I Kings 19:1-9a “How Do you Handle Regrets (Part one)”
Introduction:
At least a few times a year I have a dream about regrets. I have a dream in which I receive a call to go back to my previous church in Iowa and become their pastor again. Now I am going back to Iowa to preach later this summer but that is all. But what strikes me is that in this dream I always inevitably have feelings of regret in my dream. I end up back there in that place and I think to myself, “What have I done?? What was I thinking??” Now I don’t mean this as a slam against that church by any means. Rather as an example of regret. In my dream, I wished I had done things differently or wish that things had turned out differently. And it is a terrible feeling!
But what if you have regrets about real things in your life? What if you are in a situation now where you look back and think, “I wished I had done things differently?” Then you are experiencing the feelings that can potentially make you feel frustrated, disappointed, angry, discouraged or depressed. Sometimes regrets come from a specific action, but sometimes there is regret because things are not turning out in general how you wanted them to turn out. And the result is that we can live with profound frustration, disappointment and discouragement in life.
When you are disappointed or discouraged from regret, how do you handle it? We can begin to learn how to handle regrets by looking at the story of Elijah in I Kings 19:1-9a as he faces severe despair.
I. The Tragic Setback
This occurs after Elijah has had his confrontation with Jezebel and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah had challenged the prophets of Baal to a “sacrifice-off” on top of Mount Carmel. Elijah said that both he and the false prophets would prepare a sacrifice and then call on God and Baal to see who would burn up the sacrifice. The prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice and prayed and screamed for Baal to send fire, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prepared his altar, thoroughly doused it with water and prayed for God to send fire, which God did and burned up every bit of the sacrifice and altar. Elijah clearly defeated the prophets of Baal and the people shouted that the Lord is God!
And then in his moment of triumph, he ordered the people to kill all the prophets of Baal. After the prophets had been killed, then God sent the rain on the land after the long drought. This was a moment of immense triumph and success for Elijah, but I suspect that it was also something that caused Elijah to wonder about later on.
For when Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, hears what happened on Mount Carmel, she forms a plan to get rid of Elijah. Jezebel now sends Elijah a threat which was confirmed with an oath. “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” She wants Elijah dead like the dead prophets of Baal. This signals a drastic change in the scene for Elijah and so Elijah takes off.
The main reason for his leaving in verse 3 is that he is afraid!! But perhaps equally true, he is greatly discouraged by this turn of events. God had given a tremendous demonstration of His power in the sending of fire. God had demonstrated his care and ability to bless the people by sending rain after the drought. In spite of all this, God has again been rejected by Israel and Elijah is in more trouble than ever. I can’t help but wonder if at that point, Elijah maybe regretted what he had done or had happened.
He had seen God’s triumph on Mount Carmel, but now he is far from that triumph. Last week, Nashville Predators hockey fans here
in Nashville were so excited and feeling so good; they had defeated the vaunted and dreaded Red Wings in the playoffs and life was sweet. A week later, they were in the pit of despair losing three games to the lowly Phoenix team. It was a tremendous reversal of fortune and it was hard to take. That may have been somewhat of how Elijah felt; he has won a great victory and now this!?
So Elijah goes far south, which is evidence that he was driven by more than fear. The author notes that this is in the land of “Judah” implying that Elijah intended to leave Israel for good and live in Judah. He was finished with the whole prophet business!
In fact, he goes as far south as Beersheba which was the southernmost city in Judah. However, Elijah is also on a pilgrimage to go somewhere where he could sort things out. He needs to go to a place to meet God and pour out his heart to the Lord about his despair.
II. Elijah’s Despair becomes very evident in verses 3-5.
Once at Beersheba, he leaves his servant behind and wanders out in the wilderness. Elijah finds a broom tree and rests there for a
while. The broom tree was a favorite of travelers since it gave shade during the day and a wind-break at night.
While there he prays a prayer of utter despair: “I have had enough.” He is finished with life! He says that he is no better than his ancestors. Elijah feels much like Moses who said something very similar while leading the people of Israel to the land of Canaan. That similarity between Moses and Elijah will become more evident as the passage proceeds.
At any rate, Elijah now simply asks God, “Let me die”. “If this is how things are going to be in this line of work, forget it, I would just as soon be dead.” Elijah regretted where he was at this point in his life and felt that he had had enough.
There are times when we may feel very similar to Elijah. There are many reasons for having feelings of regret. A marriage may falter and you may even wonder if you married the right person. Perhaps you may regret the way you reared your children and they are in a situation that you did not envision and you have regrets about that. Or perhaps your job becomes frustrating or is going nowhere and you wonder if you should have taken that particular job. Or you face continual financial tensions where every month paying the bills because of something you spent that money on and you regret doing that. Or perhaps the future in general is very uncertain because of things you have done in the past and you have feelings of regret about them.
At that point we want to say with Elijah, “It is enough; I’ve had it; I can’t take any more!” Some become suicidal and talk about literally ending their lives because it’s not worth continuing. Some may dive into alcohol or drugs and slowly sink to the bottom in their lives. Others live in a world of depression and despair and live a listless and non-energetic life. And, we all do feel that way from time to time and we have to realize this about each other.
Nancy Eastridge of the Upper Room tells of a time she saw a pet parrot acting peculiarly. She laughed when she saw the parrot making a great fuss about getting from its perch to the ground. It seemed to be struggling so hard and so much in vain. She thought it was a funny bird and said, “Come on! Why don’t you just fly?” Then the owner told her that the wings of parrots are clipped to keep them from flying away.” She watched the parrot struggle–swinging from one foot, turning itself upside down, hanging on with its beak, and finally falling and lying dazed on the ground.
She wrote, “Now there was no laughter in me, for the parrot had become a symbol. It was like all those people who appear to be free in our world, but who have had their wings clipped–by poverty, by lack of education, by discrimination, by insensitive persons. And we tend to stand on the sidelines and say, ‘Strange people! Why don’t they act the way the rest of us do?’ But as we say this, we show that we are unaware of the pain and despair in those who, like the parrot, appear to be free but cannot fly.” We all struggle to varying degrees, but some degree of discouragement is there for all of us. What do we do when we feel that way? We, like Elijah may want to run away or just give up.
Let’s look at what happens when Elijah feels that way. God tenderly continues to work in his life and teaches him again of God’s love and grace. And that is what we must see as well, particularly when we have great feelings of great regret.
III. God’s Sustaining Mercy
In verse 5 we read, “All at once, an angel, a special messenger from God, touched him.” The angel brings provisions to Elijah that are similar to the ones he had received previously from the ravens in 1 Kings 17:4-6 while at the brook. The angel gives Elijah a cake of bread baked over hot coals and some water. Once again God uses a miraculous feeding to restore and prepare Elijah for further service. God, in His mercy, provided sustenance and rest for His discouraged servant.
An angel of the Lord touched him again and told him to arise and eat, and he again got up, ate and drank. This time the emphasis now is on the journey to Horeb. He must eat for the journey is too great for him. Now do you see what God is saying to Elijah through this angel? God acknowledges that he is tired and discouraged and so God takes care of Elijah’s needs. But God is saying there is still a journey that you must travel.
While Elijah may be discouraged by what has happened, God still has work for him to do. A person may be tired and discouraged, but if God still has work for him to do, he is not finished yet, regardless of how he may feel. Elijah somehow grabs hold of that for he eats and drinks and presses on. On that strength of that meal, Elijah goes for forty days and nights in the desert. God strengthened Elijah in his despair with God’s grace.
What we need to remember is that even in our despair, for whatever reason, God is strengthening us. God may strengthen you very directly while you are in despair. Perhaps through some Scripture which you needed to hear and be reminded of at that point. Perhaps in a time of prayer when you poured out your pain and hurt to the Lord, and you knew that He heard and understood your feelings. Perhaps in a spoken word through a sermon or through communion like this morning.
God may also use other Christians to strengthen you. Perhaps someone spoke a word of encouragement to you that helped you at that moment. Perhaps someone taking care of a physical need such as food or money.
The point is that God will strengthen you whatever your hurt may be; He will help you. A man was asked to tell what his personal faith meant to him. He reached
back to his boyhood experience. He recalled walking with his father one day, having to reach up to hold on to his hand. After a while he said, “I can’t hold on any longer, and you’ll have to hold on to me for a while.” And he remembered the moment when he felt his father’s hand take over. That, he said, was the way it felt to him to have faith in God. And that was precisely an act of grace. God reached down to his despairing servant and through the angel took his hand into his own.
But you must look for that strength as it comes from the Lord. Elijah was despondent and discouraged, but he was also still open to receiving the Lord’s strength. If we cut ourselves off from the Lord or from fellow Christians, we are eliminating ways that God may use to show us His grace that we need so badly. And then once strengthened physically, we must begin a journey to renewal as Elijah begins.
IV. Journey to Renewal
Elijah now wanders in the desert for 40 days and nights. What is the significance of this time span? When Moses was on Mount Sinai, he was on the mountain for forty days and nights. During this time, God revealed Himself to Moses and Moses learned what God wanted him to do. God will now reveal Himself to Elijah as well and give further instructions for him.
Moreover, “forty” is the number of years that Israel wandered in the wilderness long ago. As the Israelites were coming out of
Egypt, they became rebellious against God. So God had them wander around in the wilderness for 40 years, not only as a punishment, but more to help them understand who God really was. Now Elijah is on a wandering pilgrimage through the wilderness. It would not take 40 days and nights to walk directly to Mount Horeb. Clearly, God allowed Elijah to walk around that length of time so he would learn WHO God was and what Elijah was to do.
Moreover, Elijah’s pilgrimage takes him to Horeb, which is another name for Sinai which was located in the desert some 250 miles south of Beersheba. What was the significance of Horeb? This was the place where Moses received his call and where God had laid out very clearly how he wanted His people to live and what He would do for them as their God. Horeb or Sinai was the place where the nation had its beginning with God.
By leading Elijah to Horeb, God is bringing Elijah back to the basics; God will tell Elijah: “This is who I am! This is what I demand from my servants!” The journey to renewal begins by having Elijah go back and review the basics once again. There is more to learn at Horeb as we will see next week, but that is where Elijah’s renewal begins.
What should we begin to do when we face despair over a past regret? There may be the very real need to simply “get away” from time to time. We all need breaks regularly and that is why vacations are so important to us. But as we “get away”, we have to be sure that we are not trying to blindly escape. We must get away with God and spend time with Him to gain the perspective we need.
While we may legitimately “get away” to deal with our discouragement, it is important that we go back to the basics as well as we “get away”. The story is told of the Green Bay Packer’s former football coach, the late Vince Lombardi. One Monday, after a particularly lackluster performance by the team which was characterized by sloppy play and poor execution, Lombardi entered the locker room and announced that because of the poor play of the team, he was going to go back to the basics. He then picked up a football and announced with great determination: “This is a football!”
When we face discouragement, let’s remind ourselves of the very basics of the Christian faith. What are the basics? Very simply three main things: First, God loves you and me so much that He sent us his one and only Son to take the punishment that we deserve and placed it on Jesus. That means that our sins are forgiven and are not held against us by God. We are saved by grace and have nothing at all to ever fear!
Second, God has saved us, but He also has a purpose and a mission for us in this world. There is work that God wants us to do for Him while we are on this earth. And that work gives us purpose and direction while we are here on this earth.
Finally, when that work is finished on earth, God will take us to be with the Lord in heaven where we will live and enjoy His presence forever! There may be times when we are afraid, but our eternal future is secure.
Those are the basics that are so familiar, but that we often need to hear and to remind ourselves of especially when facing despair and discouragement as we press on in our lives. The late author and poet, Phyllis McGinley, once wrote, “The wonderful thing about saints is that they were human. They lost their tempers, got hungry, scolded God, were egotistical, or testy or impatient in their turns, made mistakes and regretted them. Still, they went on doggedly blundering toward heaven.”
We may have regrets, but God will use us in spite of what we have done to serve Him if we turn to Him and ask for His ongoing grace and presence. We keep doggedly pressing in God’s grace.
If you are troubled and discouraged, on the verge of despair, what will you do? When discouraged, I urge you to go back to the Word and let God reveal Himself to you again. If you go back to Him, He will help you in a most marvelous way as we will see next week. He will give you peace and rest and a new perspective on life as a whole.
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