When Discouragement Strikes
In my news feed I was hit with the news that a pastor had committed suicide. It broke my heart to read about the hole in the world that came about after his death. I’m neither qualified or close enough to comment about this specific tragedy, but it brought to light many things in my own life over the last few days.
This darkness in our world is not something new and our God is not silent.
This last Sunday I preached on Elijah and covered this biblical character’s own depression. We find Elijah having come off an amazing victory, he prayed for fire to come down from heaven, and God brought fire down. This was a great victory for Elijah and a complete defeat for the prophets of Baal. On the heels of this situation we read 1 Kings 19:4,
“And he went (by himself) a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’”
I have often been like Elijah, right after a victory of God’s power in my life, I have sunk into sadness. Although not as deep as Elijah, or even the pastor from this last week, I know what it is like to be covered in self doubt, even after I have seen God move.
Then I ask myself, where does this come from? Why does this happen?
One reality is that there is a physical element to our world. After a high of victory, there can be a physical crash of emotions biologically in us. The second reality, one that I often forget is that there is a spiritual fight going on at all times. I was reminded of this from a Christian speaker, Carlos Whitaker when he was responding to this recent tragedy. Every day, there is a spiritual battle going on for our hearts. As Jesus states in John 10:10, the thief comes “to steal, kill and destroy”. This enemy is always “prowling like a lion” as we find in 1 Peter 5:8 and we must be careful not to be devoured!
So what does scripture say to us? What are we to do in the face of the enemy of this world?
First we must go to God. Elijah received a comforting angel as he reached out to God in his time of need. We go to God for our comfort and for our strength. Next we must go to people, whether those are our close friends, our spouses or professionals that can help us manage what Spurgeon called “the dark night of the soul”.
But, most of all from this tragedy, I have been reminded to see the world as it is.