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Prophets ,including King David, have suffered from depression. For me its a knowing of sin all the time.
When you are involved in an activity with other people who think its ok. It could be something that seems innocent, but in your mind you clearly see it as wrong. Some times you just give in to fit in. Other times people try to make you think you are overreacting. for me its hard to be an outcast of sorts when you fit in just fine before being saved.

These are pages I found on the web.

Title: The Battles of Life: Defeating Depression
Ref.: 1 Kings 19:1-4




1
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
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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."
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Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,
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while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, 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."

VVV

Several years ago, an experiment on endurance was conducted at the University of California at Berkeley. The experiment involved placing Norwegian field rats in a tub of water, where they were forced to swim until they grew exhausted and finally drowned. During the first experiment, the researchers discovered that on the average, these rats were capable of swimming for over seven hours before drowning.

A second experiment was conducted, exactly like the first but with one exception.This time, when a rat was getting too exhausted to swim any longer, the researchers would remove the rat from the tub of water for a few seconds, then put the rat back into the water to continue swimming. These rats were able to swim for almost 20 hours before perishing.

The researchers concluded that the rats in the second group were able to swim so much longer than the first group because of one factor: they had HOPE. They had experienced a rescue---and what kept them going was the HOPE that they would be rescued again.

And, you know, hope keeps you and me going as well. It has been said that "as oxygen is to the lungs, so hope is to the human heart." But you and I also know that there are times in our lives when it seems like hope is so scarce that we feel we will suffocate.

And this feeling of hopelessness....or overwhelming despair.....also known as depression...this is something that nearly everyone battles with in life. According to Psychiatrists Frank Minrith & Paul Meier, themajority of Americans suffer from a serious, clinical depression at some time during their lives. Most of these people never get help....they just fight this battle on their own.

And....fighting depression can be an incredibly painful thing. In fact recent studies of more than 11,000 individuals found depression to be more physically and socially disabling that arthritis, diabetes, lung disease, chronic back problems, hypertension, and gastrointestinal illnesses. The only more disabling medical problem was advanced coronary heart disease.

And, while some depression is the result of a person's willful disobedience of God, as Christians it is important for us to realize that this is not always the case. Many great Christian servants, whose walk with God is not in doubt, suffered from depression.

The Bible records the fact that Moses and Jeremiah went through times of deep despair....so did Job, often to the point of being suicidal. Listen to Job's anxiety-filled words, "I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water...my life flies by...day after hopeless day...I hate my life....my heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. My weary nights are filled with pain...I cry to you, O God, but you don't answer me." And...notice that even with his depression, Job 1:22 says "In all this Job did not sin."

So the Bible teaches that depression is not always related to sinful actions.And, the record of Church history underscores this truth....many great men of God down through the years struggled with depression. The great reformer, Martin Luther, fought with depression on and off through his entire life. In 1527 Luther wrote, "For more than a week I was close to the gates of death and hell. I trembled in all my members. Christ was wholly lost....the content of the depressions was always the same, the loss of faith that God is good and that He is good to me."

The famous preacher Charles Hadden Spurgeon, who lit the fires of the 19th century revival movement, struggled so severely with depression that he was forced to be absent from his pulpit for two to three months a year. In 1866 he told his congregation of his struggle saying: "I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go through." He explained that during these depressions, "Every mental and spiritual labor...had to be carried on under protest of spirit."

So despair is not always linked to sin....mature Christians...godly people....can suffer depression.

Christianity does not always equal happiness. True, Christians are urged to rejoice. But Christian joy can sometimes be mixed with cheerless despondency. The Apostle Peter knew that Christians could experience joy and despair at the same time. In 1 Peter 1:6 he wrote, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials."

Now a sermon is not a sufficient platform to deal with a subject as complex as depression....and today we will not be dealing with depression caused by biochemical imbalance....which can be treated very effectively with medication these days but I think that in our time together this morning we can find some basic tools for dealing with depression by looking at the biblical record of another godly man's struggle with depression, the prophet Elijah.

Let's begin by reviewing the setting of this text. Elijah was God's prophet during a time in the life of the nation of Israel when it's rulers were leading the people to worship the false gods known as Baal and Asherath. To shock them from this sin God withheld any dew or rain from the land for three years and a severe famine resulted. Well, at the height of this drought, [In 1 Kings 18] Elijah challenged Ahab and his false prophets to a public contest on the top of Mt. Carmel to demonstrate both the power of God and the weakness of Baal & Asherath.

You may remember ] that two bulls were chosen...Elijah sacrificed one to God and the false prophets sacrificed theirs to Baal and Asherath. The contest was to see whose god was capable of sending fire to consume the sacrificed bull. The 850 false prophets went first...you may remember they tried from early morning until late in the afternoon....in vain to get their "god" to respond...they ranted and raved and cut themselves to get his attention....all to no avail.

Then Elijah's turn came and he had barely ended his petition when God answered by sending his fire to consume not only the bull which he had drenched with water, but the stone altar as well. And the Israelites who witnessed this demonstration of God's unlimited power responded in true belief and worship....falling on the ground they confessed that truly Yahweh alone was God.

Elijah then commanded that those 850 prophets of Baal & Asherath be seized and executed according to the law of God written in Deuteronomy 7. Then Elijah prayed that God would end the drought.....you may remember that he sent his assistant to watch for approaching clouds while he prayed seven times and finally a small cloud the size of a man's fist could be seen on the distant horizon. Elijah advised Ahab to head for Jezreel and avoid the approaching downpour and then as the rain fell, Elijah tucked his robe into his belt so he wouldn't trip over it and ran ahead of the royal chariot the 17 miles back to the city gates.

Why would Elijah associate with Ahab? Why would he go with this wicked king to Jezreel?

Perhaps he was hoping that the Lord would enable him to put the final nail in Baal's coffin with the elimination of the evil queen Jezebel.....that Ahab would repent of his sin and lead the entire nation to return to worshiping God and God alone. He may even have had dreams of being placed in King Ahab's palace as the "prophet in residence."

Now the scene in the text opens as Ahab arrives home at his summer palace in Jezreel....with Elijah running ahead of him. I imagine that this weak-knee-ed king was still excited about the events of the day....the amazing presence of Jehovah on Mt. Carmel and the joy of the rain falling on his kingdom once again. As he enters the palace he calls for Queen Jezebel to share the adventures he had experienced with Elijah. However, the story about the power of the living God, the fire from heaven, and the thunder and rain that came after Elijah prayed----all this was drowned out when the king got around to mentioning the elimination of all 850 of Jezebel's prophets as per Elijah's order. At that point all the wrath of hell poured out of the mouth of this demonic woman and she expressed her desire to end the life of one more prophet.

And King Ahab's excitement faded as he stood by passively and let his queen take matters into her own hands. She proceeded to put a contract out on the life of Elijah. Elijah received a message from her that read, "To Elijah, troubler of Israel: So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of my dead prophets by tomorrow about this time. Signed, Queen Jezebel."

Notice that Jezebel was not only vicious but clever. She could have ordered Elijah killed immediately, but then without her own prophets to protect her, she might have lost her life at the hands of the people who had just recommitted themselves to following God and not Baal. But if she threatened to kill Elijah within twenty-four hours, he might slip into a posture of self-defense and flee. If he did this, the people might be spiritually demoralized without their leader and Jehovah might be discredited....and her plan worked. Elijah did flee...in fact he ran 115 more miles all the way to Beersheba where he left his servant and continued another day's journey into the Negev where he pulled up under a Juniper tree and succumbed to deep depression saying,

"I have had enough Lord, take my life...."

Well, that is the setting of this story....what can we learn from it that will help us in our battle with depression?

The first thing we can learn about depression from Elijah's experience is that....


1. What goes up must come down.
Life is full of ups and downs....and you can count on it....after any up there is a down. Life is not just one long joy that gets better and better....there are mountains and valleys And Elijah had just climbed an "Everest" of accomplishment. He had prayed and had God instantly answered in the presence of thousands of people....proving once and for all that Jehovah was the one true God.

Elijah had just seen the people turn from idol worship because of this....and obey his command to kill 850 false prophets of Baal and Asherath. He had prayed again and a 3 year drought had ended [ 1 Kings 18].

Talk about a high! I don't think it gets much better than that. But what goes up must come down and when we have great times of accomplishment and joy in life we should learn to anticipate the inevitable lows like the one that hit Elijah. Our lives cannot stay at a constant emotional high...there are downs after ups. Psalm 30:5 hints at this truth when it says, "Weeping my remain for a night. But rejoicing comes in the morning."

So, we need to see depression as it is....a part of the cycle of ups and downs in life. After ups come downs...and when we are in a "down" we should remember that an "up" will come. You know....when we are depressed, we tend to picture ourselves in a "bottomless Pit"....we talk about "being down" and "going down deeper and deeper into despair." But instead of picturing depression as a "pit" we should think of it as a "tunnel". You see depression is not something to climb out of as much as something to "go through." Like a tunnel, as soon as we enter depression, we are already on the way out.

One of my favorite Christian comedians is MARK LOWERY and I remember hearing Mark say that his favorite verse of scripture is the oft-repeated phrase, "It came to pass". He loves these four words because they remind him that when problems come they also go...they "come to pass" and when we begin a struggle with depression we should constantly remind ourselves of this.... "weeping may remain for a night....but JOY comes in the morning." Depression does not last forever....it will come to pass. You may just be at the beginning of a period of depression. That's the bad news. But the good news is that you'll get through it. You'll see the light again.

And Elijah did get through this time of depression in his life. God gave him other mountain tops of accomplishment...and you know, even though at this low point Elijah asked God to take his life....even that never happened. Elijah never died....remember 2 Kings chapter 2records that he was simply taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. So remember....depression is a cycle...a tunnel...something you go through...what goes up must come down and vice versa! Then a second lesson we can learn from Elijah's experience with depression is this...


2. .... we make ourselves especially susceptible to depression when we take our eyes off of God.
Remember, when Elijah heard of Jezebel's threat he responded with fear. And verse 3 which says, "Elijah was afraid" could be translated "Elijah saw"...that is "he saw Jezebel"...he took his eyes off of God and looked at her and so he became afraid and slipped into the pits of despair.

Elijah had just had one of the most wonderful experiences of his life before the Lord, his enemies, and the Jewish nation. God had worked powerfully---visibly---in response to Elijah's prayers. But when Jezebel promised to end his life in 24 hours Elijah forgot all that. Elijah took his eyes off the power of God and focused instead on Jezebel and her soldiers.

This should help us to realize that when life's inevitable problems approach we dare not take our eyes off of our loving Heavenly Father. When we focus our life's gaze on our problems and difficulties we lose our spiritual power. And then we make ourselves defenseless to the attack of depression. Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee." So when depression approaches....KEEP THE SON IN YOUR EYES at all times!

A third lesson Elijah's experiences can teach us is this....


3. Physical stress can cause emotional stress.
Just prior to the onset of his depression Elijah had put his body through incredible stress. He had run over 100 miles without stopping. He was physically exhausted. I don't think that even David Houser could do that without feeling a little down. And, prior to Elijah's super-marathon he had put in a full day of exhausting ministry on the top of Mt. Carmel.

So, depression was inevitable....because physical stress negatively affects our emotional health.

People involved in military intelligence have known this for years....and have used physical conditioning to change the emotional state of individuals. We call this brainwashing and it basically involves getting a person physically exhausted. They focus on wearing you out physically until mentally you go to pieces.

This is sort of what happened to Elijah. And God knew that.... Verse 5 says that the first thing He did to help treat Elijah's depression was to minister to his physical fatigue. God fed him fresh baked bread and cool water and then told him to sleep....then He fed him again.

That is the most practical thing some of us can do. Take care of this physical body that God has given us. Quit abusing it. Quit driving it. Eat right...sleep right....exercise right. Quit letting your body be pressured by the demands made upon you.....because when your body becomes weak and ill...so does your spirit. Physical stress can cause emotional stress.

And then, a fourth lesson we can learn from Elijah is this...


4. We are more susceptible to depression when we are alone.....
Elijah was by himself under that Juniper tree....wanting to die...feeling like he was the only one left...all alone fighting for God. Loneliness is one of the greatest contributors to depression....we draw into a shell...we cut ourselves off from others...and begin to feast on self-pity as we look at ourselves. And loneliness will destroy us. It is a hard battle to live a Christian life with the help of others...it is 10 times harder when you try to do it all by yourself. This is one of the reasons that the Hebrews 10:25 encourages us to "not forsake assembling of ourselves together."

When we gather in Sunday School class of caring people...when we come into a church service in the house of God with Christian friends we draw strength for life's battles. So when you are struggling with depression don't go somewhere alone...this only intensifies the pain....find Christian friends to be with so they can minister to you. Remember Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."


5. Then fifthly, Elijah's experience also shows that doing affects feeling.
Idleness breeds despair....Sitting alone in a cave with nothing to do but focus on his own problems magnified Elijah's despair. So God got him out of the cave and put him to work. In verses 15-17 God told Elijah that he had a job to do....two kings needed crowning....he had his prophetic successor, Elisha, to appoint.

And from this we can learn that when depression attacks we should not go somewhere and simply dwell on it. We should get our bodies moving....physical activity can be like an emotional medicine. You see our emotions are rebellious at times. They won't take orders. They easily ignore commands such as "Stop being angry" or "Don't feel sad" or "Be happy".

It is difficult to control emotions....but we can control our bodies. And forcing our bodies to do something that needs doing can have the effect of making us feel better. Psychologist William James maintained that our emotions are closely connected to our actions. He would say that when we are afraid, this is because we are acting frightened....that the way to no longer feel afraid is to do something fearless....and there is truth is this philosophy.

You know in a few weeks the pools will be open again and if you are like me, when you go to the pool the first thing you do is put your toe in the water......it's always too cold so I usually lay out in the sun for a while. When I lie there in the sun, my emotions aren't up to a jump into the cold water....I don't FEEL like swimming in that cold water. I may try without success to convince my emotions to rise to the occasion....but I can't make myself want to enjoy the cold water.

But then I see everyone else enjoying the water and my "will" takes over. I force my body to stand up and jump into the water and start swimming. And you know what.....suddenly I FEEL like swimming....I stay in there until I look like a prune. William James would explain that you feel like swimming because you are doing it. So to help ourselves out of depression we should DO nondepressive things...even if we don't feel like doing them.

Martin Luther would agree with this treatment....he advised people with mild bouts of depression to ignore the heaviness. "A good way to exorcize the Devil," he maintained, "was to harness the horses and spread manure on the fields." In other words....get to work...do something productive and you will feel productive....doing affects feeling.

Then a sixth lesson Elijah can teach us is that...


6. Focusing on other people's worries helps you forget your own.
In essence God reminded Elijah that there was an entire nation that needed his ministry.

And one way to deal with depression is to help others.... Philippians 2:4 encourages us to, "....look not only to our own interests...needs...but also to the interests of others."

Dr. Carl Menninger once gave a lecture on mental health and was answering questions from the audience. Someone said, "What would you advise a person to do if that person felt a nervous breakdown coming on?" Most people thought he would say, "Go see a psychiatrist immediately," but he didn't. To their astonishment, Dr. Meninger replied, "Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find somebody in need, and help that person." To overcome discouragement, "Don't focus on yourself, get involved in the lives of other people."

A few years ago we took Redland's teens on a retreat....I called the retreat the "Great Adventure Retreat" and...in an attempt to teach them that living the Christian life was the greatest adventure known to man.....I packed as much "adventure" into a weekend as I could. We went white water rafting...we camped out on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere...and we explored a cave. I had called the owners of the cave and asked if there were any dangers...would this be a safe place to turn teens loose and they said, "Sure...the trail is level...there are no drop offs....we give you a map and a detailed orientation...they will love it." Well when we arrived their "cave-orientation" was one sentence.... "Here's the map...there's the door...we'll see you in a couple of weeks."

And there were all kinds of drop-offs....no level spots....tunnels---holes---leading off in every direction---and they didn't tell us where we were on the map when we entered. So, we immediately became disoriented....I had junior highers all over the place---they were having a great time....but I began to be panicky....I thought...I am going to lose some kids...people are going to get hurt. And the deeper we explored the deeper my anxiety got. Well, about 90 minutes into the cave...teens all over the place...Ryan Walker and David Meyers came climbing out of a hole with a girl in tow...a first time visitor that had joined us on the trip.

They had found her on a rock...alone...her flashlight had died and she was crying...totally lost....in the midst of her own deep anxiety. So I loaned her a flashlight and began to assure her and help her and you no what....my panic disappeared instantly. When I focused on her problems, I totally forgot my own. This is because, when we focus on the needs of others our own needs fade into the background. So the best thing you can do when you are in the midst of deep despair is go and help someone else.


VVV


We've listed six lessons we can learn from Elijah's experience with depression....but the greatest lesson we can learn as a church is to follow God's example in relating to people who battle with depression. God was compassionate in His treatment of Elijah. Far from criticizing him, our Lord allowed him to rest and twice sent an angel to feed him. And, we must be just as compassionate in our dealing with people who suffer from emotional problems. We must have an underlying agreement with each other that the people who enter these doors don't have to have it "all together" in order to find welcome.

You see, in a very real sense every church is a hospital where people can come to find healing...a place where people can honestly admit their struggles....and find rest from them. Remember Jesus said, Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. So, all Christians should take seriously Paul's injunction in 1 Thessalonians to "encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men." What the emotionally wounded need is for the body of Christ to be a place of love, acceptance, encouragement, forgiveness, and compassion...a place where they can find grace instead of judgement.

And this must also be a place where we constantly point people to the Source of hope and peace.

Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God." We must lead people to put their hope in God. I guess you could say that there are two types of people in the world....people who are drowning in despair without hope....and others who have called out to God and experienced His rescue. And as Christians we are like the second group...we have experienced God's rescue....we know from experience that the Lord will hear the cries of all people and according to Psalm 40:2 will, "...lift them out of the pits of despair...out of the mud and mire and set their feet on the rock..." And we need to share that truth with a hopeless world.

I might describe my job in a little more detail here. I'll write about what I do, what I like best about it, and even some of the frustrations. (A job with frustrations? Hard to believe, huh?)