Mental Health: How Are You Really?

How are you, REALLY?

“Mental Health"

Text: 1 Kings 19

Focus: God is in our darkness, cares for us and restores hope.

Intro

 “Thank you Katelyn” for being courageous, vulnerable and authentic in telling us “how you are really doing.”

• We are in the 3^rd week of a series, “How are you … REALLY?”
• As a society, we are experiencing traumatic and tragic events that are having a cumulative affect on us as individuals, on our loved ones, and our communities.
• We are being impacted by what we are seeing and experiencing, and we have choices we can make that will determine what kind of hope we will have in our lives.
• That’s why we are asking the question, “how you are doing?”
• Are you looking for a quick fix, or trying to “white-knuckle it” on your own … or is there a better alternative?
  • Is there hope for a better way forward?
  • Does God have anything to say for us today?
  • Can He offer hope for our finances, in the midst of grief & loss (two areas we’ve already talked about in this series / available on our website)…
  • And today we ask the question as it pertains to our mental health.
  • “God, is there hope in our anguish, confusion, stress, darkness … is there hope when I’ve had enough and don’t want to live this life anymore?”

Friends, let me start by saying God absolutely cares, not only about our spiritual and physical well-being … He equally cares about our mental/emotional well-being.

• In her powerful story, Katelyn referenced the biblical character of Elijah in the Bible’s Old Testament.
• Elijah’s story is just one of many stories in the Bible where God engages people who are in mental distress.
  • Others like Moses, King David, Jonah, and the Apostle Paul all came to very dark places of despair where they wanted to die instead of keep living.
• Friends, God has always cared for our mental well-being … He’s never been silent on the matter … He’s never held a stigma around mental illness.
• God, who created us, knows better than anyone that we are a beautiful blend of spiritual, physical and mental beings … and when he interacts with us, cares for us, restores our hope … he does so in ways that touch all three aspects of our being.
• As one who personally lives with mental illness, I know this to be true … I, like Katelyn, am a living example…
• And today, Elijah is our early biblical example of God’s care & hope.

If you have your Bible or app, join me in the book of 1 Kings 19.

• Elijah was an Old Testament prophet who God was using in powerful and miraculous ways.
• The last thing we might expect in his great “prophetic career,” is a mental breakdown, and for that moment to be publicly recorded for everyone to know about.
• In 1 Kings 19, Elijah has just finished an incredible encounter with King Ahab, his wife Jezebel and the false prophets of Baal.
  • He faced down an entire defiant nation; he personally destroyed 450 false prophets; and he prayed on a cloudless day for rain and torrents fell from the sky.
  • He even raced (on foot) a horse-drawn chariot and won!
• You’d think that Elijah would be standing with unshakeable confidence and faith, but this is what we read…

19 When King Ahab got home, he told his wife 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.”

 Elijah was a heroic and prophet leader, without question … but when we read his words, our hearts ache for him.

• Elijah was just a human being, subject to the same human limitations and condition that all of us are.
• We ache with his words, because we have all visited that same lonely place of isolation and despair … and some of us have also yearned for God to release us from this world.
• Elijah was suicidal.
• And no one should be shocked, threatened or disappointed to read his words, “Please God, kill me.”
• Created by God… spiritual, physical, mental … just like us, Elijah reached his human limitations.

These are some of the things that cumulatively brought him to that place of saying, “I’ve had enough, Lord.”

1. First, Elijah wasn’t thinking accurately … his perspective of reality shifted.
   • When Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah didn’t consider the human source and he didn’t consult God for a solution.
2. Second, Elijah was caught in the aftermath of great achievements.
   • Great lows often come on the heels of great highs because extremes (high and low) are very vulnerable and draining times … Elijah was physically and emotionally spent; and it revealed his humanity.
3. Third, Elijah also isolated himself from supportive relationships.
   • Depression feeds on isolation and loneliness … notice that after a while, Elijah left his servant behind.
4. Lastly, Elijah succumbed to self-pity.
   • He compared himself to his ancestors, setting a standard for himself that God had not set. And playing the comparison game, Elijah beat himself up.

 All these things … stacking … combining … became too much!

• And I am so thankful that this is recorded in the Bible.
• I'm glad that God took time to paint a picture of this person/leader, brokenness and all.
• God doesn't ignore weaknesses or hide failures.
• But he also doesn’t put his paintbrush away and say, “That’s it! There’s nothing else I can do for Elijah, for Katelyn, for Wally, for you…”
• And when others have all sorts of fixes and pat answers, God has a beautifully different way of engaging.
• Instead of rebuking Elijah, commanding him to get busy, loading guilt on him, or shaming his tender emotions, God gently engages Elijah, slowly re-orients him, and carefully sets him back on his feet again.
• God is with Elijah as the depression sets in and progresses to life-threatening despair … and God cares for him.

First, God tends to Elijah’s physical needs by providing rest and replenishment:

 ⁵ Then Elijah lay down and slept under the tree. As he was sleeping, an angel touched him and said, “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. ⁹ There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

• It’s beautiful to see how God understands our physical needs.
• He never expects us to be superhuman, he actually expects us to rest, play, laugh, and replenish ourselves.

Second, God cares by wisely communicating with Elijah.

• Notice that he doesn’t give him a command, or even an insightful piece of wisdom.
• Instead, God takes the posture of a listener, asking him a question and opening up the relational communication lines.

 The Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹¹ “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

• Listen to the conversation… God doesn’t contradict or “straighten him out” … no lecture, no object lesson.
• Knowing that Elijah is depressed, lonely, feeling unloved, God turns Elijah’s eyes towards him, the God of love, with a gentle whisper.
• And as Elijah continues to wrestle with his deep feelings, God doesn’t get exasperated…
• Instead, he gives him a glimpse of a future that reassures Elijah that God still has a place and purpose for him.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. ¹⁶ Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. ¹⁷ Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! ¹⁸ Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

• Only after affirming Elijah’s value and significance, does God gently correct him in v.18 with an accurate accounting of who is in Elijah’s community.

And thirdly, foremost in those 7,000 other people, is one person God chooses to be Elijah’s kindred spirit – Elisha.

• A close, supportive, personal friend is the third way that God cares for Elijah.

¹⁹ So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. ²⁰ Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!”

Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”

²¹ So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.

 Wow! Elijah, depleted, suicidal… finds rest and replenishment, communion with God, and a friend by his side.

• God was with Elijah in the depression, the hopelessness … He gently cared for him and restored his hope.
• He graciously nurtured/refreshed him, counselled him, made him feel significant again, and gave him the support he needed.
• From depression and suicide, came care and hope!

And because God did that for Elijah and others in the Bible, and because he is doing it for people like myself, Katelyn and others who live with mental illness within our faith community … we can say with confidence, God wants to do it for you or for your loved one as well.

• At Jericho Ridge, we take our lead from God in supporting mental health and caring for those living with mental health issues.
• It’s why we have:
  • Prayer line / prayer button / ePrayer team
  • Peer-support group in the form of Living Well
  • And it’s why we work together with and refer to mental health professionals
• All because we believe that God has created each of us as spiritual, physical and mental beings, and he cares about our whole being … he wants hope to exist in each facet of our being.

Our worship team is going to lead us in a couple of songs … if you are lacking hope in your mental health or if you are caring for someone with mental illness, click the prayer button or call our prayer line 604-629-7805 and tell us how you are doing… really.

Sending/Benediction

I send you today with the continued promises of David’s testimony from Psalm 40:1-3,

Brothers & sisters, wait patiently for the Lord to help you, and he will turn to you and hear your cry.
² He will lift you out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. 
He will set your feet on solid ground, and steady you as you walk along.
³ He will give you a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.
And many will see what he is doing and be amazed. And they too, will put their trust in the Lord.  Amen.