1 Kings 19:1-18

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE SOUL IS DISCOURAGED?

Text: 1 Kings 19:1–18

Let us turn our Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 19.

Before we come to our text, let me ask you a simple question.

Have you ever reached a point where you felt you could not continue?

You still came to church.

You still greeted people.

You still sang the hymns.

You still carried on with your responsibilities.

But inside, you were tired.

Discouraged.

Overwhelmed.

Perhaps there is someone here this morning carrying a burden nobody else knows about.

You love the Lord, but you are weary.

You believe God's promises, but you are struggling.

You have not abandoned the faith, but discouragement has entered your soul.

If that describes you, then this message is for you.

The truth is that discouragement is not a rare problem.

The World Health Organization reports that hundreds of millions of people around the world struggle with depression, and every year hundreds of thousands die by suicide. Behind many of those tragedies are souls that have lost hope.

This is not merely a problem outside the church.

It affects students.

Parents.

Workers.

Pastors.

Missionaries.

Faithful church members.

And perhaps some sitting in this congregation today.

This morning I want us to think together about a very important subject:

What happens when the soul is discouraged?

Some are discouraged because of suffering.

Some because of disappointment.

Some because of guilt.

Some because life has not unfolded as they expected.

And sometimes discouragement becomes so deep that a person begins to lose hope.

The Bible spoke about discouraged souls long before modern psychology existed.

The Bible is an honest book.

It does not hide the struggles of God's people.

It shows us their victories, but it also shows us their weaknesses.

And one of the clearest examples is Elijah.

When we come to chapter 19, Elijah has just experienced one of the greatest victories of his ministry.

God has answered by fire.

The prophets of Baal have been defeated.

The people have confessed that the LORD is God.

If anyone should be celebrating, it should be Elijah.

Yet when chapter 19 begins, Elijah is running away.

By verse 4, he is asking God to take his life.

The mighty prophet is sitting alone under a tree wishing he could die.

What makes this chapter so surprising is that it comes immediately after chapter 18.

Fire has fallen from heaven.

False prophets have been defeated.

The people have confessed that the LORD is God.

Yet within a short time Elijah is running for his life.

This reminds us that spiritual victories do not make us immune to discouragement.

Sometimes our deepest discouragement comes immediately after our greatest victories.

Elijah is not unusual.

James tells us that Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are.

In this chapter, Elijah becomes a mirror in which we see ourselves.

As we look at this passage, I want us to see three things.

First, a discouraged soul looks to self.

Second, a discouraged soul believes lies.

Third, a discouraged soul needs God.

I. A DISCOURAGED SOUL LOOKS TO SELF

Look with me at verses 3 and 4.

After Jezebel threatens Elijah, the Bible says:

"And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life."

Then verse 4 says:

"It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life."

Notice how different Elijah is from the man we met in chapter 18.

There he stood before kings.

There he confronted false prophets.

There he trusted God publicly and boldly.

Now he is running in fear.

What changed?

One threat entered his heart.

And when fear entered, his eyes shifted.

They moved away from God and settled upon himself.

Listen to his words:

"It is enough."

In other words:

"I cannot continue."

"I cannot carry this burden."

"I cannot go any further."

The discouraged soul becomes preoccupied with its burdens, fears, and limitations.

Now let us be fair to Elijah.

His danger was real.

Jezebel truly wanted him dead.

This was not imagination.

This was reality.

But Elijah stopped viewing his problems through God's greatness and began viewing everything through his own weakness.

That is often what discouragement does.

It narrows our vision.

We stop seeing God's faithfulness.

We stop remembering God's promises.

We stop considering God's power.

We see only the burden.

Only the obstacle.

Only the darkness.

Elijah is doing what Peter did on the Sea of Galilee.

As long as Peter looked to Christ, he stood.

When he looked at the wind and waves, he began to sink.

The storm was real.

The waves were real.

But his gaze had shifted.

That is exactly what discouragement does.

It enlarges our problems and shrinks our view of God.

And perhaps that is where some of us are today.

You have spent so much time looking at your troubles that you have stopped looking at your God.

You are more conscious of your weakness than His strength.

More conscious of your fears than His promises.

More conscious of your circumstances than His sovereignty.

Whenever self becomes the center of our vision, discouragement grows.

Why?

Because self was never meant to carry the weight of life.

You were never meant to be your own refuge.

You were never meant to be your own savior.

You were never meant to be your own source of strength.

That place belongs to God alone.

And when we attempt to carry what only God can carry, we begin to sink.

A discouraged soul looks to self.

But the passage shows us something even more dangerous.

II. A DISCOURAGED SOUL BELIEVES LIES

Look at verses 10 and 14.

Twice Elijah says:

"I, even I only, am left."

Now was that true?

No.

Verse 18 tells us that God had preserved seven thousand faithful people.

Elijah was not alone.

Yet he believed he was.

Why?

Because discouragement had affected his thinking.

Here is one of the most important lessons in the chapter:

Discouragement does not merely affect our emotions. It affects our interpretation of reality.

Elijah's feelings were real.

His conclusion was false.

Brothers and sisters, discouragement begins to preach sermons.

And those sermons are full of lies.

It says:

"Nobody understands."

"Nobody cares."

"You are alone."

"There is no hope."

"Nothing will ever change."

"God has forgotten you."

Have you ever heard those sermons?

Many of us have.

And when discouragement is strong, those lies sound believable.

Elijah felt abandoned.

But he was not abandoned.

Elijah felt forgotten.

But he was not forgotten.

Elijah felt alone.

But he was not alone.

The same is often true for us.

Our feelings are real.

But our feelings are not always right.

Our emotions are powerful.

But our emotions are not always truthful.

That is why God's Word must always be our authority.

Think about David in Psalm 42.

David was discouraged.

David was cast down.

Yet he did something remarkable.

He spoke to himself.

He said:

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God."

Notice what David is doing.

He is not listening to his discouragement.

He is confronting it.

He is preaching truth to his own heart.

Many people spend their lives listening to themselves.

David talked to himself.

He reminded himself of God.

He reminded himself of truth.

He reminded himself of hope.

One of the greatest battles in the Christian life is the battle between God's truth and our feelings.

Will we believe what we feel?

Or will we believe what God has said?

Because a discouraged soul that continues believing lies will eventually sink deeper into despair.

III. A DISCOURAGED SOUL NEEDS GOD

Now we come to the most beautiful part of the chapter.

Elijah is afraid.

Elijah is exhausted.

Elijah is discouraged.

Elijah wants to die.

How does God respond?

Does God abandon him?

No.

Does God destroy him?

No.

Does God mock him?

No.

Instead, God comes to him.

What a wonderful God we serve.

God finds Elijah under the tree.

God sends food.

God sends water.

God gives rest.

God speaks to him.

God corrects him.

God strengthens him.

God restores him.

Notice something beautiful.

God does not begin with a rebuke.

He begins with care.

Before correcting Elijah's thinking, He strengthens Elijah's body.

Before confronting Elijah's error, He ministers to Elijah's weakness.

There is wisdom here.

Sometimes spiritual discouragement is intensified by physical exhaustion.

Elijah has endured conflict.

Pressure.

Fear.

Loneliness.

Emotional strain.

And God deals with him tenderly.

The God who sent fire from heaven is also the God who prepares a meal for His weary servant.

What a picture of divine compassion.

Elijah was ready to quit.

But God was not ready to quit on Elijah.

Elijah had given up on himself.

But God had not given up on Elijah.

Brothers and sisters, that is good news.

Because many times we become weary.

Many times we become discouraged.

Many times we feel weak.

But our weakness does not cancel God's faithfulness.

The Lord remembers that we are dust.

The Lord knows our frame.

The Lord knows our struggles.

Then God brings Elijah to Horeb.

There a mighty wind comes.

Then an earthquake.

Then a fire.

Yet the Lord was not in them.

Afterward came a still small voice.

Why?

Because Elijah needed more than another display of power.

He needed a fresh revelation of God Himself.

The deepest need of the discouraged soul is not changed circumstances.

It is renewed communion with God.

Notice that Jezebel is still alive.

Israel is still rebellious.

The challenges remain.

Yet Elijah leaves strengthened.

Why?

Because he has encountered God.

And that is exactly what discouraged souls need.

More than better circumstances.

More than fewer problems.

More than earthly solutions.

They need God Himself.

And this is where the passage points us to Christ.

Because Christ is the ultimate answer for every discouraged soul.

Jesus knows sorrow.

Jesus knows grief.

Jesus knows rejection.

Jesus knows suffering.

In Gethsemane He said:

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."

Yet unlike Elijah, Christ never sinned.

Unlike Elijah, Christ never doubted His Father.

Unlike Elijah, Christ never believed a lie.

Then He went to the cross.

Elijah sat under a tree asking to die.

Christ hung upon a tree in order to die.

Elijah wanted escape from suffering.

Christ willingly entered suffering for our salvation.

Elijah believed he was alone.

Christ endured the darkness of Calvary so that His people would never be forsaken.

There He bore the wrath of God.

There He carried the sins of His people.

And three days later He rose again from the dead.

Why?

So that hopeless sinners might have hope.

So that guilty sinners might have forgiveness.

So that weary sinners might find rest.

My friend, your deepest problem is not discouragement.

It is sin.

And the answer to sin is Jesus Christ.

You can have money and still be discouraged.

You can have friends and still be discouraged.

You can have success and still be discouraged.

But if you have Christ, you have hope.

Because Christ is enough.

CONCLUSION

Let me close with a question.

Where are you in this story?

Are you like Elijah under the juniper tree?

Weary?

Discouraged?

Ready to give up?

Then remember this:

Elijah's story did not end under the tree.

The God who met him there restored him, strengthened him, and sent him forward again.

And the same God still meets weary sinners through Jesus Christ.

Therefore do not look finally to yourself.

Do not listen to the lies of discouragement.

Look to Christ.

For He is sufficient for every discouraged soul.

And He still says:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Amen.