Struggling on
Struggling on.
1 Kings 18: 20-40. 1 Kings 19: 1-18.
5/11/17
What do you do when you just can’t be bothered anymore?
What do you do when life is just hitting you again and again and again?
When it seems that everything you touch turns to dust?
That even when life gives you a success, that I doesn’t seem to last long, that it seems that it is just a way to lull you into a false sense of security so that you fall even further.
I see it in teachers and nurses who are just fed up of yet another ‘initiative’ made up somewhere by someone who seems never to have worked in a classroom or ward.
I see it in family members who struggle with someone they are caring for that seems to be in a self-destruct path.
I see it in politicians that wonder how they could spend a lifetime trying to make things better and yet they still end up getting the blame for society’s failures.
I see it in church folk who wonder what they need to do to keep their organisation or church going. That they feel they are running as fast as they can just to stand still, and if they ever stop it will all just fall apart.
I think, if we are human, we all go through times in our life where we wish we could just escape from it all.
And for some that may lead to depression, or burn out, or whatever phrases you want to use.
I think the Bible, and this passage in particular, is a case study in how we could move towards wholeness again.
Now before I start, I don't want to decry the work of psychiatrists and councillors. I think what they do is not only valuable, I think for some people it is essential. In the same way that I think there are physical illnesses that are so serious that we need professionals who have studied these ailments and dedicated their lives to cures, so in mental illness there are professionals who have dedicated their lives to helping people and seeking cures. So what I am saying here is not to stop you from going to doctors and seeking medical advice if you need it.
My hope would be that maybe knowing what to do before hand could prevent us from getting so depressed that we need the services of a doctor or councillor. That this would be preventative medicine, that this might be part of a spiritual health regime in the same way that we do regular exercise to keep ourselves physically fit.
OK so the background...
Elijah has had a great success; he thought this would sort out his problems once and for all. And he did succeed, but the problems didn't go away. Jezebel put out an order that Elijah should be hunted down.
So point 1. ‘Elijah was afraid, and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Bathsheba in Judah.’ No one is immune to feelings of depression and failure. This is a guy who managed to pray so well that God reigned down fire in a show of strength. I think that our life would be better if our prayer life was better, that we were spiritual giants. Imagine that you could pray and you were so spiritual, so close to God’s heart, that God answered those prayers, wouldn’t you feel confident?
Well that person was Elijah, and he felt as insecure as we do.
I know it is a small point. But I am amazed at how many people get more depressed than they should do because they also lay on themselves the guilt that they are depressed. As if they are the only failures in the world. They have somehow let themselves down or let others down. Everyone struggles at some time.
It’s part of life.
It’s not about whether we will get down at some point, it is about how we respond when we feel those feeling start.
Point 2. ‘Leaving his servant there, Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness.’ Take yourself out of the problem area. The one smart thing that Elijah did was realise that he was struggling and didn't try to work through it or carry on and if nothing was happening. He got out of there. He may not have known what to do. But he did know that carrying on doing what he was doing was just going to make things worse.
Point 3. ‘Suddenly an angel touched him and said, ‘Wake up and eat.’ Look after yourself physically. The thing about feeling low is that often it just paralyses us. We just stop having any energy for life. We don't want to do anything, we want to hide. It is as if we know that we have failed doing something, so the best way not to fail is to do anything. If everything we do turns to dust then maybe don't touch anything. We lose confidence in ourselves and our ability to make decisions. And not just major decisions, any decisions, like what to eat. And the truth is that if we are to get better, then we need to have the physical energy to get better. So we need to look after ourselves physically.
Eat well, do some gentle exercise, go for walks in the country.
There is a hormone in the brain called serotonin. When we exercise the brain produces that hormone and we feel a bit better. For me that is squash. My squash partners know when I have had a bad meeting, because the next day I am in that squash court and I am hitting that ball as hard as I can. I am not imagining that ball being anyone at all; I am just getting my serotonin levels up so that I feel a bit better about life.
Point 4 and 5. Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. The original point that was going to make was to go somewhere where you had met God before. And that is an important point. Sometimes we need to go backwards to go forwards. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of better times, to put things into perspective. I know of one elder that has a certain walk. And when he is feeling a bit