A Thrill of Hope in the Wilderness

In the summer of 1986, my dad decided to take our family on their first ever vacation. He chose Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. We left Arkansas and finally arrived at Scenic, SD at which point dad announced he would take us in the back way, through the Badlands. Alone and on that gravel road, close to ten miles from any human being, a rock hit our gas tank and we were stranded in the wilderness. So, my brother and I walked through the Badlands back to Scenic where we called a wrecker to come get us.

My guess is you’ve had moments like that in life. Nothing seemed to go well. You felt isolated, alone, and no one knew your situation. We all felt like we were in a wilderness during COVID. Everyone did the best they could but it was a long time alone.

Maybe you’ve been asking questions like, “When do I no longer have to be alone”, “When will I finally get out of debt”, “When will I get a job”, “When will the cancer be gone”, “When will my child come home”. We’ve all had moments when it felt like we were stranded and we couldn’t see how we would ever move forward to a more positive space in our story.

We love the mountain top experiences with God. I mean, who doesn’t? But it’s interesting in the Bible, wilderness moments typically follow mountain top experiences. It happened to Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He’s baptized by John and then hears the words of the Father, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” And right after that, Jesus is lead into the wilderness to tempted by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights.

Maybe you’ve had a bit smaller of a difficult time. Your relationship is great only to discover that person wasn’t being totally honest with you. You thought you had a rock solid marriage only to find out your spouse has been stepping out on you. You thought you were on the road to financial stability only to be laid off.

However, your deepest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend an almighty God.

There’s a story in 1 Kings 19 about Elijah who runs away from a wicked queen. He runs to Mount Sinai and hides in a cave. The LORD appears to him to remind Elijah who he is and how God is with him, even in the wilderness. So God passes in front of the cave with Elijah standing there. There is a strong wind, an earthquake, a fire, but God isn’t in any of those extraordinary things. There’s finally an ordinary, every day whisper and that’s where God is. God asks Elijah in the whisper, “What are you doing here?”

And why does God whisper? It’s because He’s close…He’s near. He’s right there with you in your wilderness. So, what’s He saying to you? I will never forsake you. I will never leave you. I’ll hold you up with my strong right hand. I’ll stand by you. I will be light in your darkness. I love you more than you can imagine.

The Psalmist says in Psalms 34:17-18, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” God is close to those who feel they are in a wilderness moment. But he whispers, “Hang on! I’m right here.”

You and I can trust God is Immanuel, “God with us”. He is with you and will never leave. He loves you more than anything. Blessings on the journey.

Beating Depression.

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in Israel’s history. He saw God work by providing water and food when he was hiding out. He saw a little boy resurrected. He saw fire from heaven which melted his altar. Elijah saw prayer answered in the moment when rain came after a three year drought.

But even when you see power, position, and praise in your life, it’s possible to slip into a disappointed and a depressed lifestyle. When you read the story of Elijah (1 Kings 17-19), you see God’s power clearly in his life, just as he did. But in 1 Kings 19, Elijah makes some mistakes that lead him into a depressed state. We can learn from his mistakes and intentionally move into a healthy state of mind.

There are four things that lead to a depressed life and the first is that you can wear yourself out. We live today with no margin in our life. We hit the ground running in the morning and don’t stop until we drop into bed late at night. Each of us have our own burdens to bear along with our friends and family who want us to walk with them through their own difficulties. We try to balance our lives and do everything possible to not be left out or behind.

Secondly, we can shut people out. Many of us keep our closest family and friends at arms length, saying things like, “You’ll never understand what I am experiencing”, “I can’t tell you what I’m going through.”

We also tend to focus on the negative. Like Elijah, many of us dwell in self-pity. And we know self-pity exaggerates reality. We say things like, “I’m never going to get better”, “I will always have this addiction”, “I’ll always be stuck in this lifestyle.” Which leads us in the direction of the final idea…

We can forget all that God has done for us. God had provided Elijah with water and food. With God’s power, he had raised the dead. Elijah had seen fire from heaven convict an entire nation. But in chapter 19, Elijah thinks God is not going to help him anymore and he finds himself running away.

So, what is God’s prescription for our depression?

When you read 1 Kings 19:5-16, we see everything as God wants us to see. The first thing God calls us to is to eat and rest. For some of us, the most spiritual thing we can do right now is rest. Jewish culture was built around the 10 Commandments and one of those was to keep the Sabbath. Americans do not practice rest. We run all day long, seven days a week. God calls us to build in rest into our weekly calendar. God calls us to rest in order to be at our healthiest.

Secondly, God replaces our lies with his truth. Elijah says that he’s the only one who is left for God and that is not true. 7000 Israelites had never bowed down to an idol. Elijah is taking on responsibility that was not his to take. For many of us, we hear the lies our enemy tells us everyday and speak them to ourselves as if they were truth.

But Scripture tells us that all things are possible with God! That if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. Paul reminds us to take every thought captive for Christ.

God had showed himself to Elijah through fire and miracles but suddenly God appears in a still, small voice. Sometimes when we are at our lowest, God speaks the softest. Many of us are hurting today. We experience relational hurt; the loss of a life companion; the shortness of a bank account; the hurtful words of a co-worker. And in those moments, God is saying quietly, “I’ll never leave you”, “I am right here”, “You are enough.”

Finally, God gives Elijah something to do. You see, we are people who need a purpose. God tells Elijah to go back and do what prophets do. God is calling you into purpose as well. Each of us has a gift or talent and we are called to use it in Kingdom work. Whether it’s patience or mentorship or kindness or love, use it to the glory of God.

We beat depression by resting, replacing our lies with God’s truth, listening to God’s voice even when it’s quiet and discovering what God has called us to do. Alone, we are powerless. But with God we can do anything. Blessings on the journey.