Last week, we started our series, divine health, ending by saying the series should start with mental issues. We mentioned Elijah and depression as well as the madman of Gadara and wondered if there was a difference between those two. Today, we want to commence with the prophet Elijah and you can guess why. We are all Christians (I hope) and will do well to learn from one like us, a man of God. We refer simply to this post as Elijah’s depression.
And the reason we do that is that any suicidal thought is usually associated with depression. If you are happy, you don’t think of taking your own life. But Elijah did. He wanted to die and asked God to help him as if that was going to happen. The creator does not kill. He does not even like the death of a sinner but that we should repent and live. But the bile is quite clear that in Elijah’s depression, he misunderstood God.
You may know the story in the 19th chapter of the 1st kings in the Bible. Take time to read it, especially if you have a friend who suffers from depression. Please note that Elijah was not immune to depression even though he was a man of God. Similarly, being a man of God does not exempt you from illness unless you know God’s mind, Studying Elijah’s depression should help you know that and keep mental illness at bay.
Elijah Believed A Lie
The first step in Elijah’s depression was that he believed a lie. The Bible says that is the outcome of a strong delusion in a man (or woman). Where did Elijah’s strong delusion come from? A woman named Jezebel threatened him. You see, Elijah had killed all her prophets. And she sought to avenge herself and her husband, king Ahab. That was when she pronounced a threat of death on Elijah. Elijah believed the threat. How often do you believe the threats of satan and his cohorts?
Such satan’s cohorts may be in your office, your church, your family, or even in your neighborhood. To avoid Elijah’s depression, we must pray for a discerning spirit. Because they are so sweet that a discerning spirit is the only way you will recognize them. Poor Elijah, he did not realize that Jezebel was serving as a cohort of the devil when she threatened to kill him. Otherwise, he would never have believed her since he knows that the devil is a liar.
Satan’s lies to you might not involve a death threat. He may simply want to persuade you that you are not intelligent. Or he may want you to believe that God does not really love you. You recall that was what he did to Adam and Eve. His implication was that if God loved them, he would not forbid them from eating the forbidden fruit. But you know that God loved us so much He gave us Jesus to die for us. So, that was a lie that the devil told them. and it was a lie that Jezebel told the prophet that brought on Elijah’s depression and fear. She did not have the power of life and death. That power belongs to God alone.
Overworking Led To Elijah’s Depression
Would you recognize the lie of satan today? I pray that God will give each of us a discerning spirit so we should not believe a lie. It led to Elijah’s depression just as it can lead to ours. Believing a lie is usually the reason for suicides. For example, suicides must have believed that their trouble did not have an expiry date. And yet you know that is not true. We could go on and on with examples but I pray we shall not believe a lie.
One major way to not believe a lie is to ensure you do not overwork yourself. Elijah made himself vulnerable to the devil’s lies by overworking himself. He was suffering from burnout, a no-no for the one who wishes to avoid Elijah’s depression. Jesus, the Son of God, often went apart by Himself. It was to avoid burnout. If you tend to operate like a super hero, you may become vulnerable to satan’s tricks. Some pastors go to work for eight to ten hours and then attend a night vigil for another five hours. And they keep up that schedule three to four days a week.
Don’t be surprised to find such pastors experiencing Elijah’s depression and becoming mechanical in their preaching. There are cases of such pastors actually progressing to suicide. May that never be our portion in Jesus’ name. But the responsibility is ours. Don’t believe a lie and don’t overwork. And you will be in a great position to avoid Elijah’s depression.
In our next post, by the grace of God, we shall consider frank madness and how to help people avoid it
Stay tuned.
Maranatha!
