1 Kings 18-19

God will not forget us or forsake us.

On Monday (6 October) CAC Pastors’ Fellowship, Ps Chua Seng Lee from Bedok Bethesda Tampines Church came to share about Mental Health and how the Church has been supporting and blessing the nation with resources to deal with this situation. He referred to 1 Kings 19 about Elijah, who was deemed to have mental issues as well. When Jezebel oppressed Elijah and threatened to kill him, Elijah fled for his life. He fled for his life despite him witnessing God’s power and presence in defeating 400 prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. In verse 4 Elijah prays to the LORD, “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

We are all not immune to mental health issues, even for people who are faithful and loyal to God.

Dear Brother and Sisters-In-Christ, this shows that we are all not immune to mental health issues, even for people who are faithful and loyal to God. There will be days where we feel overwhelmed, neglected, ignored, lonely etc. It is just like a cold or fever to our physical body. We need to be aware that the mental stress due to persecution and oppression can change our perception of things happening around us. From victory to defeat, from courage to timidness, from life to death.

But 1 Kings also showed us that our LORD knows and sees what we are going through. And He takes Actions to restore us. In verse 5, he lay down and fell asleep. In verse 6, And he takes action to renew his faith by feeding him in miraculous ways. The LORD strengthens him for his road trip to Horeb when He revealed Himself to Elijah. Dear Brothers and Sisters-In-Christ, we are all God’s children, loved and nurtured by Him. God will not forget us or forsake us. Whenever we have mental health issues, we can trust that He will take actions to restore us and renew our faith when we are beaten down and mentally and emotionally overwhelmed.

Lastly, when the LORD ask Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (Verse 13b – 14) It seems to me that he is extremely lonely, dejected and he felt that his ministry, ordained by God, is about to end with a defeat. It seems that Elijah has thoroughly failed despite some spectacular successes. Yet in verse 18, the LORD said to Elijah, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Elijah truly realized that he is not alone. He truly realized that he should place hope on God and not on himself. And he can trust that God protects them and empowers them even in the midst of persecution and oppression. Dear Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ, when we feel hopeless, we are reminded that we should place our hope in Him and not ourselves. We also need to trust that God will personally take care of the ministries that He has entrusted to us.

May the LORD’s presence be with us and bless us even as we face mental health issues at times in our life and help us to place our hope in Him and trust that He will personally take care of us in our difficult times.