6.18.12 "Discouragement at your Door"

"Discouragement at your Door"

I Kings 19:1-21
Acts 12:1-23
Psalm 136:1-26
Proverbs 17:14-15

In I Kings 18 yesterday, we saw Elijah meet King Ahab with boldness in spite of the fact that Ahab was looking to kill him. Then we have this awesome story of how fire comes from heaven & consumes the offering, and there's revival, etc. The next event is I Kings 19. We have the same "main" character: Elijah. Queen Jezebel hears what Elijah has done, and she sends him a message, "you killed my prophets, and now I swear by the gods that I am going to kill you by this time tomorrow night." (I Kings 19:2)

Well now, Elijah is full of faith from the recent victory right? He stands up to her and says, "My God is greater!", right? That's what we would have done, right? Not exactly. Elijah does what many of us would do.

If there's one thing that seems to be true it's that no matter where you are in your Christian maturity, discouragement is never far away. Elijah runs to the wilderness, sits under a bush & prays that he might die. "'I've had enough,' he told the Lord. 'Take away my life. I've got to die sometime, and it might as well be now.'"

If he really felt like he wanted to die, why didn't he just hang around and let Jezebel do him in? It was more of a matter of feeling sorry for himself. You ever feel that way?

When does discouragement set in? The crazy thing about it is that it comes at some pretty bizarre times, catching us unaware. MANY times its after God has done a great work in us or through us. And then like BAM! we find ourselves feeling sorry for ourselves.

What's God's perscription for this onset of discouragement?

(1) Take care of yourself. As Elijah is there sleeping, an angel wakes him and tells him to eat. Then he rests again. If we do not take care of our physical needs, it's like sending an open invitation for discouragement to walk into your life. In living the Balanced Christian Life, we must keep a gauge on where we're at in terms of rest and health. Sometimes just acknowledging you're tired will help keep discouragement at bay. 19:7 says, "then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.'" The Lord created you. He knows you have physical needs, and he has provided a way for them to be met.

(2) Stay away from self pity. 19:10 the Lord asks him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" His answer is "I have worked very hard... and now they are trying to kill me, too." Elijah's perspective is out of balance. He is bearing the weight of the work of the Lord. Remember "My yoke is easy and by burden is light"? Walking in the will and timing of God is work, but God is bearing the weight. We will get tired, but when we attach our fatigue to "I'm doing SO much for you Lord..." we get ourselves into trouble.

(3) Meet with God. 19:11-12 are really cool. I'd like to see this one in a movie, but I don't even think it could do it justice. God makes an appointment to meet with Elijah. "Go stand before me on the mountain', the Lord told him." There's a windstorm, an earthquake, and a fire. Pretty impressive. Sometimes I think when we meet with God we want to find him in a windstorm, earthquake, or fire. A big revival service. Dancing, shouting, etc... But where is he? He's in a still small voice. In meeting with God, you will get your perspective back. When Elijah met with God, God asked him again, "Why are you here," He answered the same as before which I think is funny. If I were God, I'm thinkin' one zap, and there's a grease spot on the mountain. I'm a hypocrite, though, i should have been a grease spot a long time ago.

(4) Look at the big picture. In Meeting with God, you realize He has a plan and a purpose. Remember, "It's not about you." I've said this before, but sometimes we need to "zoom out" a bit on our perspective of life. God's looking at the big picture, and he only needs us to be obedient for his will to be accomplished. He tends to remind us that we're not alone. Elijah had whined that he was the only one left. God said in verse 18, "And incidentally, there are 7,000 men in Israel who have never bowed to Baal..."

(5) Get back to work. The bicycle principle is this: "You find balance when you're moving." This is true in the Christian life. People think they will find balance by quitting everything. That won't work. God gave Elijah instruction to anoint a new King of Syria, and to develop a new assistant Elisha. After these times of discouragement, there can be new vision and focus in ministry and life. Sometimes the results can be exponential.

Discouragement will come. "Do not grow weary in doing good, for at a proper time you will reap the harvest." Take care of yourself, and "Guard your heart for out of it is the wellspring of life. "

One evening a few years ago I was having one of those times where discouragement was setting in. I was really in a funk. I was kind of feeling sorry for my self on the drive home. As I drove up to my house, I saw my daughter (then four years old) dancing in the driveway, singing to the top of her lungs. She loves to make up her own songs. When I heard what she was singing, I stopped in my tracks. I made her stand in front of me and sing it again. I said, "You didn't write that did you?" she said she did. The next day she told us that the song is Jesus singing it to us. This was my "still small voice". Here's what she was singing:

Do you know that life can be perfect
Can you see that life can be true
Even when life is not what you Dreamed it to be
Life is perfect when you are here with me.



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

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