02.03. When the Needle on the Compass is Stuck
When the Needle on the Compass is Stuck 1 Kings 19:1-10; 1 Kings 19:15-18
1 Kings 19:1-10 "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 19:15-18 " And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."
There is a fable that one day the Devil was having a going out of business sale. On display was his best tools; malice, hatred, jealousy, sensuality, deceit. Each tool was priced for sale. Cast aside was a wedge shaped tool that was the most used tool that showed great signs of wear but had a great price tag. When asked why it was so high priced when it was so worn he replied, "It is my tool of discouragement and I use it on nearly everyone. Few people even know it belongs to me." Do you ever feel like you don’t know where to turn or what to do? Do you ever feel like the needle on your compass is stuck? We might call this depression or discouragement. A name you may hear depression referred to is, "Heart dropsy." I’m down and don’t have the heart to get up. Vance Havener, a well known Baptist preacher, after the loss of his wife, wrote that we experience three types of days; 1- mountain top days, 2- ordinary days, and 3- dark days. We call it depression when dark days string together. You could call these dark days and deep valleys. The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests more suffering has been caused by depression than any other disease known to man. Depression can occur at any age and to any social class. I will occur for a variety of reasons and at all times of life from infancy to old age. Who among us has not said something like, "I wish I could find a hole and crawl in," or "I just don’t know what I am going to do." Most have said, I’m just tired of trying." Who has not felt overwhelmed to the point of discouragement or depression? A profound statement is, "The test of how great a man is how much it takes to discourage him." Abe Lincoln when a young lawyer went through a time when his friends kept knives and razors away from him. He wrote, "I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell."
I- Depression is not necessarily Sin!
We must first realize that not all depression is sin. How can I says this? Notice Matthew 26:37-38 "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me."
The Amplified Bible says, "And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. 38 Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me."
We can state that depression is not necessarily sin because Christ, here in the Garden, experienced depression and deep sorrow of soul and He was without sin.
Elijah the prophet healed the sick, raised the dead, stopped the rain and called down fire from heaven. Our text shows he also became so discouraged and depressed that he developed suicidal tendencies. 1 Kings 19:4
Job 3:1 records that Job cursed the day he was born and then later stated concerning the weariness of life, "Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures." Job 3:21
You will also recall a man named Jonah who became so depressed that he wanted to die. The reason for this was that God did not destroy Ninevah. (See Jonah 4:3) II- Reasons The Compass Gets Stuck:
Depression, as we have stated, occurs for a variety of reasons. To find the answer to depression we need to explore several reasons it occurs.
1- Physical Exhaustion: 1 Kings 19:5-8 Fatigue is the father of depression. When we are exhausted and not taking care of our physical need of rest we easily fall into depression. When we are tired most negative things seem to be magnified.
2- People Used by Satan: 1 Kings 19:2 In the life of Elijah the one Satan used was Jezebel. In your life and mine it might be a Jane or Tom, Bill or Ethel. When a person allows Satan to use them to downgrade or ridicule another it fits well within his plan. There was a man once court-martialed and sentenced to a year in prison for being a discourager. It happened during the Boer War at the town of Ladysmith. When the fate of the town was hanging in the balance a civilian went along the lines and spoke discouraging words to the men on duty. He struck no blow for the enemy he simply discouraged at a critical time. It was judged a crime to say such things in times like that. We need to not be used to be a discourager but someone who lifts up others. 3- Feeling Abandoned: 1 Kings 19:10 Elijah said, "I even I only, am left..." How many have said, "no one loves me," or "I am the only one doing anything for God so why should I continue?" 4- Unrealistic Expectations: Many times we have unrealistic expectations of other or of ourselves. We can only accomplish so much and we should not expect so much out of someone that it opens us up to a down fall. 5- Difficulty of the Task: Sometimes we may become overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of the task at hand. I remind us that Moses had a million or more grumbling marchers on his hands. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem look at why they became discouraged. Nehemiah 4:10"And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."
A preacher who was discouraged dreamed he was standing on top of a great granite rock. Hour after hour, he worked on it with a pickax, hour after hours with no results. At last he said, "It is useless, I will quit."
Suddenly a man stood by him and asked, "Were you not given a task? And if so, why are you going to quit?" My work is vain; I can make no impression in the granite," the preacher said." Then the stranger solemnly replied, "That is nothing to you; your duty is to pick, whether the rock yields or not. The work is yours, the results are in others hands; work on." 6- Guilt or Our Unworthy Feelings: The hardest thing for us to come to grips with is the forgiveness of God for our past wrongs. Sometimes the weight of our past sins lead us to be depressed. Notice that the Word of God teaches that God casts our sins away as far as east is from the west. Psalms 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
If God forgives us what right have we to hold ourselves to a higher standard than God?
7- Chemical imbalance or illness: The human body is very complex and delicate. The chemicals in our body have a very delicate balance and when they are out of control many times so are our emotions. I am told by doctors that see patients who have surgery there is usually a period of depression following any surgery and especially certain ones like heart bypass, etc.
III- Getting the Needle Working Again:
1- Accept the fact that discouragement is part of life: All of us experience it, and it does not show lack of spiritual maturity. I remind us that Elijah had just come off of the mountain where the fire had fallen when he faced his problem. 2- Admit our humanity: Lack of faith or lack of energy must be admitted to be understood and dealt with. This may be a blow to our ego, however, the reason illness is followed by depression is that we somehow must face our own mortality. 3- Acknowledge our dependence on God. The answer sometimes can be found in the assurance of the presence of God and the feeling of His presence. Elijah never lost touch with God as he ran. Or should we say God never lost Elijah.
Proverbs 3:5-8 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."
Someone apply said we do not need more faith we need more knowledge of God’s promises. Remember Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." When we can attach a promise from God’s Word over the ugliness of life it gives a different picture.
4- Be willing to go to work: 1 Kings 19:15-16 God told Elijah to get up and get busy. We need to get up and go to work helping others and we will find that our problems will be greatly diminished. 5- Rest in the fact that nothing is final until God says it is final. When a ball game is almost over we, "It’s isn’t over until the fat lady sings." You may have heard someone say after saying this, "But she is warming up." I remind us that more so is the fact that the sovereign God is the one who have the final say. Remember that Abrahams waited twenty five years for Isaac to be born when he was 100 and Sarah, his wife was 90. Joseph was thirteen years from the pit he was thrown in until he arrived at the Palace. Moses was forty years discovering God’s will for his life and following it. Allow me to conclude with some verses from God’s Word.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Psalms 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
2 Corinthians 4:7-14 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.