My father was a spiritual giant in my eyes, yet he also battled depression in his later years. In the depths of despair and fearing he would spend the rest of his life alone after the death of my mother, he rushed into a second marriage that turned out to be a disaster. He died shortly afterward.
As we look through the Bible, we discover that many of God’s choicest servants also suffered from discouragement and depression. Both Moses and Jonah once asked God to take their lives (Num. 11:10–15; Jon. 4:3). Even the apostle Paul at one point during his ministry “despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8).
Yes, many of God’s greatest servants wrestled with discouragement, including Elijah. When James wrote that Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17), he may have had in mind 1 Kings 19, where we see this champion of God stumble and fall into a pit of anguish.
The portrait of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 stands in stark contrast to the picture we saw in 1 Kings 18. In chapter 18 we see Elijah at his best, but in chapter 19 we see him at his worst. Placed side by side, the differences between the two depictions are startling.
Two Portraits of Elijah
| 1 Kings 18 | 1 Kings 19 |
| “The hand of the LORD was on Elijah” (v. 46). | “He was afraid and . . . ran for his life” (v. 3). |
| Elijah was full of faith. | Elijah was full of fear. |
| Elijah bravely confronted 850 false prophets. | Elijah cowardly fled from one woman. |
| Elijah prayed for God to glorify Himself. | Elijah prayed for God to take his life. |
| Elijah became the leader of the people. | Elijah abandoned the people. |
Unlike the fictitious characters of mythology who are presented as flawless, the real-life people in the Bible are presented just as they were—warts and all! The reason Scripture records the foibles of people like Elijah is to encourage us to avoid their mistakes. Seeing where they stumbled—especially when they experience difficulties and discouragements—helps us learn to handle our own bad days. And few lives provide more insight into how to do that than Elijah’s.
By focusing on Elijah’s bout with discouragement and depression, we not only learn what bad days look like but also learn some warning signs when bad days are approaching, along with practical steps we can take when those inevitable bad days arrive.
Bad days are like a vacuum: they suck the joy out of life. Fortunately, for most of us, bad days consist of troubles that are manageable and then over. For example, misplacing your car keys when you are running late or discovering you have a flat tire clearly count as “bad days.” Days like this are certainly annoying and aggravating, but they quickly end. That is not what we are focusing on in this chapter.
I’m using the term “bad days” to refer to seasons in life when difficulties and disappointments linger and pile up—one after another—until they become almost unbearable. These seasons of despair often start with unexpected and grim news, followed by troubles for many days afterward. These kinds of days sometimes come because of our own wrong choices and the consequences that follow. For example, someone who is sexually promiscuous might find out that he or she has contracted a sexually transmitted disease or AIDS.
Sometimes bad days are not of our own making. Those who endure long-term illnesses, devastating physical disabilities, or mental instability due to chemical imbalances suffer at no fault of their own. And though it is not true, they sometimes conclude that God has cursed them. Whenever I hear someone assume that their difficulties—or someone else’s—are the result of God’s curse, I remind them of the movie Lone Survivor, the story of a Navy SEAL team sent to capture an Al-Qaeda leader in an Afghan village. When the mission goes terribly wrong, one of the team members says, “It’s feeling like a cursed operation.” Marcus Luttrell, who survived the actual mission and wrote the book the movie is based on, responded, “It’s not a cursed op. There’s no curses. It’s just Afghanistan, that’s all.”1
The same is often true about difficult seasons we experience. “It’s just the world we live in, that’s all.” It’s a world that is contaminated by sin and populated by sinners—so is it any wonder that we get battered and bruised during our brief stay on this planet? While every difficulty we experience cannot be directly attributed to God’s curse on our individual lives, the general state of the world is the result of God’s curse on the earth after Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God: “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse” (Rom. 8:20 NLT).
Whether because of your own wrong choices or because of living in a sin-infested world, you are going to experience bad days and bad seasons in life. No one is exempt from them, even those who choose to live an extraordinary life. And when bad days come, do not be surprised if they are accompanied by three painful emotions: discouragement, restlessness, and foolishness.
Discouragement
When we become discouraged, all we feel like doing is staying in bed and pulling the covers over our heads. Bad days can rob us of the courage needed to live an extraordinary life. If those days persist, then discouragement dissolves into depression. And if depression lingers long enough, we may come to believe that life has lost its meaning.
British philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell lived a long and interesting life, championing human rights, nuclear disarmament, and free speech. By human standards, Russell was a man of significance. But he was also a man without God, which created a pall of gloom over his existence. For all his success, the meaninglessness of life was a recurring theme in his writing. In his autobiography, Russell described the desolation that often accompanies human life: “We stand on the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and emptiness; sometimes a voice answers out of the darkness. But it is the voice of one drowning, and in a moment the silence returns.”2
I told you Russell was a gloomy man.
Elijah was not a theological atheist like Russell, but during a particular “bad day” in his life, he behaved as a practical atheist—acting as though God was nonexistent. While some Israelites turned back to God after Elijah’s triumph on Mount Carmel, the majority continued to worship Baal—and Elijah grew discouraged. He believed he had failed in his mission, so he prayed for the Lord to take his life.
Comparing himself to those of an earlier generation, Elijah lamented, “I am not better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4), meaning that his ministry was no more effective than that of the prophets who went before him. He could preach until his lungs collapsed and perform miraculous signs until his arms fell off, but the people’s hearts remained unchanged. They continued in their rebellion against God and persisted in their worship of Baal.
The same discouragement that filled Russell and overtook Elijah can consume us as well. Anyone who attempts to evaluate his or her life without God’s perspective, whether an unbeliever like Russell or a believer like Elijah, will experience discouragement—the loss of courage to continue pursuing an extraordinary life.
When life does not turn out as envisioned, some people turn to nonstop activity—either to divert their minds from the pain or to find a sense of purpose in life. As a young man, Theodore Roosevelt had a restless spirit brought on by tragedy. On Valentine’s Day, 1884, Roosevelt’s mother died of typhoid fever, and his wife died from complications after giving birth to their daughter just two days earlier. Devastated, Roosevelt opened his diary, placed a large black X through that date, and wrote, “The light has gone out of my life.”3 He deposited his infant daughter, Alice, with his sister and ran away to the badlands of the Dakotas to soothe his broken spirit.
In the Dakotas, disheartened and depressed, Roosevelt engaged in an exhausting swirl of activities—breaking horses, rounding up and branding cattle, and hunting down cattle thieves. Years later, writing about his time as a rancher in the western wilds, Roosevelt said, “Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.”4 In other words, get on a fast enough horse and you can ride out of the darkness. For Roosevelt, the cure for discouragement and depression was action.
Elijah also chose action as the remedy for his discouragement. Staring down a death threat from Queen Jezebel, Elijah ran from Jezreel in Israel to Beersheba, the largest village on the southern border in Judah—a distance of 120 miles. And then he ran from Beersheba to Mount Horeb in the Sinai wilderness—an additional two hundred miles.
When bad days come, we might not physically run away, as Roosevelt and Elijah did, but we might flee emotionally and spiritually. We might throw ourselves into our work, logging long hours at the office to avoid difficulties at home. We might spend more time and attention on hobbies so we do not have to work out the problems in our marriage or family. We might lose ourselves in watching television—mindlessly flipping through channels—or spend hours on social media to avoid having a conversation with a loved one.
But diversionary activity is not God’s cure for bad days. When we find ourselves in adverse circumstances, the Lord encourages us to “be still”—to rest in the power of His provision and protection—and to “know that [He is] God” (Ps. 46:10 NIV). Nevertheless, when faced with difficult and discouraging days, being still is the last thing on our minds. Often, we are more interested in running from our problems than working out a solution to them.
Foolishness
Unfortunately, running from rather than confronting our problems can lead to unwise decisions. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen people make foolish decisions because of the wrong response to a bad day or bad season of life. In the first church I pastored, I met with our personnel committee to confront our church custodian about his unsatisfactory job performance. Instead of vowing to do a better job, the custodian became infuriated, stood up, and announced, “I’m quitting this sorry job!” With that, he threw his ring of church keys at one of the committee members and stormed out of the conference room. We all sat there stunned until we heard a gentle knock at the door. It was the custodian, meekly explaining that he needed his key ring back since his car keys were on it. Talk about ruining a dramatic exit!
Running from our bad days can cause us to foolishly abandon our jobs, our friendships, or even our families. Do not think that sweeping your bad days under the rug or running from the real source of your problem is doing anything constructive. All you have done is postponed facing your bad day.
That’s precisely what Roosevelt did when he ran away to the Dakotas. As a wealthy New Yorker with a bright political future, he was foolish to think he would be content living apart from his infant daughter and becoming a rancher. Roosevelt would have to deal with the death of his mother and wife in a more constructive way. So he returned to New York, resumed his political career, remarried, and reared a family.
Elijah made a similar foolish choice when he fled into the desert to escape Jezebel. God had not told Elijah to pack his bags and skip town. What did Elijah think he was going to do in the desert—preach to lizards and snakes? As a prophet called to declare the reality and power of God to an unbelieving world, what message was Elijah communicating by tucking tail and running from one disgruntled queen?
Contrary to his prayer for death (1 Kings 19:4), Elijah did not really want to die; he wanted to escape. (Had he really wanted to die, he could have stayed where he was and Jezebel would have happily taken care of that for him!) When bad days accumulate and press in on us, we sometimes say things we really do not mean. Like a frightened and wounded animal, we lash out, often at those closest to us. We tell friends we are sick of them. We tell loved ones we hate them. And we tell God we want to die. Bad days—if not confronted and handled wisely—can lead to foolish words and foolish decisions.
Warning Signs That Bad Days Are Coming
Paul told the Corinthian believers that the stories in the Old Testament—like those about Elijah—were “written [down] for our instruction,” to serve as a practical example for us to follow. Therefore, Paul advised the Corinthians to apply those examples to their own lives, warning those who might disregard the lessons of history: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:11–12).
Paul’s warning applies to us as well. At the very moment we think we are the strongest, we are really the weakest, because that is the time when we let down our guard, making us more vulnerable. I have read that mountain climbers are much more prone to accidents on their descent rather than their ascent. As they make their way down from the peak, they are tired and less cautious after the victory of reaching the summit, making them more prone to stumbling.
When Elijah descended Mount Carmel after his great victory, he had every reason to believe that the entire nation would abandon Baal and return to God. But when that didn’t happen, Elijah was knocked for a loop. He should have anticipated what would happen next. But Elijah ignored the warning signs that bad days were just over the horizon.
What are the factors that can contribute to a bad day or bad season of life? There are many I could mention, but Elijah’s experience illustrates four critical factors.
Being Physically and Emotionally Exhausted
For three and a half years, Elijah lived on the edge. He had been hunted down as public enemy number one, had roughed it in the wilderness of Cherith, and had come close to starvation at Zarephath. From the time he left the widow’s home, Elijah had been in perpetual motion—confronting Ahab, engaging in spiritual combat on Carmel, praying intently for rain, and running a half marathon from Carmel to Jezreel. Elijah was physically and emotionally exhausted.
But rest and relaxation did not factor high on Elijah’s list of priorities. I can understand that. My schedule is busy with preaching, teaching, pastoring, Bible conferences, writing, and appearing in news interviews. I thrive on a go-go-go routine. So did Elijah. But God’s prophet had come to the end of his physical and emotional rope, which weakened his emotional and spiritual immune systems, leading to discouragement and even depression.
The same thing happened to me just last week. I returned home after a trip to Washington, DC, that was jam-packed with activities and interviews. My adrenaline had been flowing nonstop for about ninety-six hours. The day after my return, I fell into an emotional funk that resulted in thoughts and questions I do not even want to admit! I could not figure out what was wrong with me until I realized that I was simply exhausted. Then I remembered an observation my friend Howard Hendricks often made: “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap!” After getting some much-needed rest, I regained my emotional and spiritual equilibrium.
“Burning the candle at both ends,” as the old proverb goes—especially if you are burning the candle to build a bigger bank account or a bigger ego—is not healthy. Or, to put it another way, “You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.”
Though Elijah did not work for money or fame, his bow had been bent for a long time, so it is no surprise he broke emotionally when Jezebel exerted pressure on him.
What about you? How long has your bow been bent?
Do anxious thoughts rob you of sleep?
Do your children get on your nerves easily?
Do minor setbacks turn into major emotional outbursts?
Do you use alcohol, prescription drugs, or endless television viewing to deaden the pain of disappointment?
The relationship between physical exhaustion and depression is indisputable. But we cannot dismiss the spiritual component either. Satan would love to use our discouragement as an entry point into our lives. Jesus described Satan as a thief who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” everything important to us—including our joy (John 10:10). And physical exhaustion is one of his simplest tools to accomplish that goal.
Focusing on Challenging Circumstances Rather Than a Powerful God
When Ahab returned home from Mount Carmel after his showdown with Elijah, I imagine him coming into the palace haggard and dejected. Hearing the door open, Jezebel runs to get the report of what happened.
“Praise Baal! I knew Baal would defeat the false god of the Israelites. You’re rain-soaked—proof that Baal is the true god.”
“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that.”
“What do you mean? Baal is the god of rain—and it is raining. The drought is over, and the land will flourish again because of Baal’s great power!”
“I’m not so sure Baal had anything to do with the rain. In fact, I’m convinced he didn’t.”
“Well, if not Baal, then who? What happened on Carmel?”
“The worst happened.”
“What do you mean? Tell me everything—and be quick about it!”
Then “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword” (1 Kings 19:1).
After absorbing the news, Jezebel grew incensed. She sent a message to Elijah: “The gods will get you for this and I’ll get even with you! By this time tomorrow you’ll be as dead as any one of those prophets” (v. 2 Message).
In truth, Jezebel probably did not really want to kill Elijah. If she did, why would she send a messenger to him instead of a death squad? She probably wanted to discourage Elijah, hoping he would flee the city. If he did, she would discredit Elijah and his God in the eyes of the new converts. A revival without a leader is bound to fail.
Because Elijah was physically and emotionally exhausted, when he received word of Jezebel’s threat “he [became] afraid and arose and ran for his life” (v. 3). Suddenly, Elijah became spiritually nearsighted, focusing on Jezebel’s threat rather than on God’s power, which he had just seen demonstrated on Mount Carmel. This happens to us as well. Whenever our focus shifts from our God to our circumstances, we inevitably stumble into a bad day or season of life.
Once Elijah took his eyes off the God who answered by fire and obsessed over the queen who threatened his life, Elijah began to drown emotionally. But instead of calling for the Lord to save him, Elijah cried out, “O LORD, take my life!” (v. 4).
Sometimes I will ask a friend, “How are you doing?” Often the reply is, “Well, I’m all right I suppose . . . under the circumstances.” My first thought is, What are you doing under there? Yet that is where far too many Christians spend their days: smothering spiritually under the heavy weight of a prodigal child, a life-threatening illness, or mounting debt. As believers in an all-powerful God, the last place we should be living is “under the circumstances.”
The only way we will ever escape the emotional oppression of real-life challenges is to shift our focus to another reality: the power of God. I am not suggesting we ignore the realities of the difficulties we face. Rather, I am suggesting we choose to live “above the circumstances.” Let me explain what I mean.
Last night, it was dark and snowing as the airplane in which I was sitting began to roar down the runway at the Detroit airport. On the ground an oppressive atmosphere—even a potentially dangerous one—enveloped me. However, within minutes the plane rose into the air and soon I found myself surrounded by sunlight and unlimited visibility. It was still dark and snowing below me, but I had been lifted up to another reality that existed parallel to the reality below.
When we face oppressive challenges, God does not encourage us to deny reality. He instead encourages us to focus on another reality: His supreme power over our challenging circumstances. Centering our attention on God lifts us up and allows us to live above the turbulence and limited visibility of everyday life. As the prophet Isaiah promised, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3 KJV).
Unfortunately, in Elijah’s mind, Jezebel’s power to destroy was more powerful than God’s power to defend. His emotional bow had been bent for so long, all it took was one threat to break him. Elijah had bravely confronted 850 false prophets, but one angry person sent him running! That is what happens when we change our focus from God to our circumstances.
You can respond to seemingly impossible circumstances with either faith or fear. Perhaps right now you can only see the difficulty of your circumstances: cancer, a lost job, a prodigal child, marital troubles, or financial pressure. But alongside that reality is another reality: God’s heavenly arm—though unseen—is surrounding and protecting you.
Holding On to Unrealistic Expectations
Winning is thrilling—and addictive. The downside of success is that it can create the unrealistic expectation that we will succeed all the time. And when we don’t, we go into an emotional funk. Consider
Elijah also experienced a tremendous victory at Mount Carmel, which led him to think he was on a winning streak. After he defeated the prophets of Baal, the people cried out, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God” (1 Kings 18:39) and the rain fell. Elijah, the conquering hero, must have thought that he would turn all Israel back to God. But it was not to be. Jezebel’s death warrant crushed Elijah’s hope of a great national revival. But his hope that the entire nation would turn to God after only one demonstration of power was unrealistic. Flashes in the pan rarely produce enduring change.
Like Elijah, we believe sudden success establishes a new pattern of life. We mistakenly assume that a coveted promotion at work, a new romantic relationship, a successful investment, or a meaningful experience with God means we will never taste failure again. That is an unrealistic expectation that is guaranteed to lead to a bad day.
Believing You Are Indispensable
Whenever we think we are solely responsible for the success of our marriage, the growth of our business, the wise choices of our children, or—as in Elijah’s case—the spiritual revival of our nation, we assume a responsibility God never intended for us to shoulder. If things go well, the result can be pride—God can’t pull this off without me. But if things go wrong, the result can be despondency—No one is as committed as I am.
Elijah became the victim of both pride and despondency by assuming he alone was responsible for bringing revival to Israel. To lift His prophet out of the emotional doldrums, God needed to have a revealing discussion with His servant. After running from Jezreel to Beersheba, Elijah walked further into the wilderness, to Mount Horeb.
Once Elijah reached Horeb, he found “a cave and lodged there” (1 Kings 19:9). We do not know how long Elijah lived in the cave, but he probably spent his time brooding over his fate. There, in the cave, “the word of the LORD came to him” with a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (v. 9).
God was not asking because He had lost track of His servant and was surprised to find him in a cave. This was a soul-searching question meant as a wake-up call for Elijah. In fact, God asked the question twice for emphasis. It is as if God were saying, “I called you to be a mighty prophet. What are you doing hiding in a mountainside hole?”
I can look back on several key moments in my life when I was in places I had no business being. I am not talking about bars or casinos, but I was involved in secondary pursuits that were not in keeping with my primary calling from God. At those moments, I could hear God saying to me, “Robert, what are you doing in this place? This is not part of My plan for you.”
But Elijah missed the point of God’s probing question. So he responded twice with the same answer: “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (vv. 10, 14).
Elijah’s answer was true. Elijah had been zealous in carrying out his call, and the people of Israel had faithlessly forsaken God’s covenant, torn down God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets. It was equally true that Jezebel was attempting to take Elijah’s life. But how did Elijah know that he was the only faithful one left in Israel? Earlier, Obadiah had told Elijah that one hundred of the Lord’s prophets were being sheltered in caves under his care (1 Kings 18:13).
And why did Elijah sound surprised that Jezebel was seeking his life? After humiliating her god and killing her prophets, did he really believe she would roll out a red carpet, fall on her knees, and confess the Lord as the true God? Such a hope was unrealistic. But it also reveals an attitude of pride. Elijah believed he was indispensable because he thought he was the last faithful man in Israel.
Remember, believing you are indispensable not only results in pride but also results in despondency. In effect, Elijah was really saying to God, “Lord, I’m the only one out there fighting Your battles for You. All the other Israelites have forgotten You. And now this out-of-control woman is trying to kill me. Is this how You reward Your only faithful servant? I guess I’ll have to take care of myself and hide in this cave.”
God has a way of sending us reminders that we are not as indispensable as we think so that we don’t become despondent when we fail to meet unrealistic expectations. A pastor was feeling especially good after his Sunday sermon. On the way home from church, he said to his wife, “Honey, how many truly great preachers do you think there are in America?” His wife replied, “One less than you think!”
God essentially jolted his servant Elijah with the same message. Here is my translation of 1 Kings 19:18: “You think you are the only one left, do you? Well, I will have you know I will leave seven thousand in Israel who will never bow their knees to Baal and who, with their lips, will never kiss Baal’s lips.”
Besides these, the Lord told Elijah He had other servants to do His bidding—some more pagan than pious. God is not limited in the instruments He uses. God instructed Elijah to anoint Hazael, who came to the throne through assassination, as king over Aram, or modern Syria (1 Kings 19:15). Hazael would later become the rod God used to punish Israel. The Lord also told Elijah to anoint Jehu, who was not obedient to the Lord, as king over Israel (v. 16).5 Jehu would later become a scourge to the house of Ahab.
In addition to Hazael and Jehu, God also instructed Elijah to anoint a man named Elisha, who would serve as his successor. In 1 Kings 19:16, the Lord told Elijah, “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.” In verses 19–21 we read that Elijah found Elisha plowing the fields and called him to be his successor. In response to this call, Elisha “arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him” (v. 21).
The bottom-line truth is that God does not need any of us to accomplish His purposes. Jesus told the Pharisees that even if His disciples were silent, “the stones [would] cry out” in praise to Him (Luke 19:40). While God does not need us, He graciously allows us to partner with Him in fulfilling His plan. Maintaining a healthy perspective regarding our responsibility and God’s responsibility will keep us from feeling indispensable and will help us not fall into despair.
What to Do When Bad Days Come
It would be wonderful if we could avoid bad days and live permanently on the sunny side of life, eluding those moments when gray clouds hang over our heads. But the title of this chapter is not “Learn How to Avoid Bad Days.” It is “Learn How to Handle Bad Days.” Just as sparks always fly upward, so “Man is born for trouble” (Job 5:7).
Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33 NLT). And though Jesus has “overcome the world,” we who are still residents of earth must learn how to manage challenging seasons if we want to enjoy an extraordinary life. Elijah’s experience after Mount Carmel illustrates four practical ways to handle bad days.
Expect Bad Days
Just because Elijah got blindsided by a difficult season of life does not mean you have to be. There are some events in your life that almost always will trigger bad days.
First, the death or desertion of a loved one. After the death of each of my parents, while I was in my late twenties and early thirties, I sank into a pit of despair that I could not climb out of for about six months. Even though I was a pastor who had ministered to others in similar situations, I did not realize I was suffering from depression. I now counsel people who have experienced the death of someone close that they should not expect to feel normal again for six months to a year. For many people, divorce produces the same sensation of loss as death.
Second, a devastating loss. Termination from a job, an unexpected financial setback, the destruction of one’s home, or a criminal assault can cause people to question whether God is really watching over them or if they are simply victims of random forces in nature. Such questioning can often result in despair, just as it did for the patriarch Job. Although Job initially worshiped God after losing his possessions, his children, and his health, he eventually questioned God’s sovereignty and wisdom.
Third, an exhilarating success. As I mentioned earlier, I recently returned home after an out-of-town trip during which I delivered a high-profile speech and was interviewed on several national television programs. Returning to my world of everyday responsibilities, I could barely function for the next few days. My lethargy was not the result of some deep spiritual problem that needed to be addressed. I was simply physically and emotionally spent.
Understanding that certain events will trigger bad days can help us not only expect them but even schedule them. For example, I know that after coming home from an overseas trip that involves time zone changes, I am going to experience a few bad days of shaking off the jet lag. While I cannot afford to stay in bed, I can schedule less challenging tasks such as correspondence or meetings instead of sermon preparation or writing—activities that require a great deal of concentration.
Refresh Yourself Physically
I already mentioned the observation that on occasion the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap. After collapsing in a heap of despair following his long trek from Jezreel to Beersheba and then into the wilderness, Elijah prayed, “LORD, take my life” (1 Kings 19:4). The physical and emotional exhaustion that Elijah experienced distorted his perspective. It can do the same to us as well.
God knew what Elijah needed more than anything to regain his emotional and spiritual equilibrium: rest. So the prophet “lay down and slept under a juniper tree” (1 Kings 19:5). The ability to experience deep, restoring sleep is a gift from God. The psalmist declared, “[God] grants sleep to those he loves” (Ps. 127:2 NIV).
Often sleep is the sure cure for a bad day. Conversely, the lack of sleep can be the sure cause of a bad day. Experts say the average adult needs between seven and eight hours of sleep a night. If you are getting too little or too much sleep, what adjustments do you need to make to your daily schedule?
We do not know how long Elijah slept under the juniper tree, but I assume he had sufficient rest because God sent an angelic wake-up call: “And behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank” (1 Kings 19:5–6).
Depression suppresses our desire to eat. Nothing looks enticing, and frankly, most things look nauseating. But eating a simple, light, and healthy meal—and staying properly hydrated—is one of the most important things we can do during bad days.
It always makes me smile when I come to passages like Acts 27:33–36, because we tend to think of the apostle Paul as a theological giant. And he was. But he was also a very practical man. After his arrest in Jerusalem, he was placed on a ship to Rome to stand trial before Nero. Caught in a violent storm, passengers and crew had not eaten in fourteen days. So Paul encouraged everyone to eat. “He took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all [two hundred and seventy-six people], and he broke it and began to eat. All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food” (Acts 27:35–36).
Did you catch that? “All of them were encouraged.” There is a reason we take food to those who are sick or bereaved. Food not only provides for their physical needs but it also encourages them that life goes on—that God and others care for them and that the darkness of the moment will not last forever.
When you are depressed, some of the most helpful things you can do are the simplest things—like getting some sleep and a good meal. When you do not get enough rest or take in enough nutrition, bad days turn into horrible days. That is one extreme.
The other extreme is sleeping and eating too much. Moving from the sofa to the refrigerator to the bed in an endless cycle will only cause your depression to deepen. That cycle must be broken. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, loved ones, and perhaps professional Christian counseling, you can find a balance to manage your sleeping and eating patterns until God turns your bad days into good days.
Strengthen Yourself Spiritually
When the angel came to Elijah and encouraged him to eat, it was probably in the evening, since Elijah had traveled a day’s journey from Beersheba to the juniper tree. The next morning, the angel stirred Elijah again and fed him breakfast. “So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God” (1 Kings 19:8).
We have already looked at God’s question and Elijah’s answer on Mount Horeb, but I want you to notice something unusual that occurs between the two exchanges. After the first conversation, the Lord commanded Elijah to come out of the cave.
[God] 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:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (vv. 11–12 KJV)
When bad days come, most of us want God to show up and do big things: miraculous healings, the sudden and unexpected return of a prodigal, addictions broken overnight, or a mountain of financial debt magically erased. But God usually answers in less dramatic ways. He offers us courage to face our illnesses, wisdom to handle our finances, and grace in our struggle with sin.
It is with a “still small voice” that God calls us out of our caves in which we have hidden. And with a gentle whisper, God urges us to cry for help during the storm. But to hear and heed Him, especially when the wind is howling and the waves are crashing, we must learn how to discern and listen to God’s voice.
David was an extraordinary leader and the textbook definition of significance. But David was not exempt from experiencing bad days. Perhaps his worst day (other than when the prophet Nathan exposed his sin with Bathsheba) is recorded in 1 Samuel 30. After one of their missions, David and his men returned to the town of Ziklag only to discover that the Amalekites had destroyed their homes and taken their wives and children. Incredibly discouraged, David’s men talked openly about stoning him. Talk about a bad day! But notice how David responded:
David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. (1 Sam. 30:6)
You may never experience a devastating house fire, the kidnapping of a family member, or a mutiny by your most trusted allies—all on the same day—but you will inevitably face your own bad days. Everyone who wants to experience an extraordinary life must learn how to strengthen themselves in the Lord by listening to the voice of God.
Here are some practical things you can do to strengthen yourself in the Lord when you experience a bad day.
First, dedicate a time and place where you get alone with God. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the morning or evening, there needs to be a time when you have a regular appointment to meet with God. Some like to do this over a cup of coffee or sitting at the dining room table. I told you in the chapter dealing with prayer that I do this by kneeling beside the couch in my office. If you are unaccustomed to doing this, do not try and overdo it. Ten or fifteen minutes a day is a great way to start! If you are going through a particularly difficult season in your life that is the result of a major loss, a painful circumstance, or a wrong choice, you might consider setting aside a full day or half a day to meet with God.
Second, select a portion of the Bible to read and meditate on. Remember, God’s primary means of communication to us is through His Word. When you read Scripture, you know you are listening to the voice of God. You might consider Psalm 34, which extols the faithfulness of God, or Psalm 51, which describes the forgiveness of God. For a longer passage, try reading Romans 8—my favorite chapter in the Bible—which reminds us of the love of God. Or you might want to read through an entire book of the Bible. Paul’s brief letter to the Philippians is a great place to start, since it instructs us on how to be joyful despite difficult circumstances.
Third, choose one or two verses to memorize. Any verse or two that grabs your attention or brings comfort in your trial is fine. When bad days come your way in the future, the Lord loves to bring those verses back to your memory—to encourage you again.
Fourth, after reading, spend time in prayer. Your prayers do not have to be eloquent or lengthy. God does not pay more attention to long, drawn-out prayers laced with “Thees” and “Thous” than those offered in more common language. God does not weigh your words; He weighs your heart. This is a time to be honest with God, telling Him what is in your heart rather than what you think should be in your heart. Transparency with God in prayer begins with confessing any sin in your life. Remember, when you acknowledge your wrong actions or wrong attitudes, you are not giving God any new information!
Finally, read a few pages in a good Christian book that is centered on the attributes of God. Some I recommend are A. W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy, J. Oswald Sanders’s The Pursuit of the Holy, and J. I. Packer’s Knowing God. Reading a chapter or two a day about the character qualities of God will remind you that you are not following a philosophy but a Person—the Creator of the universe, who cares about you and wants to help you overcome your bad days.
Encourage Yourself Emotionally
When we become discouraged, the first thing we want to do is find a place to hide, to be alone. What we should do, however, is find a place for encouragement.
Elijah “left his servant” at Beersheba, and “he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness” (1 Kings 19:3–4). There, all alone, he threw himself under a juniper tree. And then he went farther into the desolate desert and hid in a cave.
One of the most common reactions I see in those who are experiencing bad days is physical and emotional withdrawal from other people. The more we isolate ourselves from others, the more vulnerable we become to despair. Our very real adversary, Satan, has a three-pronged, effective strategy: isolate, attack, and destroy. If the enemy can pry us away from the emotional support and perspective other Christians can offer us, then he is free to relentlessly pummel and eventually destroy us.
But God did not design us to live as hermits in caves. He designed us to live in community with other people. And, of course, the most nurturing community of people we can surround ourselves with during a difficult season of life is the church. Yet, as my friend David Jeremiah observes, many Christians isolate themselves from the church during a bad season—just at the time they most need the support of other believers.
Our faith isn’t a luxury intended for periods of smooth sailing—neither is our fellowship. When trouble comes along, that’s when it’s wonderful to be part of a faithful, Bible-believing body of people who will rally around you. They’ll pray for you, support you with their resources, encourage you, and counsel you in tough decisions. The devil is the only one whose opinion is that you should take a sabbatical from church in the hard times.6
The essential encouragement that a local fellowship of believers provides inspired the author of Hebrews to write, “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together . . . but encouraging one another” (Heb. 10:24–25).
That is what Elijah needed—what everyone needs during bad days—the encouragement that comes from other people, especially other believers. As we have seen, God told Elijah, “Go, return on your way . . . and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:15–16). Refreshed and restored, Elijah left his cave and connected with other people, including the person who would eventually succeed him in ministry.
Bad days are inevitable, but they do not have to last forever. Those who experience an extraordinary life have learned how to navigate through times of discouragement by strengthening themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Experiencing a bad season of life is like traveling through a dark tunnel. The bad news is that while you are in the tunnel, you cannot see anything in front of you. The good news is that once you have entered the tunnel, you are already on your way out of it.