By Name · Week 3 · Sunday · DEPRESSION

For two weeks we have been listening to voices outside us. The crowd, and then somebody aimed right at us. This week the voice moves inside. It is your own, and it can be the meanest of the three.

I want to start the day before, because the day before is the part that makes this chapter hard to read.

The day before

On Mount Carmel, in front of the whole nation, Elijah prayed.

Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”1 Kings 18:37 (BSB)

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.1 Kings 18:38 (BSB)

When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”1 Kings 18:39 (BSB)

Then the rain came, and Elijah, full of God’s strength, outran a king’s chariot to the city.

Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.1 Kings 18:45 (BSB)

And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.1 Kings 18:46 (BSB)

If there was ever a day for a man to know exactly who he was and whose he was, that was it.

One message

So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”1 Kings 19:2 (BSB)

And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,1 Kings 19:3 (BSB)

One message from one angry queen. And the man who just watched fire fall from heaven runs for his life. Notice the last line, too. He leaves his servant behind. Whatever is coming, he goes into it alone.

while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”1 Kings 19:4 (BSB)

This is God’s prophet. He is not weak and he is not faithless. He is the same man from yesterday, and today he is under a tree asking God to let him die. Listen to what the voice inside him says: I have had enough. I am no better than my fathers.

Depression is not weak faith. It found Elijah at the top.

What God does first

God’s first answer to a man who wants to die is not a sermon. It is a nap and a meal.

Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”1 Kings 19:5 (BSB)

And he looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.1 Kings 19:6 (BSB)

A second time the angel of the LORD returned and touched him, saying, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”1 Kings 19:7 (BSB)

No rebuke. No lecture about faith. Sleep, then bread and water, then a touch on the shoulder. And then the angel comes back a second time, and says the most tender thing in the chapter: the journey will be too much for you.

God knew the size of the road in front of him. He did not tell Elijah to toughen up for it. He fed him for it.

A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.Isaiah 42:3 (BSB)

God does not argue with the voice first. He feeds you.

Where the week goes

The rest of the chapter is how God brings him back, and we will get to all of it this week.

Monday through Friday you will meet five people. A man two weeks after the biggest promotion of his life. A new mother six weeks after her first baby. A retired man who has quietly stopped showing up. A college junior and the roommate who stopped going to class. A teacher who is sure nobody else would do it.

Prayer belongs in every one of those stories. So does a doctor, or a counselor, or a friend at the door. Those are not opposites. In this chapter God sent sleep and bread first.

Monday, a man who just got everything he worked for cannot get out of bed on a Saturday, and he does not know why.

If you are thinking about ending your life, please tell someone today. In the US, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Outside the US, findahelpline.com lists free lines in your country. If you are carrying depression, a counselor can help you carry it.