesn't say, "Hey, I got something else for 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:05.720 you." Rest and eat. 00:25:08.020 --> 00:25:08.820 Rest and eat. 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:11.680 If anyone's got super powers, it's Elijah. 00:25:11.980 --> 00:25:12.960 And Elijah needs rest and eat. 00:25:14.820 --> 00:25:17.680 We're not Superman and Superwoman in here. 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:20.280 Rest and eat. 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:24.300 And take time to enjoy life around you, all right? 00:25:25.100 --> 00:25:27.080 So Elijah's exhausted in these moments. 00:25:27.300 --> 00:25:29.460 And so we ask ourselves, are you wearing yourself out? 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:32.400 Do you need to cut back? 00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:36.300 Do you need to lower your expectations and give yourself grace? 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:46.180 Next I would say this on Elijah, in verse nine, he says, "Then he came there to a cave and lodged there." This mountain, Horeb, is also Mount Sinai. 00:25:47.520 --> 00:25:48.520 Another name for Mount Sinai. 00:25:49.040 --> 00:25:52.420 And Mount Sinai is where God spoke to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:59.800 "He came and lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came to him and said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' And he said, 'I have been very 00:25:59.800 --> 00:26:07.080 zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets 00:26:07.080 --> 00:26:07.700 with a sword. 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:15.220 And I alone am left and they seek my life to take it away.'" "So he said, 'Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.' 00:26:15.260 --> 00:26:22.460 And behold the Lord was passing by and a great and strong wind was rendering the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord." Let 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:29.600 me stop here and say this, when God asked Elijah, "Elijah, why are you here?" Elijah goes on to explain the 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:31.380 story of everything that's happened. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:32.400 But you know what Elijah does? 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.360 He exaggerates his position rather than embrace really the certainty of God's promises. 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:44.380 Elijah wasn't thinking clearly, nor do I think he was thinking truthfully. 00:26:46.320 --> 00:26:48.960 If you tell yourself enough lies, eventually you'll believe it. 00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:56.290 And I think the most dangerous lie that we can tell ourselves isn't an outright lie, it's a half truth. 00:26:58.760 --> 00:27:05.400 There's a story, I forget which book it comes in, where the devil and one of his cohorts were walking along the road and they're watching a man in front of them walk. 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:07.880 And the man bends over and picks up something shiny. 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:14.800 And the cohort looks at the devil and says, "What did he pick up?" And the devil said, "A piece of truth." And the cohort starts to freak out, "Ah, he's got the truth! 00:27:14.900 --> 00:27:20.160 What are you going to do about it?" And then the devil says, "Nothing, I'll just see he makes a religion out of it." It's just a piece. 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:22.450 Doesn't have the whole truth, right? 00:27:23.820 --> 00:27:24.700 It's dangerous. 00:27:26.380 --> 00:27:28.160 Half truths. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:37.040 And with Elijah in these moments, he tells God the story but then he ends it with this, "I alone am left." I'm 00:27:37.040 --> 00:27:37.360 all by myself. 00:27:39.840 --> 00:27:41.240 And the reality is it's not true. 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:50.060 But yet Elijah lives in that truth and so on Mount Horeb, what God starts to do is he starts to shake some things up. 00:27:50.100 --> 00:27:55.400 It tells you, this great strong wind and this rumbling takes place and it breaks up the rocks. 00:27:55.800 --> 00:28:01.980 And it goes on from there in verse 11, "But the Lord was in the wind. 00:28:02.080 --> 00:28:06.550 And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:08.010 And the earthquake, a fire. 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:09.560 But the Lord was not in the fire. 00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:11.110 And after the fire, a sound of gentle blowing. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:18.720 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave." "And behold a voice came to him and said, 'What 00:28:18.860 --> 00:28:26.090 are you doing here, Elijah?' Then he said, 'I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:31.370 for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. 00:28:32.080 --> 00:28:33.360 And I alone am left. 00:28:35.100 --> 00:28:42.240 And they seek my life to take it away.'" Elijah shares the same story again with the 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:43.420 Lord, believing the same statement. 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:45.670 But I love it, God is patient with him. 00:28:47.220 --> 00:28:48.710 Two things God does in this story. 00:28:49.460 --> 00:28:50.400 One, he shows his power. 00:28:51.660 --> 00:28:52.660 His presence, right? 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:55.100 Shakes this up, he gets Elijah's attention. 00:28:55.520 --> 00:28:59.860 But then when God talks to him, his tone changes. 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:03.280 He does it gently. 00:29:05.180 --> 00:29:10.930 "Elijah, recognize who I am and I want to whisper into that soul. 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:17.060 I want you to hear this truth, Elijah. 00:29:17.280 --> 00:29:24.400 Here you are feeling this way because you believe this, but this isn't true." And then God, in verse 15, says this, "The Lord said to 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.850 him, 'Go return, on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. 00:29:27.800 --> 00:29:34.960 And when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:35.740 over Israel. 00:29:35.800 --> 00:29:42.900 And Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah, and you shall anoint as prophet in your place." You 00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:44.080 just make those words up, okay. 00:29:44.120 --> 00:29:45.680 You say them confidently, people believe it. 00:29:46.340 --> 00:29:51.700 "It shall come about, the one who escaped from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:55.840 And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:03.140 Yet, I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:07.680 not kissed him." Elijah, you're not alone. 00:30:09.760 --> 00:30:10.920 Elijah, that's not true. 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:15.760 Elijah, reflect in the truth of your Lord. 00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:19.920 Half truths are dangerous. 00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:23.480 He wants to ask us, what lies do you tell yourself? 00:30:25.840 --> 00:30:27.040 How does God view you? 00:30:29.100 --> 00:30:30.160 And how do you view you? 00:30:32.280 --> 00:30:32.860 Are they the same? 00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:37.280 Look, I understand we all have a past. 00:30:38.040 --> 00:30:42.700 In fact, you'll never embrace Jesus until you recognize the sin in your life that needs Jesus. 00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:46.560 But Jesus isn't one that wants you to live in your past. 00:30:47.800 --> 00:30:49.440 Jesus is one that gives you a future. 00:30:50.460 --> 00:30:51.640 He makes all things new. 00:30:52.540 --> 00:30:55.350 And when God looks at you, because when Jesus died on the cross, that was sufficient. 00:30:55.560 --> 00:30:58.460 When God looks at you, he sees the beauty of Jesus over your life. 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:03.940 Because what God thinks about when he sees you in Christ is your future, not your past. 00:31:05.260 --> 00:31:12.340 And so the way that we see ourselves should match the way God sees us in that identity with him, that we are made 00:31:12.340 --> 00:31:13.660 new in Christ. 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:16.190 And so the truths that we tell we ourselves become important. 00:31:16.360 --> 00:31:19.380 It should be the same, how God views us, how we view ourselves in Jesus. 00:31:21.620 --> 00:31:26.930 To recognize sometimes as human beings we tend to focus on our past, but how that God is interested in our future. 00:31:28.560 --> 00:31:34.040 The last thing Elijah does in this story is he separates himself from strengthening relationships. 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:39.050 I read in the story that Elijah runs all the way from the top clear down to the bottom. 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:46.420 He has one servant with him and he abandons that servant and goes for 15 miles by himself and sleeps sunder a Juniper tree, which at best is only 00:31:46.420 --> 00:31:47.060 12 feet tall. 00:31:47.120 --> 00:31:48.480 There is no way this guy is out of the sun. 00:31:50.020 --> 00:31:53.440 He separates himself. 00:31:53.520 --> 00:31:56.860 But God creates us for relationship. 00:31:58.600 --> 00:32:02.340 And knowing that, God brings companionship into the life of the Elijah. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:09.400 It tells us in the previous verses we just read and in verse 19, "So he departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, and while he 00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:13.500 was plowing with the twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. 00:32:13.800 --> 00:32:16.620 And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. 00:32:17.140 --> 00:32:24.800 He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, 'Please let me kiss my father and my mother that I may follow you.'" Now, some of you guys may be reading that thinking, anybody 00:32:24.800 --> 00:32:29.160 that ever throws a mantle on me, I am not going to run after them like they're my best friend, right? 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:30.720 But let me explain what's happening here. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:38.320 In Elijah's day, when a prophet would come beside you and they would put their cloak on you, that's really what it is, it was a passing of authority and 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:39.160 power and position. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:45.940 And so what Elijah is saying si that he sees Elisha as the one that will replace him and the position that he's carried for Israel. 00:32:47.600 --> 00:32:51.120 It's a position of honor to be selected in this way. 00:32:52.120 --> 00:32:56.060 And so that's why Elisha immediately gets up and follows after Elijah. 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:05.020 Strengthening relationships are those that encourage you to be who God has called you to be. 00:33:06.560 --> 00:33:08.740 God's not designed us to be hermits in a cave. 00:33:10.860 --> 00:33:14.440 But to find companionship in Christ, to be encouraged in him. 00:33:16.060 --> 00:33:19.140 There's a thing in counseling that's referenced as preventative counseling. 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:22.430 It begins in healthy community. 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:28.920 The reason community becomes important to build is because when you build community today, it helps you in the struggle tomorrow. 00:33:30.080 --> 00:33:37.540 If you just go looking for community when you're in the struggle rather than having built healthy community before it happens, sometimes it doesn't feel authentic 00:33:37.560 --> 00:33:39.760 and therefore people will often reject it. 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:47.100 But when you begin investing in relationships now to speak into one another's life, when adversity comes, you've got an Elisha to run with you. 00:33:49.120 --> 00:33:55.190 And so building healthy community becomes important for the sustainability of a healthy life. 00:33:55.940 --> 00:33:59.040 And God gives Elijah an Elisha to run with him. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:05.320 And so it should be in our lives, that God calls us to pour into people, but God also calls us to walk alongside people. 00:34:06.320 --> 00:34:07.600 To be encouraged in one another. 00:34:08.040 --> 00:34:15.380 It says he threw his mantle and then of Elisha, "He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, 'Please let me kiss my father and my mother, that I will 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:22.580 follow you.' And he said to him, 'Go back, for what have I done to you?' So he returned from following him and took the pair of oxen 00:34:22.580 --> 00:34:28.960 and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen and gave it to the people and they ate. 00:34:29.380 --> 00:34:35.580 Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him." Interesting thought. 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:41.460 You kind of ask the question, what Elijah is asking Elisha to do is, it can be difficult. 00:34:42.940 --> 00:34:45.659 And you want to know how in Elisha is to follow after Elijah? 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:50.120 He takes the very animals that were providing for his life and he sacrifices them. 00:34:54.020 --> 00:34:55.030 We all need a friend like that. 00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:04.120 In the heat of the moment, whatever it takes to be there by your side. 00:35:04.160 --> 00:35:12.040 And as it says in this last verse, "ministered to him." When 00:35:12.040 --> 00:35:19.040 it comes to the thought of depression, guys, I know in looking at the life of Elijah, this doesn't touch everything. 00:35:19.620 --> 00:35:26.720 So let me encourage you this way, if you want to read a great book or resource on depression, Ed Welch is 00:35:26.720 --> 00:35:29.020 a wonderful Christian counselor that wrote a great book on depression. 00:35:29.600 --> 00:35:36.700 In fact, Foundations of Christian Counseling, which is a foundation that has multiple sites for Christian counseling, I asked them what book they 00:35:36.700 --> 00:35:40.410 would recommend for depression, this is the number one book that they suggested to me. 00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:50.260 When I think about the life of Elijah, I know it may sound a bit morbid, but I find comfort in 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:51.520 seeing Elijah battle and struggle. 00:35:54.400 --> 00:36:02.420 It's a part of life and seeing that God's people aren't separate or distant from it I 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:07.000 think helps us understand that there's healthy ways to move forward. 00:36:09.060 --> 00:36:16.410 And one of the great things to always recognize is that in the life of Elijah, and it's true for us, is that God was always with him. 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:19.560 Yes, things were hard, but God never gave up. 00:36:21.860 --> 00:36:22.660 God cares. 00:36:24.100 --> 00:36:29.060 And can I tell all of us today that Jesus wants to meet with you in the same way. 00:36:31.180 --> 00:36:36.430 He's powerful, yet God desires to whisper in your soul the strength that you need. 00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.530 He provides rest and truth. 00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:42.950 He doesn't ask you to be like others. 00:36:44.080 --> 00:36:48.080 But he does provide others to encourage you in the truth which he's given. 00:36:49.460 --> 00:36:56.580 When you look at the life of Elijah, you can use these tools that God's given Elijah to have these battles in your life against 00:36:56.580 --> 00:36:57.380 depression. 00:36:58.820 --> 00:37:06.240 I think every one of us at some point would have needed, or we do need the same tools that Elijah had to use in these circumstances 00:37:06.240 --> 00:37:08.400 that he faced, we all have battles. 00:37:11.560 --> 00:37:13.120 Pity battles, even. 00:37:14.520 --> 00:37:16.380 But don't compare yourself to others. 00:37:18.600 --> 00:37:20.320 Let Jesus be your place of grace. 00:37:21.700 --> 00:37:22.560 Rest in him. 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:23.900 You aren't Superman. 00:37:25.780 --> 00:37:28.220 Hold to truth, not half truths. 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:33.820 Find redeeming relationships that invest in your life as much as you invest in theirs. 00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:42.980 Guys, even if bad things happen, and they will, Jesus said in John 16:33, 00:37:42.980 --> 00:37:50.180 "Take heart, for I have overcome the world." At the end of your day, 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:57.160 when your hope rests not in what is around you, but what is to come, at the end of the day there is always victory. 00:37:58.740 --> 00:38:00.440 And Jesus did that for you.