Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets, and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
what depression discouragement despair
often brings is distorted information
Elijah is by himself depression gets
worse if there’s nobody in your life to
change your thinking see if you feeling
sorry for yourself and you’re talking to
yourself that’s a bad conversation for
yourself
you already feeling sorry and there’s
nobody to talk to but you about you
regarding you to tell you what you ought
to do and you aren’t in a place to even
hear you correctly then your discussion
with yourself is helping yourself to
become worse off about you
so God then enters the picture and tells
him
Nadja tell me how you feel stop talking
to yourself delete you talk to yourself
you will get depressed or suicidal start
talking to me okay now I’m gonna show
you the wind in the rain and all that
stuff y’all talk to me cuz you talking
to you it’s killing you kill you stop
talking you to you and y’all talk to me
daughter’s name
for you he’s got a person for you he has
himself for you
he gave me lies you all three of those
to give him a supernatural experience to
lift him out of his depression and one
of the reasons that the church exists is
to have people available in your life
when you are down who can embrace you
minister to you lift you up and he can
use you to do the same thing for
somebody else because when we are
depressed
we need another perspective that doesn’t
deny the reality of how we feel but what
it does it does let you live
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as we continue with the study of the
life of Elijah we want to look at now
another kind of supernatural miracle he
needed this was not a miracle that had
to do with money and houses and land
that has this was a miracle that had to
do with his need to be lifted out of his
depression depression is discouragement
on steroids its discouragement that now
has produced and ongoing a level of
gloom an ongoing level of emotional pain
and when discouragement becomes
depression depression unresolved becomes
despair and when depression becomes
despair that ongoing discouragement that
has led to depression which now results
in despair produces a sense of
hopelessness that’s our situation with
Elijah he’s going to find himself where
many of us have often found ourselves in
a black hole he’s going to find
themselves looking for a light at the
end of the tunnel only to discover it’s
the light of an oncoming train because
his whole world is going to be turned
upside down in a day when we come to
chapter 19 we find out what led to this
emergency shift in his emotions you see
he had an expectation because when we
finished chapter 18
he had told a.m. cheer up laugh party
eat and drink cause this go rain and a I
have got in the chariot and made his way
home he lies you beat him home by
running a I’ve had a controlling wife he
had a woman who was telling him what to
do he had a controlling wife and his
wife had taken over when it was Elijah’s
anticipation that a hab was going to
turn things around he was married to he
was married to a lady named Jezebel and
Jezebel was running Isha
Jezebel was calling his shot and just
about was telling him Elijah
you’re a dead man Jezebel is an evil
threat that comes your way
it is something or someone who threatens
your well-being because she threatened
by Tamar this time you’re gonna be dead
so any threat in your life that comes
you away that produces discouragement
depression despair or even as we’re
going to see in a moment a desire to die
is a Jezebel in your life it’s something
or someone who threatens the stability
of your mental well-being so when a boss
threatens you that he’s going to fire
you and it’s not a legitimate reason
he’s become Jezebel when there’s a
person who threatens you or your
stability they are in fact being
adjustable in your life they are
operating as the new lord over your
emotions and the reason why they can
operate as lord over your emotions is
because their threat gets into your head
and when their threat gets into your
thought your thought affects your
feelings you see we are made up of three
parts we’re made up of body our physical
being we’re made up of soul
psychology is soul the study of the soul
so we’re made up of a personhood and
then we’re made up spiritually what you
have to understand is all three of these
are interconnected and interrelated so
as you’ll see in a moment if you feel
bad physically it affects how you’re
gonna think psychologically which may
affect also how you function spiritually
well if you’re down spiritually that may
affect your ability to function
physically or your ability to be able to
reason psychologically or if you’re off
psychologically it can make you want to
go to bed physically it make you not
want to deal with something spiritually
because all three are interconnected and
all three affect the other two so it is
understanding how these three connect
with each other and all three in this
story that you will understand how to
deal with that which controls the mind
now let’s understand tenth emotions a
part of the soul how the soul relates to
the thought so that you can understand
how to find God’s work in that which
discourages you emotionally if your mind
is wrong your emotions are going to be
wrong if your mind is right your
emotions are going to be right that’s
why I change in your mind will always
change how you feel he is now living
under a threat Jezebel the evil one has
threatened his well-being and his life
and he’s trying to figure out now how is
he going to face this and this is
overnight his whole life has changed
because somebody has gotten into his
head so what he does is he goes on
another day’s journey the man and run 15
miles now he’s going to go on a whole
nother day’s journey he sits on the
juniper-tree verse 4 and he requests for
himself that he might die it is enough
now O Lord take my life for I am NOT
better than my father’s he wants to die
24 hours after the biggest miracle he’s
seen this is a fast slippery slope okay
watch this now elijah is not a carnal
christian elijah is not an unspiritual
person he’s been called a man of God we
get saw the hand of the Lord was on him
so guess what it’s possible for
spiritual people to get depressed so you
can be spiritual and be down you can be
spiritual and be emotionally struggling
through something so don’t automatically
feel that your discouragement is due to
your carnality now if you are carnal and
if you are spiritual then it could very
well be related to that but it’s not
automatically related to that
specifically in the life of someone who
is pursuing God so he’s ready to give up
he’s ready to throw in the
and when he’s ready to throw in the
towel he lays down because he’s so tired
under a juniper tree which is only a
tree big enough for one person to lay
under it and there was an angel touching
him and said arrive eat verse five he
looked up and behold there at his head a
bread cake baked on hot stones a jar of
water so that he ate and drank and lay
down again when did the angel show up
the angel only showed up after Elijah
had had an honest conversation with God
you see he told God I want to die he
told God I’m not good as my father’s he
told God I have nothing left
he told God I’m done and God sent an
angel but he still what’s the real thing
because he knows what you’re going
through the scripture says he knows we
were flesh so Elijah comes and he bares
his soul to God could look when you’re
ready to die ain’t no time to be cute
when you when you solo you want to throw
in the towel it’s not the time to play
Church that’s not the time to just go
through religious activity
he gets wrong with God second thing I
want you to notice is how God had rested
the first need he dressed was his
physical need because one of the causes
of discouragement depression in this
prayer is physical if you hungry James
says you don’t need just a prayer
meeting you need somebody to make you a
ham sandwich when you’re hungry because
there is a physical reality going on so
it is quite legitimate to examine
whether there are physical causes to
your emotional struggles and to have
those physical causes addressed now God
addressed it supernaturally because he
sent an angel but let me tell you about
angels Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 says
that every believer has been assigned an
angel every Christian has an angel so
God has an angel and he knows
now the problem with angels is they’re
invisible because their spirit beings
and their supernatural in nature because
they’re heavenly beings and so the job
of an angel is your personal post-office
carrier whose job it is to deliver
whatever God wants delivered to you
that’s what your angels job is and every
believer has one but notice the angel
doesn’t come until the communication
takes place between Elijah and his God
so God needs on his communication
because he says Elijah is of a like
nature so he react he he deals with the
reality of exhaustion physically
emotionally spiritually and so does
everybody else but that’s also the
opportunity that the devil looks for to
take advantage of even in the case of
Jesus and Jesus didn’t have a spiritual
problem but after he had fasted 40 days
and 40 nights in the wilderness it says
the devil came to tempt him why he was
tired and he was hungry and he was weak
so being tired hungry and weak gave the
devil the opportunity he had to try to
get to the most spiritual person who’s
ever lived so you know if the devil is
gonna attack Jesus who couldn’t sin and
didn’t sin and he already knows our
propensity to sin that you are perfect
bait for him to enter your thought in
order to get to the caboose of your
emotions in order to send you or downa
in your life but you got an angel with
your name on it whose job it is to
deliver the supernatural to you so the
angel of the Lord comes in verse 7 a
second time he’s touched with the name
by an angel arrived eat because your
journey is too great for you now watch
this so he lets him rest before he lets
him continue so he arose in
ate and drank and went in the strength
of the food forty days and forty nights
to Horeb the mountain of God when you
are depressed many times the last place
you want to go is to the mountain of God
the mountain of God means to go in God’s
presence that’s the last place you want
to go but that’s the first place God
wants you to run to he wants you to run
to his presence and bring your
depression with you bring your
discouragement with you he’ll give you
enough to get to the mountain to get to
his presence so he calls him into his
presence that gets really interesting
now there are a number of issues going
on here he asked him then it came to a
cave lodged there verse nine and behold
the word of the Lord came him and said
what are you doing here Elijah now God
doesn’t have to ask why you here because
he doesn’t know because he knows why you
here he knows that you’ve been
frustrated in fact he just fed you but
he asked him why are you here
the reason God asked him why are you
here is not for God to get information
the reason he asked why you here is for
him to fully express what he’s dealing
with so what are you dealing with Elijah
and here’s what Elijah says Elijah said
I have been very zealous for the Lord
for the God of hosts for the son of his
sons of Israel have forsaken your
covenant torn down your altars killed
your prophets with the sword and I alone
am left and they seek my life to take it
away okay
so let’s discuss discuss why he’s here
why are you in this situation why are
you so depressed okay you asked me God
i’ma tell you I committed myself to you
I dedicated myself to you all the month
people are unspiritual they didn’t keep
your covenants they were worshipping
those idols and I’m
he has adopted a victim’s mentality a
victims mentality is a mindset that you
adopt because of negative circumstances
that says I’m where I am because
everybody else is where they are I’m
here by myself cuz none of them are
agreeing with you and that’s put me out
here by myself and you got me out here
by myself that’s a victim’s mentality
now you can be a victim but you are to
never adopt a victim’s mentality where
everybody else is responsible for where
you are a victim’s mentality is because
of them I’m here and as long as you have
that kind of mentality you’ll always be
there you may be a victim but you are to
never adopt the victims mentality
because then that allows you to put off
being responsible to make the change you
should make because they’re not making
the change they should make he was just
victorious with these people
he was just victorious with them making
a renewed commitment but because he was
psychologically damaged he developed a
victims mentality now please don’t
misunderstand me you may be a victim it
may be unfair it may not be right it may
not it may be evil so you may be a
victim but that’s different than
adopting the mindset of a victim and to
many of us socially and economically and
in this case spiritually have become
victims of the devil if it wasn’t for
the devil I wouldn’t be here well guess
what he ain’t changing okay if it wasn’t
for them sinners I wouldn’t be stuck
here they not change if it wasn’t for
this situation I would be here okay that
may be true but they may never change so
what are you going to do
so come tell me why are you here but
don’t expect me to just pat you on the
back and feel sorry for you because
the thing that brought you here may
never change and many of us block the
supernatural because we become
comfortable as victims men of many of us
have gotten stuck in our station in life
this is a racial issues the social issue
is the class issue and in this case most
importantly it’s a spiritual issue
Elijah was wrong he says I’m a victim
and I’m all by myself ok so God says go
forth and stand on the mountain before
the Lord and behold the Lord passed by
it was a great wind rending the mountain
and breaking it into pieces the rocks
before the Lord but the Lord was not in
the wind there was an earthquake but the
law was not in the earthquake verse 12
he said there was a fire but the Lord
was not in the fire but after the fire
the sound of a gentle blowing when he
lied you heard it he rapped his face in
the mantle and went out and stood in the
entrance of the cave and behold a voice
came them and said what are you doing
here Elijah he said in verse 14 he says
it again I’m very jealous for the Lord
but the people that was taking you I
alone him left they seek to take my life
so guess what God does you find at the
end of verse 3 it says he left his
servant behind so Elijah is by himself
because depression gets worse if there’s
nobody in your life to change your
thinking see if you’re feeling sorry for
yourself and you’re talking to yourself
that’s a bad conversation for yourself
you already feeling sorry and there’s
nobody to talk to but you about you
regarding you to tell you what you ought
to do and you aren’t in a place to even
hear you correctly and what you are
telling you
is only related to how you feel then
your discussion with yourself is helping
yourself to become worse off about you
so god then it is the picture and tells
him Elisha tell me how you feel stop
talking to yourself cuz when you talk to
yourself you were getting depressed you
were suicidal start talking to me okay
now I’m gonna show you to win in the
rain and all that stuff now talk to me I
don’t know no lies you don’t talk to
yourself cuz you and you aren’t getting
together with you real good God has to
clarify verse 18 yet I will leave 7000
and Israel all the needs that have not
bowed to bail and every mouth that has
not kissed him now what’s his complaint
I’m the only one God says there’s 7000
folk like you out there
it’s just you are so psychologically bit
right now all you see is you I got seven
thousand people you don’t even know
about who have the same faith same
commitment same loyalty that you have so
you are wanting to die off of
misinformation you don’t have the right
information and so what did God’s
presence and his counseling session do
give him new data and then God closes by
doing one other thing for him and it’s a
very important thing in verses 19
through 21 he runs into a man named
Elijah at the end of verse 19 says and
Elijah passed over to him and through
his mantle on him he left the oxen and
ran after Elijah Elijah does and please
let me kiss my father and my mother then
I will follow you and he said to him go
back again for what have I done to you
so he returned from following him took
the pair of oxen sack sacrificed them
balled their flesh with the implements
of oxen and gave it to the people and
they ate then he arose and followed Eli
and minister to him because sometime
when you discourage you need somebody
with flesh and blood sometimes talking
to God is the spirit out days real but
he’s a spirit out there so guess what
God did God gave him a friend
God gots a look i’ma bring somebody in
your life who is going to minister to
you because right now your ministry has
been depleted and your get up and go is
not there so guess what now that I have
been counseling with you and you brought
me into the equation of your victims
mentality I got somebody I have already
set up to bring into your life to
minister to encourage to lift you up and
to bring you out of your depression God
has an angel for you he’s got a person
for you he has himself for you he gave
me lies you all three of those to give
him a supernatural experience to lift
him out of his depression and one of the
reasons that the church exists is to
have people available in your life when
you are down who can embrace you
minister to you lift you up and he can
use you to do the same thing for
somebody else because when we are
depressed
we need another perspective that doesn’t
deny the reality of how we feel but what
it does is that live let you live there
some of us are being destroyed by Satan
you need somebody who can whisper about
the power of God in your life somebody
is being intimidated by Jezebel and you
need to know from somebody who can see
outside of you that greater is He that
is in you than Jezebel who is
threatening you you need to be lifted
out of your discouragement – honestly
with God through taking care of yourself
physically in order to get the rest you
need or the help you need and have
somebody in your life who loves you
enough and God enough to hook the two
together when that takes place you may
still get discouraged but God will lift
you out of it because even godly people
have to struggle
with discouragement
there’s a lot in our world that can
produce fear that unhealthy emotion
where circumstances controlled what we
think and how we react some of God’s
choices servants like Elijah got afraid
because they were being threatened their
well-being is threatened sometimes our
physical well-being is threatened our
circumstances our economics a mental re
thrashing and reasoning can all create
this sense of dread in our circumstances
it’s during this time that you need I
need we need to take our fear to God
since he doesn’t give us the spirit of
fear and ask him to provide something or
someone to change the trajectory of our
emotions God has a million ways of
intervening in our fears to give us an
encouraging word perhaps it’s a sermon
that you hear a song that is sung
I know during some of my dark days at
the loss of my wife I got some songs
said to me
that encouraged me in the insecurity of
the moon god has a million ways of doing
it just invited to do it so that fear
does not dominate now you can’t always
control fear coming but that’s a long
way from having fear and you don’t want
to fear the rule so invite God to do
something through some means to let you
know he is in the midst of your
insecurity and fear and can change it to
dancing
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