Elijah and Depression

June 22, 2025

We’re talking about a great prophet and miracle worker today, Elijah, and about a very difficult time in his life when he suffered from Depression. It’s encouraging to me, and I hope to you, that Elijah, one of the greatest prophets in the Bible, even he had a time in his life where he felt down, worthless, and hopeless. But spoiler alert, the good news is God got him back on his feet!

Depression can affect anybody, but it can be treated! A good counselor and doctor can help change things for the better. If you or someone you know is feeling down, reach out for help! The suicide or crisis helpline number is 988. Today we’ll learn some spiritual help for depression, to add on to treatment.

Elijah became a prophet during the time of King Ahab. The job of a prophet was to speak to the people, especially to the King of Israel, and tell them what God wants them to do and be. King Ahab was a very evil king, so Elijah had to warn and scold him a lot! Sometimes Elijah had to hide from the king because the king wanted him dead!

Just before Elijah becomes depressed, he actually has a great success! Elijah comes out of hiding and confronts King Ahab. He tells him, have your 450 false prophets of the false god Baal, come, versus me and the true God, Yahweh. So, the false prophets come, and they prophesy and sacrifice, but their god Baal doesn’t light the sacrifice on fire. Then it’s Elijah’s turn. He calls on God, and the Lord lights a roaring fire! The people of Israel realize who the true God is! They turn against the false prophets.

It’s a great success! But King Ahab’s wife, Queen Jezebel is very angry at Elijah. She sends a messenger to him to tell him, I will have you killed!

That’s scary stuff, to have your life threatened. Elijah comes to a low point. We’ve all had a time when someone said something mean to us, and we got over it. But when other bad things happen at the same time, it’s harder. Elijah had not just the threat on his life by the queen, but other things added to his depression. We can see in his life a prescription for feeling down, four ways to become depressed. First, Elijah wore himself out. Verse 3 says, “Elijah was afraid, and ran for his life.” He was in flight mode. Running at top speed to get away. He came to Beersheba and continued on another day.

Elijah was running on empty. That’s when he sat down under a broom bush and prayed. “I have had enough, Lord,” I can’t take anymore. He wore himself out.

Did you ever feel like that? I think we all feel that way at some point. We do too much! It can be a mom who works full time, cooks dinner, does the dishes, takes care of the house, gets the kids where they need to go, and it’s all too much! Or you work so much, always doing overtime, that you feel overwhelmed and wonder, “Why do I feel so depressed?” Or maybe you’re not just physically worn out, but mentally. You think, “I’ve got to be there for whoever needs me, I’ve got to make sure they’re covered. If I don’t do it, no one else will.” And you’re totally exhausted. Maybe you’ve heard there’s this word in the dictionary called, “No.” But you don’t use it. That’s me, I need to say no more! The first way to get depressed is to wear yourself out.

The second way is to shut people out. Elijah has a servant who is always with him. The servant sticks with him the first day that Elijah runs for his life. But I don’t know why, maybe the servant can’t keep up. Maybe Elijah wants to be alone. He leaves his servant and continues on without him.  Sometimes when we get overwhelmed, we don’t want to talk to anybody about it. We think, “You wouldn’t understand, anyway.” We put up a wall. We don’t let anybody in, but then we start to feel like nobody cares, because no one knows what we’re going through! The second way to get depressed is to shut people out.

The third way to get depressed is to focus on the negative. That’s what Elijah does. He says, “I’ve had enough, I’m no better than my ancestors.” Nobody was comparing him to his ancestors. Self-pity exaggerates your problems. You say, “I’m never going to be any good at this.” “My life is never going to get better.” “I’ll never get the job I want.” “I ate so much ice cream that I’ll never fit in my jeans again.” “My life’s so lame, I only post on social media so everyone else will feel better about their life.” Too much focus on the negative feeds depression.

The last way to get depressed is to forget God. There were so many amazing ways God protected and provided for Elijah, food when there was none, water when there was a drought, and by the power of the Lord Elijah even raised a boy from the dead! But Elijah thinks God won’t help this time. When I’m down, when I’m depressed, I forget the faithfulness of God.

God got Elijah over his depression. How do you get up when you’re down? First, you eat and rest. God sent an angel, who touched Elijah and said, “Get up and eat.” And from nowhere, Elijah saw a cake of warm bread and a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank, then lay down again. He must have slept a good long time because the angel came back and said, “Eat some more!”

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to take care of yourself; get enough rest and enough to eat. Elijah was an amazing prophet! But everybody needs time off. We all need rest. That’s why we have Sunday! Elijah eats a lot and sleeps quite a long time. Verse 8 says, “Strengthened by the food, Elijah travels 40 days and 40 nights until he gets to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God! Food and rest really helped!

The second way God helps Elijah is he replaces negative lies with the truth. Elijah is in a cave, and God asks him, “What are you doing here Elijah?” He says, “The Israelites have destroyed your altars, killed your prophets, and I’m the only one left!” But Elijah was not the only prophet left. Sometimes we think, “I’m the only one who cares.” “I’m the only one who can get it done.” But if you read further on, there are 7000 other Israelites who have not worshiped the false gods Baal and Asherah. Don’t believe the lies. You’re not the only one. If you tell God, “I’ll never get better.” “My husband will never give his life to Christ’” or “I can’t make a difference,” God will say, With the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains! So, give all your worries and cares to God, because he cares for you! Replace the lies you believe with the truth of God.

The third thing God does to lift depression, is to speak in a still, small voice. Elijah is told to stand on the mountain and the Lord will pass by. A powerful wind comes, but God isn’t there. Then an earthquake occurs. But God isn’t there. Finally, a fire springs up. But God isn’t in it. Then there is a still small voice. A gentle whisper. And that is God. When we’re feeling low, God comes quietly, to say, “I’m here, I’ll never leave you, You’re not alone.”

God helps you by encouraging you to eat and rest. He helps you capture lies and replace them with the truth. He comes in a gentle whisper to comfort you. And the last thing God does is He gives you something to do and people to do it with. God has a purpose for you.

God tells Elijah, get back at it! Go anoint Jehu as king of Israel, so we have a new and good king. And go anoint Elisha as a prophet and train him so you will have a friend now, and he can take over when you’re gone. God tells Elijah, you still have a purpose; go back to doing what prophets do. What should you and I do? If you help people in the community, go back to helping. If you’re a prayer person, go back to praying. If you give, go back to giving. Go back to doing what God calls you to do! And God will fill you with energy! Elijah’s depression lifts, and he gets back to his calling.

My challenge for you this week is to let God care for you. Do you need rest? Be sure to get some extra ZZ’s and take a day off. Do you tell yourself negative things? Replace that with the truth! Do you forget God most of the time? Come to him and listen for God’s uplifting words to you? Do you need a friend and a purpose? Reach out to someone and get back to doing what God made you to do!

Elijah was a follower of God with great faith and devotion. But even he got depressed. Everybody gets down sometime. God loves you as you are and will comfort and uplift you if you come to him. Give all your worries and cares to God, because he cares for you. Amen.