I Can’t Stay Here – 4
Subject – Almost Ready to Quit
by Rick Welborne
1 Kings 19:1-8 (NLT2)
1 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal.
2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!”
6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.
1 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal.
2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!”
6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.
--Last week we dealt with the issue of doing more but enjoying it less. We talked about inner weariness and how there is always one more thing that needs to be done and how that ties to the 90/10 syndrome in our lives.
--Maybe if you have not been here very long…let me share with you what I am talking about with this 90/10 syndrome.
--Someone was sharing with me the other day their frustration with life and how empty they felt. I knew their story so I took the liberty to do an evaluation of where they were.
--This person (older than me) had been very successful in their career, had plenty of finances to retire, surrounded by family and friends, and had a miraculous encounter with Jesus…this person was healed.
--I told this person…you have felt so blessed in so many ways…you have even felt successful in ways you could have only dreamed, ninety percent of your life absolutely could not be better.
--The problem is that 10% that you cannot ever seem to get where you want it to be. You pray, you fast, you beg God, you read books, you do everything, yet that part of your life is sucking the life out of you.
--Sadly, this is not something you have dealt with for a few days, a few months, and not even a few years. This has become your thorn in the flesh that seems to have plagued you for years. How did you know?
--I did not ask this person what the 10% was because that was between them and God. How did I know? I knew because I have had the 10% syndrome also making me feel the same way.
--Why is human nature that way, 90% of our lives can be wonderful but we can’t seem to enjoy it because the 10% keeps us pre-occupied with hurt and frustration. Emptiness and pain. Your percentage can be more or less.
--Today I want to talk about the feelings or the dangers of a condition that can be a threat to our spiritual passion. It is the feeling of being totally drained.
1. Spiritual hangovers.
1 Kings 19:3-4 (NLT2)
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
--Hopefully most of you can say that you have never had a hangover from being drunk the night before, but almost anyone who has been involved heavily in Christian ministry can attest to hangovers.
--Let me just use my profession as an example. So many pastors, after a Sunday or weekend of speaking and giving of themselves and all their inner resources can have this feeling of a hangover.
--This is not just a religious phenomenon. Any person who is heavily involved with people in highly stressful encounters of problem solving, conflict, or sales will understand what it means to be drained. Lots of people.
--People who like to over-spiritualize everything choose to not understand that the supply of energy and passion (even in a Spirit-filled Christian) is not inexhaustible…it can be depleted.
--You hear often and it is even joked about in churches that Mondays, for ministers, are days of imagined resignations and exhaustion. Many talk of quitting or being hit by a Mack Truck.
--Let me say here, those feelings have much to do with the atmosphere of the church. If there is unity, peace, and a strong presence of Holy Spirit, these feelings are lessened although still present.
--I commend you as a congregation (90/10) for making the lives of your pastors good and I commend the Board of Deacons for being the best Board ever. They take good care of us.
--Many people ask me do I take Mondays off because of what we are talking about and I always give them the same answer…No, I am too tired to enjoy it.
MacDonald – Young men and women tend not to know that. They surmise that the brute strength of their physical energy level can carry them on indefinitely. It can work for a while. But not forever! One day, having ignored this possibility, they awake to the extreme inner stress of exhaustion of spirit. It is a terribly confusing experience.
--This condition of the hangover cannot be illustrated much better than what was going on in Elijah’s life. When Elijah had used up all his spiritual energy and when he hit bottom…he ran and hid. Death would be better.
--How did the man get to a place like that? His desert depression was preceded by a Mount Carmel triumph. Just three days earlier he was in a confrontation with the pagan priest of Baal. Ahab and Jezebel – on the throne.
--Because of the sins of Ahab, Jezebel, the false prophets, and a wayward Israel, Elijah had declared by the Word of the Lord there would be no rain…it had been three years.
--The showdown had begun; Elijah had challenged the prophets to a duel. An altar had been erected, two bulls were prepared: one for the Baal folk and one for Elijah. A great crowd had gathered. Reputations at stake.
--Elijah was very much alone (this is significant) and the prophets had an army of supporters.
1 Kings 18:24 (NKJV)
24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
--Elijah told them to go first, take your best shot, and shout loud. They did! All mourning the prophets danced, screamed, prayed, cut themselves trying to get the attention of their gods. No answer…no one heeded.
--It is now Elijah’s turn. Once he was thru mocking them, het set up the sacrifice and for added drama he had it saturated with water. Three times. The water was overflowing. The thing they had not seen for three years.
1 Kings 18:36-39 (NKJV)
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
--You talk about passion, faith, power, demonstration…one man against a wicked king and queen, against 450 prophets of Baal, against a nation who had turned its back on God…one of the greatest stories in the Bible.
--God answers by fire…fire falls from Heaven and consumes the sacrifice and licks up the water. Israel burst in applause (for a moment), the false prophets are killed according to Deut. 13, all is good. Not quite.
2. Elijah is totally drained.
--Just a few days after this amazing victory, Elijah is now in the hangover of his life. It is difficult to describe what the encounter on the mountain top had taken out of Elijah.
--All we have in scriptures is the foul mood Elijah was in when he ran for his life from Jezebel. After leaving the great victory on the mountain, he now receives death threats from an embarrassed queen. Coming after you!
1 Kings 19:3-4 (NLT2)
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
--The first time I read this (new Christian) part of the story I was indignant. I was upset with Elijah and did I have questions for anyone who would listen to me. It is important that we are available to answer new converts.
--I am thinking…Don’t run from Jezebel…the God Who took care of the false prophets and sent fire down from heaven will come on the scene and kill Jezebel too. Don’t be a wimp.
--By this time Elijah was so drained and wearied that he believed Jezebel would do what she said and he could do nothing about it. The great prophet is now on the run with nothing left to give. Talk about burnout.
--Three days after Mount Carmel he is telling God to just take his life. He needed to have a prayer meeting and go right back down there and tell Jezebel what for. Nope, he really needed some rest and he needed some food.
--Even though he did not come totally out of his despair, the food and the water and the rest revived him enough to complete the journey God had sent him on.
--Though I obviously cannot relate to Elijah’s Mount Carmel showdown, I can relate to being so tired and empty that going to heaven would definitely be a better answer than facing anything else.
--I can tell you that what I preached last Sunday about one more thing is such a reality to me. I have been so tired and weary that I literally could feel the stress in my heart when one more thing was mentioned.
--It can be one more thing at home, at church, at work, or wherever and you feel so drained that you just want to crawl under a rock and hide. Not even vacations fix this if lots of things are planned on the trip.
--The book I am reading and this part of the story does not allude to what I feel God has spoken to me or shown me about the bread, the water, and the sleep. I love typology.
--Some of you may take this wrong and I am okay with that because I speaking out of what I have walked out for the last 42 years of ministry. Elijah did not need a prayer meeting or a special church service.
--First of all, he needed rest…God’s kind of rest. Not a conference, not a podcast, not a lecture, not a great sermon from a great preacher…rest!
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
--Secondly, he needed bread. Jesus said I am the Living Bread come down from Heaven. Jesus is the Living Word of God.
John 6:33-35 (NKJV)
33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Third, he needed water…God’s living water…He needed Holy Spirit to come upon him…to come in him…to carry him.
John 4:10 (NKJV)
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
--We all want living water to flow out of us but that can never happen until Living Water (Holy Spirit) is flowing into us. Out of your inner most being shall flow Rivers of Living Water.
3. That still small voice.
--Elijah was still not whole when he left the broom tree. He still felt all alone (I am the only prophet left). He did not need another Mount Carmel experience. He needed something better.
1 Kings 19:10-12 (NKJV)
10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
--Hear me…He was alone but not by himself. He needed a gentle wonderful amazing encounter with God. Not wind, not fire, not an earthquake, not another Mount Carmel, He needed an encounter with God.
--I can’t stay here, weary and tired…I must get to that quiet place where I can hear the beautiful voice of God.
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