November 9, 2012 Ready to Quit?

Ready to Quit? 1 Kings 19:1-4 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 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.” ELIJAH has been living under the complete care of God. For 3 ½ years God had demonstrated his power to Elijah in many ways. Why now is Elijah so fearful of Jezebel, so depressed and ready to die? Depression can do that to you—make you feel useless and worthless. You get depressed when you’re too tired, too discouraged, too weak to go on by yourself. You get depressed when you go off to be by yourself and focus too much on life’s hard obstacles instead of God’s great grace. Elijah had gone to the desert to escape Jezebel. But he came face-to-face with his own limitations as a man. He needed God to come to him to restore his strength and vitality. That’s exactly what God did. Elijah would rise up again to be an instrument for God in the power of God. It’s True! Psalms 40:17 Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.