I’m so glad you stopped by! This is a message I preached on Sunday, November 1, 2015. If you have ever found yourself in a place that has left you wondering how in the world you got there and what you are doing there, then this message is for you! There is help and hope in the Word of God for you!
Psalm 30:1-5,8,10-12 ESV
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]
4
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
8
To you, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
10
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
(The following text illustrations are provided by SermonCentral.com)
In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn’t eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to have a good time, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. “You must go and see him,” the doctor advised. “Grimaldi is the world’s funniest clown. He’ll make you laugh and cure your sadness.” “No,” replied the despairing man, “He can’t help me. You see, I am Grimaldi!” http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-stories-findingfulfillment-23396.asp
Many years ago a young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep depression that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and razors out of his reach. He questioned his life’s calling and the prudence of even attempting to follow it through. During this time he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not.” But somehow, from somewhere, Abraham Lincoln received the encouragement he needed, and the achievements of his life thoroughly vindicated his bout with discouragement. http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-stories-disappointment-60456.asp
We all go through seasons. It is a part of human nature. If you are alive, you will experience a variety of seasons, emotional terrain, spiritual highs and lows, mountain top experiences and treacherous valleys, well-watered gardens and barren deserts in your life. It happens to us all. However, what we will learn today is what to do when you find yourself in a dry spell, or a pit, or a season of discouragement. We don’t have to merely accept this and allow ourselves to remain stuck in the muck and the mire of life. God has a plan, and He has given us multiple examples in His Word to encourage and instruct us.
We all find ourselves at one point or another in a place where we wonder how in the world we got there and why…
- · It may be a bout of depression, discouragement, the blahs, or just feeling numb.
- · Maybe you just don’t feel as close to God as you used to.
- · It could be a sin or addiction that has gotten out of control.
- · A broken relationship, or a broken heart
- · A critical attitude or a bitterness toward someone, refusal to forgive
- · The loss of joy
- · A stagnant spiritual life or a stalled desire to study God’s Word, worship, or spend time in His presence.
- · A sense of dryness when you come to church.
- · Overwhelmed by the stress of life, work, home, family, finances, health…
If that is you, I declare that you can receive your answer this very day. I’m not kidding! God has shown me that many of You will be delivered today if you will let Him do it! I am so excited to see what He IS going to do!
I want you to know that there is HELP AND HOPE in God’s Word for you today. You don’t have to remain in the drought. As Elijah said in 1 Kings 18:41, “I hear the sound of an abundance of rain!”
You have seen others refuse to step out of their pits, and you have also seen the consequences. But, that doesn’t have to be YOUR story. Today can be different for you!
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Picture it: Elijah was one of the mightiest men of God in history. He carried the weight of a powerful anointing of God. He had been God’s instrument in numerous miracles, even raising a dead boy to life. How exciting must his journey have been! Yet, on the heels of one of the greatest spiritual victories ever recorded, he finds himself wallowing in a pit of fear and depression, even to the point of suicide.
As a matter of fact, we can find plentiful accounts of mighty, anointed men of God finding themselves in this same situation immediately following a tremendous victory or outpouring of anointing – Elijah, Jonah, David, Jeremiah, Paul, to name a few.
Jonah had just incited a national revival in Ninevah, and the entire city repented and was transformed. What does Jonah do? He sits on top of a hill and pouts. When the sun became too hot, he wanted to die.
Jeremiah and David were both gifted writers who penned their weariness, fear, pain, and lament for future generations to ponder. Reading through the books of Psalms and Lamentations, we can find copious verses of despair and tragedy that can actually be a source of comfort and healing when we find ourselves battling similar emotions. How encouraging to know that these tremendous men of God also experienced seasons of grief, yet found their solace and hope in the Lord.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:5, “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.” A study of the book of Acts and the missionary travels of Paul would reveal a life of relentless persecution and imprisonment for the sake of the Gospel, yet even in the pits of prison, he is found praising God and writing words of encouragement and instruction from the Holy Spirit to the early churches- in spite of his predicament. Out of his pit came his greatest ministry, and yours can too!
What I am seeing from these examples is that if you are going through a dry season, you are in pretty good company. You are not alone, but you do not have to stay there!
Let’s go back to the first example, the mighty Elijah.
You may be familiar with the great victory on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Elijah had declared that there would be no rain in the land until he called for it because King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had basically run the nation of God’s chosen people into the toilet with their worship of Baal and Asherah. Finally, after the land had suffered severally from the drought, it was time to do something about it. Elijah called all of the prophets of Baal and Ahserah together to settle the score once and for all.
You know the story of what happened on top of Mt. Carmel. The false prophets beat themselves to a frenzy, and their gods never answered. Conversely, Elijah prayed a simple prayer to the one, true, living God who answered with fire. It consumed the sacrifice, the altar, and even licked up all the water in the surrounding trenches. Yes, God proved what a mighty God He is!
Soon after came the sound of the “abundance of rain!” Chalk up another great victory! Right then, the Holy Spirit came upon Elijah, and he ran so fast that he made it to Jezreel before King Ahab could get there in his horse-drawn chariot. Talk about a man full of the Spirit of God and walking in a mighty victory!
Here is where the story turns and where we might relate. We too have experienced some of the most extraordinary victories in this church and in our lives, but we have been drawn by the temptation to subsist on those past experiences rather than continually seeking God for fresh bread. Consequently, our old bread has gotten stale, and it no longer sustains us. We find ourselves “dry and crusty.”
Moving on…
Queen Jezebel had threatened Elijah’s life, and he ran into the desert horrified to the point of suicide.
Catch this. Elijah had gone straight from a mighty victory to a suicidal death wish in a mere moment. He found himself in the depths of despair, and it can happen to any of us. However, notice that instead of condemning or reprimanding Elijah, God sent an angel to minister to him.
Please understand, in the same way, this message is not to condemn any of you or step on anyone’s toes. It is meant to offer the same help and hope to you that Elijah experienced. If even one of the greatest men of God in history can slip into such a desert place, it can happen to any of us. However, the lessons in this chapter can be just the hand that you need to pull you out.
I see six major points of God’s deliverance from this story:
1. God took care of Elijah’s physical needs first. He had become exhausted and famished. It is not uncommon for us to feel wiped out after experiencing a season of spiritual success, but that can be a dangerous place. We often let our guard down and don’t even notice the slump until it hits us hard. Physical exhaustion can lead us to a pit, and the pit can deplete us physically. It is a never-ending cycle, but God understands that very well, as is evidenced in the next several verses:
We are tridimensional beings. We are body, soul, and spirit. When one is weak or damaged, it affects the rest. Elijah had become physically weak, and before God could provide the spiritual healing he needed, Elijah needed to be fortified physically. God allowed him to sleep for a while first, and then He sent an angel to provide nourishing food to strengthen him for his journey.
So, practically speaking, I want to ask you, how are you taking care of your physical health? How are you maintaining the Temple of the Holy Spirit? Our entire perspective and ability to rise up out of our desert place is greatly influenced by our physical health. Make sure you are eating well, avoiding junk, drinking plenty of water, exercising, balancing work and rest, and getting plenty of sleep so that you will be strong enough to fight the good fight.
2. Have we become wonder junkies? Have we missed hearing from God because we expect Him to move only according to our past experiences? Learn to find God where He is and listen to His still, small voice.
We must be careful not to assume that if we aren’t seeing the spectacular, than God must not be at work at all. God cannot be boxed in to our limited boxes of personal experience. When we try to limit God, we miss Him altogether. Sometimes, He speaks to us in a still small voice, or even in the mundane. We need to learn to recognize Him however He chooses to reveal Himself to us.
Don’t give up or become discouraged because God isn’t moving in the way You want Him to. He is very much alive and active in this church. Don’t miss Him because it doesn’t look like you think it should. Don’t allow yourself to dry out when He offers plentiful streams of living water to refresh you right here, in this place, right now.
On the other hand, don’t use this as an excuse to settle for a dull and lifeless spiritual life either. Keep your eyes open and seek Him with all that is in you. He has promised that you WILL find Him when you look for Him with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
Instead of seeking wonders, seek God. The wonders will follow.
3. Notice God’s question to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He wanted Elijah to see himself, hiding in a dark and lonely cave. He needed to know where he was before he could go where he was going.
God is asking us the same question. “What are you doing here?” Not to condemn us or make us feel bad. He wants us to see how far we have drifted so we can see our way back to Him and the center of His will for us. So, the question remains for us, “What are you doing here?”
Think about it. What is your pit? What is in your life that doesn’t belong there? Where have you become dry and barren? How far have you drifted from the passionate warrior of God you used to be? You need to recognize it before you can accept God’s deliverance.
4. Elijah’s perception was all wrong. He believed the enemy’s lies. Only truth will set us free.
It is interesting to me that the majority of his fear was based on misinformation. I don’t want to belittle his fears of Jezebel, because she really did want to kill him. She was an evil woman. She had killed other prophets of God before, and she could certainly do it again. However, Elijah truly believed that he was all alone, and that was the basis of his despair.
However, God explained to him in verse 18 that there were 7000 in Israel who were with him. Wow! He certainly was NOT alone. He was brooding over a lie!
How many times have we slumped into a pit because we misunderstood a situation or a person? We keep replaying conversations or moments in our minds until we have built up hurt and bitterness, yet we had misinterpreted it all along. If we had only gone to the person to work it out and communicate truth, we would have avoided all kinds of pain!
Sometimes, we wallow in fear or shame because we assessed our situation incorrectly. We worry or become depressed because we only see one piece of the puzzle or a limited understanding of a situation. We may not see the provision or the answer that is right there around the corner, and we fret through our darkened misunderstandings.
Satan revels in this. If He can get us to believe anything about ourselves, our God, or our situation that is untrue, He can have power over our thinking. He can then hold us hostage to his pit of lies. The only way out is to see the truth, and God revealed just that to Elijah.
John 8:32 “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
5. There is strength in numbers. God never intended for us to go through these times alone. He provided a companion, rulers, and a crowd of support just when Elijah needed it, and you have a team of support right here in your church.
When Elijah had traveled with his servant, he left his servant in Beersheba so he could continue on and collapse in the desert all by himself. He had isolated himself on purpose.
Our first instinct is often to withdraw and isolate ourselves when we need each other the most. We are to do this thing called life as a body of Christ, not as isolated individuals that are more susceptible to the enemy’s attacks. Remember, there is strength in numbers. A chord of three strands is not easily broken.
God provided Elisha at just the right time, and he would prove to be a source of strength and companionship to Elijah for the rest of his life. Who is your Elisha?
Who is your Titus?
2 Corinthians 7:5-6 ESV For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
Do not neglect Godly relationships. We need each other.
6. Finally, God reminded Elijah that he still had a purpose, but he had to make the move. As long as you have breath, as long as you have a beating heart, God has a divine purpose for your life.
God commanded Elijah in verse 15, “GO back the way you came.” God didn’t do everything for poor, pitiful Elijah. Even in the midst of despair, God said
GO!
God doesn’t feel sorry for us and watch us lick our wounds in self-pity. He says to get up and go. Put one foot in front of the other. It is time to get back into the purpose for which He has called you.
He asks, “What are you doing here?” Then He says, “Go.”
What is holding you back from fulfilling the calling God has placed on your life?
What is sealing your joy?
What is holding you in your pit, or your desert place?
We have all been there, but not one of us has to stay there. Today is your day!
He has provided everything you need to get back on track. He is more than ready, willing, and able to deliver you right here and right now. Give it to Him. Trust Him. Allow Him to set you free. Get ready to find that sweet spot of being smack dab in the center of God’s perfect will for your life again.
Psalm 40:2 NLT says
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
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Uncle Cecil, that means so much to me coming from you! Thank you. Jeff and I have so much respect for you and your Biblical wisdom. We love you!
Shari, This is a great message and I'm sure will help all who read it. Thank you, Uncle Cecil