Chris’s Column: Elijah and the Healing of Depression and Fear: 1 Kings 19
Chris Wright
The story of Elijah’s collapse and restoration in 1 Kings 19 comes as quite a surprise. For, in 1 Kings 18, we see Elijah at the pinnacle of his ministry. There he is on Mt Carmel, taking on the whole army of the prophets of Baal single-handedly in the name of the living God of Israel, and achieving a stunning, fiery victory. But here in chapter 19 he is in the depths of suicidal despair, defeat and fear, running for his life and praying to die.
A. The Ingredients of Elijah’s Depression
1. Emotional factors
Shock (vv. 1-2). After Mt Carmel, Elijah probably had high expectations. Such a signal defeat of the god Baal must surely lead to a full-blown national revival. Instead, the next day, he received news of this terrible threat to his life from Queen Jezebel. It must have been a severe and unexpected shock, going from being the hero of the moment to being a wanted man with a death threat hanging over him. It was the ruin of all his hopes and plans.
Fear (v. 3a). This too is unexpected. We think of Elijah as an incredibly courageous man, yet here he drops into the very opposite: “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life!”
Christians, including pastors and missionaries, are not immune to such emotions. We are not insulated against sudden bad news or real threats. And we are not (and should not be) emotional stoics who feel nothing (or pretend to). It can happen to any of us. Maybe it already has.
2. Physical factors
Isolation (v. 3b). Perhaps it was out of kindness to his servant that Elijah left him behind at Beersheba. We do not really know, but the result was that Elijah was on his own. Now, he had been on his own before, of course. But this time, in his present frame of mind, his isolation became an insidious thing. Isolation is a perfect incubator for anxiety and depression.
Exhaustion (vv. 4-5). Just think for a moment of that long, tense day on Mt Carmel, followed by his marathon run to Jezreel (18:46). Then, immediately, he decides to head south to Beersheba, which is in the extreme south of Judah. The man was physically shattered. In such circumstances it is not at all surprising that Elijah sinks into deep despair.
Spiritual depression is quite often linked to physical factors such as weariness, hunger and lack of sleep. Such things in themselves do not cause depression, but they certainly can exacerbate it and make it even harder to resist or just “shake it off” (which is not something we can do or should ever tell others to do).
3. Psychological factors
A “total-failure” complex (v. 4b). Read between the lines of what Elijah says to God. This is a total collapse of nerve, a sense of utter failure, leading to suicidal depression. And it seems so irrational (as depression often does). He had run away to save his life – but now he wants to die anyway. We need to use our imagination to grasp the mental turmoil in Elijah’s head as he ran, finally all alone and in the depths of despair.
Distortion of the facts (vv. 10, 14). When someone is depressed, it usually does no good to tell them that they are only imagining things. Depression is not just fanciful. Sometimes it is related to facts but involves a distorted or partial reading of the facts.
Elijah is selective and partial on some facts. For example, he makes much of his own zeal for the Lord. But there were others too who had not been unfaithful to Yahweh, and he not only knew it, he had met some of them, such as Obadiah (18:1-15). And he exaggerates some other facts. For example, he complains, “I alone am left.” But what about his own servant, and Obadiah, and the 100 prophets in a cave somewhere?
Here, then, is another frequent ingredient in spiritual depression. We see only part of the whole picture – and usually the worst part. We get things out of perspective and when we sink into that bog of damaging and depressing thoughts, sometimes God has to take us aside and bring us back to his view of reality – which is what God eventually did with Elijah.
4. Spiritual factors
Failure to believe God’s answer to his prayer. On Mt Carmel, Elijah had prayed that God would give unmistakable proof that “these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (18:37). And that proof had come with the shouts of the people when the fire of the Lord fell on the restored altar and the sacrifice: “The Lord [not Baal!] – He is God.” But now, in his depression and fear, he cannot even believe that it had really happened or that they had really meant it. His faith fails, even in the face of the evidence he had prayed for and had seen and heard for himself. This is astonishing. And yet it is not untypical. For in the throes of spiritual depression, even God’s past answers to prayer, however wonderful and even spectacular, can seem like unreal, mocking memories.
Satanic attack. This is not mentioned explicitly, of course. However, the worship of Baal and the whole system of Canaanite idolatry was unquestionably bound up with the work of the one whom the Bible calls the devil or Satan. And Elijah had challenged it! And Satan fought back. Satan is a defeated enemy but never accepts defeat (until the time he will finally be destroyed). Look at the way he constantly plagued the ministry of Jesus. In the same way, we may discern his hand here in the circumstances that produced Elijah’s suicidal thoughts, fear, and despair.
We hardly need to be reminded that Satan, though defeated by Christ at the cross, is still alive and active in today’s world. He still fights back viciously against those who dare to challenge his dark world. This is one reason why acute depression quite often follows after some signal spiritual victory or “successful” period of ministry for the Lord.
These, then, are some of the ingredients of Elijah’s depression. Let us turn, with relief, to the Master Therapist – God the healer at work.
B. Ingredients of the Divine Therapy
I marvel at the beauty and simplicity of the way God gently and yet firmly nursed his ailing servant back to wholeness and active service.
1. God gives him sleep, food, and drink (vv. 5-7)
God meets Elijah at the point of his most pressing and urgent need – his physical exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. God did not turn up demanding a serious spiritual counselling session. God did not rebuke him, call him out as a failure, or tell him to turn around and get back to work. On the contrary, not just once but twice, God refreshed Elijah with the gift of sleep and the provision of food and drink.
Now sometimes (but by no means always), that is all that is really needed to cure an episode of spiritual depression, if it is primarily linked to physical factors such as exhaustion. So, God showed his love for Elijah in the simplest possible way. He let the poor man sleep!
And the food! The menu and table service are provided by an angel this time. Here he is running away from his mission in disobedience and despair and God sends him an angel with fresh baked bread and a jar of clean, cold water. Here is God effectively mothering his servant. We may notice with regret that there is no mention of Elijah saying even a word of thanks. He just ate, drank, and went back to sleep! And God let him. For that was his greatest need at that moment. It may well be yours too. If so, receive God’s permission, and let him care for you as his beloved in the simplest gifts of his grace – sleep, food and drink.
2. God takes him back to the roots of his faith and his mission (vv. 8-9)
Refreshed by the sleep and food, Elijah sets off for Mt Horeb, or, Mt Sinai (it was just an alternative name for the same place). But why did God take him to Sinai? Sinai was the place where God had revealed himself to his people, with great power and many signs. It was the place where God had established his covenant with his people. It was the place where God had given to the people of Israel their identity and mission, the place where God had given instructions for the tabernacle, in which God had come to dwell in the midst of his people. It was the place where God had given Israel his guidance or instructions for how to live as a redeemed and holy people.
Sinai was, in a sense, the birthplace of Israel as a redeemed people with a mission for God, in relation to God’s ultimate purpose to bring blessing to all nations on earth.
So, God brings Elijah back to Sinai, as if to say, “This is where you need to see things afresh. This is where you need to remember who I am, the Lord God of Israel, the I am who I am God. This is where you need to see your own calling as my prophet, in the light of what happened at this place centuries ago through my servant, the prophet Moses. Let’s get back to basics, Elijah.”
Sometimes this is also what depressed and broken Christians need to do. Go back, with God. Perhaps hear again the authoritative words of Jesus, “All authority in heaven and earth is given to me, so go and make disciples.” Perhaps go back to that point in your own life where you heard that specific calling of God. Go back to the Bible itself, and to that great overarching story of the mission of God – the story within which God has called you to play your part. Go back, with God.
3. God questions his behaviour in the light of his mission (vv. 9, 13)
Only when he has got Elijah back to Sinai does God begin the real probing work of healing Elijah’s depression and restoring him to service. And God does so in a typically surprising way. Elijah was very familiar with the stories of what happened at Mt Sinai and so the God of Sinai put on quite a show – wind, earthquake, and fire, such as old Moses had witnessed. But “the Lord was not in” any of those phenomena. So, clearly God was not trying to scare Elijah back to work. The God of Sinai can be as quiet as “a gentle whisper.”
But a whisper can be as penetrating as a thundering shout, when it is God asking the questions. Into Elijah’s brokenness, depression, fear, and negative self-pitying thoughts, God drops this persistent question.
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” Every word counts.
“You … Elijah” – whose name expresses your mission, “Yahweh is my God,” what are you doing? What is all this running away from the job Yahweh gave you? “And what are you doing here,” in the light of all that this place stands for? How do you square your behaviour with the knowledge of God and his people that you know is resonant in this place?
Sometimes this is how God deals with us also. Sometimes he uses the gentle rebuke, coupled with a question that allows us the freedom to express our inner thoughts (like a skilled counsellor). If such gentle divine questioning (whether in our own hearts or through the faithful ministry of a perceptive friend or pastor) leads to the stirring of repentance, then that is the first step up and out of the bog of self-pity and despair.
4. God sends him back on his mission with reassurance (vv. 15-18)
God did not drop Elijah from his service just because of this collapse and failure. God puts Elijah back together again and then sends him back to work with an even greater mission than the first (that is also typical of God).
And Elijah’s mission goes on, for Elijah’s God is our God. It is this God who knows our every weakness, who meets us in our frailty and sometimes in our failure and defeat, and who gently refreshes, restores, and reassures us too, with fresh work to do for him.
Rev Dr Chris Wright is Global Ambassador and Ministry Director of Langham Partnership (www.langham.org), the author of many books including commentaries and is a Senior Research Fellow at KLC. This article is an abbreviated form of a chapter first published in Jonathan Bonk et. al., eds., Missionaries, Mental Health and Accountability: Support Systems in Churches and Agencies (Pasadena: William Carey Publishing, 2019), 2-10.