September 15 | Week 3: Character and Growth
Hopelessness: “I Have Had Enough, LORD”
Even the strongest disciples get discouraged. It is not a sign you are failing, it is a chance to lean on God.
1 Kings 19:1-9
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 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.” 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness.
He came to a broom bush, 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.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Dejection: “I Am The Only One Left”
1. Elijah had just seen a huge victory. Why do you think he crashed so hard right afterward?
Perhaps Elijah felt like after all this power, these miracles, and this incredible victory that it made no difference – Jezebel was unshaken and going to send soldiers to kill him anyway. Also, it could have been Elijah felt he did not have the faith for yet another crazy conflict?
Elijah certainly felt alone in this battle as he says to God later “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10) Interestingly, Elijah repeats this sentiment to God in 1 Kings 19:14.
Rest: “Get Up And Eat”
2. How did God care for him first, before anything else (v. 5-8)?
God provides a place for him to rest and lets him get some sleep as means for overcoming discouragement. Additionally, God does not “hammer” him or “correct him” for what he is feeling. God then gives him physical food and says something both patient and compassionate – “…the journey is too much for you.” Lastly, God does this twice for Elijah and then Elijah, on his own accord, went to the mountain at Horeb.
Overcoming Emotionalism
3. What do you normally do when you feel like giving up?
I complain and grumble. I get negative, faithless, and foment all the reasons why things are the way they are. Obviously, all this comes from me “giving into” my emotions and allowing them to “drive.” Furthermore, I can “check-out” with my favorite video game, streaming show, or just youtube’n. Of course, these are all the bad responses, I know I need to righteously rest and take it all to God!
Defeating Depression – Deep Calls To Deep
Psalm 42:5-11
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon–from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me–a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” 10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
“Why, My Soul, Are You Downcast?”
1. What does the writer keep asking his own soul? The Psalmist asks his own soul why is it downcast and disturbed “within me?”
2. What does he tell himself to do instead of staying down? The writer tells himself to put his hope in God, praise God, and remember what God has done “from the land of the Jordan” to “the heights of Hermon” The author’s uses these thoughts as a means for overcoming discouragement.
The LORD Your God Will Be With You – Do Not Be Discouraged
3. What is one truth about God you can preach to yourself the next time you are discouraged?
Joshua 1:3-9
3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. … 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
This is one I need to preach to myself often. In the context, God tells Joshua several times to be “strong and courageous.” At each moment God tells this phrase to Joshua, he also sandwiches it with different reasons and motivations to be “strong and courageous”. For example, God says “I will give you every place you set your foot”, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, and “no one will be able to stand against you…”.
Real Hope: If We Do Not Give Up
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
1. What are we warned not to become? We are warned not to become weary “in doing good“.
2. What is the promise if we do not give up? God’s Word promises that we will reap a harvest! When I think this way it is key to overcoming discouragement!
Overcome: Rest, Eat, and Reach Out!
APPLICATION: Discouragement often hits hardest right after a win, or when you are tired and alone. Do what God did for Elijah. Rest, eat, and reach out to other disciples today. Then tell one of them honestly how you have been feeling.
Hebrews 3:12-13
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Encourage Daily: Carry Each Other’s Burdens
It is my responsibility to guard my heart and the hearts of the disciples in my life. We are commanded to encourage each other daily. Sometimes, I need to let my guard down, be honest about my feelings and struggles, and allow other disciples to obey this scripture towards me. Honestly, I must allow them to carry a burden of mine, so that they can fulfill the law of Christ! “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”(Galatians 6:1-2)
