Depression deeper than the briny...
Illustration
Depression deeper than the briny ocean's floor is a major problem in America. In looking at the ministry of so great a man as Elijah, it is easy to discern that even the behemoths of faith can fall prey to the insidious enemy known on Beale Street as the "blues." There were many causes for Elijah's depression.
1. He had lost his physical energy: he had fled over 300 miles from the heights of Mt. Carmel to the depths of wilderness despair, south of Beersheba. Like my old jalopy, his battery was run-down.
2. He was experiencing a mood swing: the thrill of his victory over the priest of Baal had been replaced by depression many a mom might feel after the joy of seeing her daughter wed, in the weeks following that crucial ceremony.
3. He had become isolated from others: as Bobby Vinton croons it, Elijah was a "Mr. Lonely." He was plopped under a broom tree with no one to talk with about his woes.
4. He had isolated himself from the Lord: he forgot God was with him in his brooding retreat from life's stormy battles.
To correct Elijah's problems the Lord:
1. Put him to sleep. This gave Elijah time to regenerate his battery and get back in the game of life.
2. Showed Elijah he was not alone. At least 7,000 believers had not bowed their knees to Baal.
3. Put Elijah to work. With Ahab dead, Elijah was ordered to go back home and install a new monarch. As Joel Gray might sing it in the musical Cabaret, "No use sitting alone in your room, come to the Cabaret (of life) old chum." Get busy and involved with others and your cloying self-pity will melt like an icicle on an August afternoon.
1. He had lost his physical energy: he had fled over 300 miles from the heights of Mt. Carmel to the depths of wilderness despair, south of Beersheba. Like my old jalopy, his battery was run-down.
2. He was experiencing a mood swing: the thrill of his victory over the priest of Baal had been replaced by depression many a mom might feel after the joy of seeing her daughter wed, in the weeks following that crucial ceremony.
3. He had become isolated from others: as Bobby Vinton croons it, Elijah was a "Mr. Lonely." He was plopped under a broom tree with no one to talk with about his woes.
4. He had isolated himself from the Lord: he forgot God was with him in his brooding retreat from life's stormy battles.
To correct Elijah's problems the Lord:
1. Put him to sleep. This gave Elijah time to regenerate his battery and get back in the game of life.
2. Showed Elijah he was not alone. At least 7,000 believers had not bowed their knees to Baal.
3. Put Elijah to work. With Ahab dead, Elijah was ordered to go back home and install a new monarch. As Joel Gray might sing it in the musical Cabaret, "No use sitting alone in your room, come to the Cabaret (of life) old chum." Get busy and involved with others and your cloying self-pity will melt like an icicle on an August afternoon.
