Dealing With Discouragement

By William R. Cunningham
March 26, 2000

We all get discouraged sometimes. We may try to complete a task or accomplish something over and over to seemingly no success. Sooner or later we become discouraged and at some point we get so discouraged that we want to quit. This phenomenon can happen with simple projects, education, and sometimes with a person's life. What do you do when you get discouraged?

We are going to look at the incident with Elijah when he was discouraged in his ministry after being threatened by Jezebel. What did he do and how did God respond? What did he do after God communed with him? Looking at how such a great man of God dealt with his discouragement can help us deal with ours.

Elijah, the great man of God, ran for his life when Jezebel threatened him. Just prior to this he killed many of the prophets of Baal and outran a horse! (See 1 Kings 18:40-45). So we see that discouragement can come at any time regardless of what great things we accomplished already. Elijah must have figured that he would end up like the prophets before him-dead. He was so discouraged that he wanted to die because he had enough.

Do you feel that you have had enough sometimes? Have you been trying to do something for a long time and now feel that you will never get it done? Have you abandoned what you were trying because you feel that you can't do it or you'll never be able to do it? Well you are not alone. Even a great man of God, Elijah, felt the same way and was still used by God, as we will see.

The first thing that God did was to meet Elijah's physical need by telling him to eat. Elijah needed to strengthen his body by eating food because of the journey he was about to take. Sometimes our discouragement can be so great that we neglect to do the necessities. One of those necessities is proper nourishment. Other things that might be neglected due to discouragement and possibly the resulting depression is basic responsibilities such as paying your bills. However, in this case it was necessary for Elijah to get the proper nourishment even though he was discouraged and possibly depressed.

This tells us that God is interested in the whole person and not just spiritual aspects. Just as Elijah needed rest and nourishment for the task ahead, we too need to be equipped to do what God wants us to do even in states of despondency.

Notice how God addressed Elijah.

Why would God ask Elijah this question? The question is surely rhetoric because God is omniscient and already knew the reason that Elijah was there. What happens when we get discouraged and depressed? Sometimes we let things go undone, we wallow in our own self-pity, and we sometimes complain. God didn't even address Elijah's predicament. His question was more of a challenge then a query for information. Of course Elijah told God why he was there. He basically ran for his life and was discouraged.

One aspect of despair is that we tend to focus on ourselves. We say things such as "me", "my" or "I." This doesn't mean that we should ignore our state of despair. However, we shouldn't allow discouragement to hinder us from doing the things that we should do.

God also helped Elijah to see the big picture by putting everything in context. Elijah thought that he was alone in his struggle whereas there were 7000 that remained loyal to God. He wasn't alone. Sometimes it is good to realize that you are not the only one that is discouraged in a particular area. Many people around you have already gone through such things. Seeing our pains and frustrations in the context of human suffering or just the suffering of those around us will help us to deal with our own weaknesses.

Although each of the things mentioned in verses eleven and twelve could signal God's presence (see Ex. 40:38; Zech. 14:4, 5; Acts 2:2, 3), Elijah learned that God is not just a God of the spectacular. At times, the work of God is experienced in a still small voice, "the sound of a gentle stillness." Elijah had called for lightning, and he had called for fire and national revival. Apparently Elijah did not see that God was at work in the lives of many people. Sometimes we too only think of God in terms of the spectacular and don't realize that God is always moving in lives of people on the earth.

It is important to not think of God as only the miracle worker. God moves in ordinary and practical ways. As a matter of fact, God usually moves in practical and non-spectacular ways. Consider the preaching of the Gospel. There is nothing spectacular about it and yet it has changed the entire world.

God ordered Elijah to anoint the next kings of Israel (Jehu) and Syria (Hazael) and the next prophet (Elisha) through whom God would continue to act. This assignment ministered to Elijah in two important ways.  First it helped him move from the unmanageable to the manageable.

• A "Messiah" complex fed Elijah's despair. He felt that he alone could solve Israel's problems (see verses 10 and 14).
• By assigning him these ordinary tasks God brings him back into the world of what he can really do.
• Returning to the world of the manageable can dispel our own despair.

Secondly it helped him see that he is but part of a much larger divine agenda that transcends any one personality-king or prophet.

• Elijah is gently helped to see that the will of God will continue to unfold whether or not Ahab, Jezebel, or even Elijah is still on the scene.
• He is but a small part of a much greater enterprise. As such, his role, which both preoccupies him and frustrates him, shrinks in its significance.
• We, too, need to see our problems in the context of the unfolding will of God.

Sometimes we can get so frustrated in something that we are trying to do that we think we are the only one that can get the job done. We may feel that if we don't do it then there will be a great loss. This is especially true in ministry (meeting the needs of people). Understand that by ministry I don't necessarily mean just things involving the church and Christianity. Policemen are ministers of the law. Doctors are ministers of health.

When we consider our problems in light of other's problems and in the context of the great work that God is doing, then our problems and frustrations become insignificant and we can go ahead and do what we are supposed to do. We will also find that once we take action that the discouragement and depression will most likely leave.

Notice that throughout this entire ordeal that God did not once address Elijah's depression and discouragement directly, at least in the a we think he could have. Actually he did address Elijah's predicament by challenging him and changing his perspective of things so that he could pick himself up and do what God wanted him to do. It is interesting that work seems to be a major part of the cure for discouragement in the things that you are attempting to do.

When you get discouraged and depressed then don't allow yourself to become inactive and wallow in your own pity. Know that God is still working in your life and he still has a job for you to do. Don't let your frustration deceive you into thinking that you are indispensable. God's purpose will be accomplished whether you do what you are supposed to or not.

You are never alone. There are always people who have experienced the same thing that you are experiencing at that moment of discouragement. So don't think that you are the only one on this earth that is frustrated in the thing that you are doing. Be encouraged because God is still using you and still wants to finish your job. Amen.