PrintElijah Re-visited (2)
I'm staying with Elijah a while longer because I think his experience has a lot to teach me. I've noted his retreat into the desert. I've also noted the fact that he left his servant behind in Beersheba. Further, I've noted that I think he is in a state of burnout.
I wonder if part of his problem is because he really expected the whole nation to turn back to God? How different would the story have been if Ahab and Jezebel had been soundly converted and become committed followers of Yahweh? Is that what Elijah expected? If so, it's no wonder that he experienced this major "downer"!!
Whatever be the reason for his deep depression, I think it's worth noting the following symptoms of his condition.
A. Self-imposed isolation. In one sense, isolation is a pre-requisite in the desert. But, at the same time, it could prove dangerous if we don't have contact with at least one other person during such a time. It's a strange trait of human nature that we tend to withdraw from others when we most need them. It bothers me that Elijah left his servant and traveled a full day into the desert on his own. It is all too easy to cut ourselves off from others at a time when we most need them.
As I noted in my last entry, even Jesus wanted and needed His disciples to stand with Him in His time of greatest need. The truth is we need to cultivate close friendships when life is going along well. It will most likely be from among those friendships that we will find that person or persons who will be supportive when we enter the desert.
B.Emotional Depression. "I wish I was dead!" "Take my life, Lord…." No doubt about it; Elijah was in the grip of overwhelming despair. I wonder if he had any idea just how much the events back on Mount Carmel had depleted his emotional resources? I wonder if he understood the truth that James was to write about him hundreds of years later;"Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5/17). Could he have expected more of himself than was practical and achievable? Did he fail to realize the limits of his own humanity?
I suppose those questions expose my own experience. As I reflect on those occasions when I have crashed emotionally, I find that such crashes have occurred because I have gone beyond the limits of my emotional capacity. Bev has read those times more accurately than I have. Had I not eventually been persuaded by her to pay attention to the warning signals, who knows the damage that may have been done.
There are three other symptoms of this desert experience but I will need note those in my next log entry.
