FROM DISAPPOINTMENT TO APPOINTMENT (Part IV)
Casting off SP!
1 Kings 19:1-21
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” 5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 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. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because 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.” 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazel as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazel, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” 19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
James 5:17
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are…
I. FACTS ABOUT SELF PITY
1. You can be anointed and find yourself in a place of Self Pity
2. You can be a Prophet and find yourself in a place of self-pity
3. You can have a great victory in God one day and be in self-pity the next day
4. When you are in self-pity you seldom know that’s what it is
II. THE SIGNS OF SELF PITY
1. We Focus on the Wrong Things
1 Kings 19:2-3
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba
2. We Isolate ourselves
1 Kings 19:3; 9
……….And went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
9 And there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place
3. We Devalue our Worth.
1 Kings 19:4
………For I am not better than my fathers.
Self Pity often arises through comparison
We criticize ourselves as we begin to compare…
4. We Abdicate our Dreams.
1 Kings 19:4
…….It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life;
You lose your vision when self-pity hits. You forfeit your future. You forget your goals. You basically want to give up. You spend so much energy pitying yourself you’re so emotionally, physically, spiritually drained you just want to give up. If not careful you will stop caring
5. We Overrate our Work.
1 Kings 19:10
I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts:
6. We Exaggerate our Problems
1 King 19:10
“… I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it
away.”
7. We Fail to see the Small Things
1 Kings 19:11-12
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.
II. THE CURE FOR SELF PITY
1. Examine Whether Your Response in Physiological
1 Kings 19:6
………And he did eat and drink and laid him down again.
Vince Lombardi, the famous coach of the Packers once said, "Fatigue makes cowards of all of us."
2. Release your frustrations.
1 Kings 19:9-10
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 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.”
Psalm 55:22
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
3. Refocus on all the things God has done.
1 Kings 19:11-13
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, what does thou here, Elijah?
4. Get your mind off of yourself and onto others.
Stop thinking about yourself -- introspection -- all the time. Start thinking about others who are less fortunate than you.
1 Kings 19:15 – 16
15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazel as king over Syria. 16 Also, you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazel, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.
The quickest way to defeat self-pity is to get your eyes off yourself and start focusing on helping others.
Answer Key: Anointed, Great Victory, Devalue, Release
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