What's the Use?
Posted by: forthright <forthright@...>
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Going straight to the Cross
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Leave the caves to the bats.
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COLUMN: Hands-on Faith
What's the Use?
by Barry Newton
Huddled in the darkness of a cave all alone,
Elijah continued to beat his drum of depression.
How had God's prophet ended up here after the
powerful victory over the false prophets on Mt.
Carmel? The fire of the Lord had fallen upon his
soggy sacrifice and altar to send up even the
rocks in a pillar of smoke. Israel had shouted,
"Yahweh He is God." So why was Elijah feeling so
beaten down?
Like most depression, the initial impetus for his
all-pervading gloom was a particular situation.
The fury of an evil, powerful woman had been
focused upon him. Jezebel had vowed upon her own
life that Elijah would be slaughtered within the
next 24 hours.
A shroud of fear had covered Elijah's heart
driving him to run for his life. Undoubtedly, an
endless tape had played over and over again in his
head with each step as he ran. Those thoughts
initially spilled forth in a summary fashion under
a broom tree south of Beersheba. "I have had
enough, LORD. Take my life." 1 Kings 19:4 Later,
in the darkness of a cave Elijah poured out before
the Lord the details that had hounded his mind. In
essence he said, "Look at everything I have done.
But it was all in vain. What's the use?"
Is this not a mirror for how depression even today
fuels those feelings of defeat which can shut down
the activity of God's servants?
• Look at all that I've done to win my spouse to
serve the Lord. Nothing has changed. What's the
use?
• I have tried to love my spouse, but my spouse is
so unresponsive. There's no hope for our marriage
to improve. There is no reason for me to keep
trying.
• I have sent out resumes, but it's been to no
avail. I might as well give up. It does not make
any difference.
• Look at how hard I've tried to reach others with
the gospel, but no one is responding. What is the
use in trying anymore?
• I have sacrificed and worked hard at church, but
what difference has it made in the attitudes and
lives of people? What reason is there to keep
trying?
Before describing a path out of the woods, several
observations are in order. First, depression tends
to focus on self rather than the goal. Second, as
someone begins to dwell upon negative thoughts
that pattern of thinking will trigger brain-based
chemical reactions causing a person to feel
depressed and hopeless. The natural response to
feeling depressed is to try to find more evidence
to justify feeling so bad. Thus the vicious cycle
of the pity party and feeling defeated is
unleashed! You can read Elijah's wallowing in 1
Kings 19:10, 14. Similarly, all evidence which
points toward a positive conclusion is either
ignored or reinterpreted negatively.
What did the Lord do for Elijah? Three things.
First, he gave him concrete actions to perform. 1
Kings 19:15-16 Second, he gave him hope. Elijah's
actions would produce results. 1 Kings. 19:17
Third, God provided information that contradicted
Elijah's negative beliefs. 1 Kings 19:18
God does the same for us today. God calls us to
focus upon deliberately taking action to fulfill
our purposes. Those purposes range from conducting
ourselves in a manner which will cause God to be
glorified, in spite of our situation, to spreading
the gospel. Furthermore, regardless of how others
might respond to what we are doing, there is
reward for those disciples who use their time and
resources in faithful stewardship. How I live now
does make a difference!
Not only this, but we are not bound by hopeless
situations. Scripture assures us that prayer is
powerful. Sure, there are forces of evil, but God
and Christ are more powerful!
As a child of the King, living faithfully does
make a difference! But the path out of the gloom
requires making the decision to leave the dark
cave behind in order to take those first steps.
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