Post Victory Doldrums

When you receive great victory from the hand of God, Satan is furious. So he immediately uses someone, maybe a family member and maybe a church member, maybe some friend, he's going to use somebody who's going to come and steal your joy away from you. And the poisoning of your joy is always so small, it's always a minor thing in relationship to the victory that you have just received, and it will poison you well nonetheless.

Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for this edition of Leading the Way Audio. Throughout Elijah's life, he experienced great victories. Think about raising someone from the dead and standing up publicly against the hundreds of prophets of Baal. These are victories that should have confirmed God's hand and favor was upon him. And yet at one point in his life, he cried out for God to end his life. Now, you may not be fighting against Baal this week or praying for someone to rise from the dead, but the life of Elijah can still offer you practical guidance as you face whatever may be poised to try to steal your joy.

Listen along with me as Dr. Michael Youssef begins. Turn with me, please, to 1 Kings 19. When we left Elijah in the last message, 1 Kings chapter 18, verse 46, we left him, he had already ran a 14-mile Mount Carmel marathon, and he ran it faster than horses.

He had supernatural power that God gave him, he tucked his cloak in, and he ran. And then you look at chapter 19, verse 3, and you would say verse 46 of chapter 18 does not prepare you to chapter 19, verse 3. Only three little verses, but they do not prepare you from one extreme to the other.

Look at the verses. And when Elijah finally gets in there, confronts Jezebel and hears about her threat, he goes to Beersheba. Now, Beersheba is way south of the country.

It's a little over 100 miles south. Jezreel in the north, Beersheba down in the south. And then when he got to Beersheba, this little village, he leaves his servant there, then he goes for a full day's walk, and he gets in the desert, and he gets there under the juniper tree, puts his head between his knees, and he says, God, kill me and kill me now.

I'm running away from Jezebel. Let me remind you of the previous episodes. We've seen Elijah, who stood in the power of Yahweh, calling upon Yahweh to come and send fire from heaven after the miserable prophets of Baal failed for the whole day to call upon Baal.

He could not answer them. Then he calls upon the God who hears all things, and God sends fire to come in and lick everything in sight. And then Elijah goes up a little further on Mount Carmel, and there he kneels on the promises of God, and he calls upon God, and God sends rain after three and a half years of dryness and drought. Now King Ahab sees all this taking place. He sees all this happening, and this big wimp goes home, not repentant of his compromise between Baal and Yahweh.

So he goes home to the White House, and what does he do? What do you think the first thing going on in his mind? Oh boy, what am I going to tell Jezebel? Oh boy, what am I going to tell Jezebel? And this domineering, controlling, wicked, nature-worshipping woman, you know, was waiting for him. I mean, she's right there inside the door just waiting for him to walk in, and she sees him walking with a heavy foot.

It was like a little boy coming in afraid of Mommy. She probably wound her fingers around his ears and said, What is wrong, big boy? You know, I honestly think that Ahab had a child-mother relationship with Jezebel rather than a husband-wife relationship.

Well, look at it. I mean, see his over-dependency on Jezebel. Watch, see how he lets her take absolute control of the palace and of the kingdom and ruins the whole thing. And when Ahab tells his wife Jezebel what happened, he never once mentioned what God did. He never once says to her, he said, Now, Jezebel, Yahweh's real, and from now on we're going to worship him and going to worship him alone. Elijah got rid of the prophets of Baal, and I'm going to finish the job.

No. Those who refuse to see God, they will refuse to see him in the blessings, and they're going to refuse to see him in the judgment. And no program or psychological help is going to help them. If they're spiritually blind, they're going to be blind until God opens their eyes. And this moment, the wicked Jezebel heard all that has happened and how her precious prophets of Baal died, she became enraged. I mean, I can imagine her lips were quivering and her hands were shaking and swearing by her gods who turned out to be useless anyway, but she swears by them. Now, I'm going to put a contract on Elijah. Let me stop right here and I'll tell you something very important.

I think it is as real as I'm standing in front of you right now. When you receive great victory from the hand of God, Satan is furious. So he immediately uses someone, maybe a family member, and maybe a church member, maybe some friend. He's going to use somebody who's going to come and steal your joy away from you.

And the poisoning of your joy is always so small, it's always minute, it's always a minor thing in relationship to the victory that you have just received, but it poisoned you well nonetheless. Look at what happened to Elijah after great victory, series of victories. Look at verse 3 of chapter 19 of 1 Kings. The Bible said Elijah was afraid. He had not been afraid when he confronted Ahab three and a half years ago. He was not afraid when God told him to go to Zarephath, the very heart of Baal worshiping Gentile world. He was not afraid to confront anybody.

He was not afraid to stand before these 850 prophets and prophetesses of Baal and Ashtavah. He was not afraid, but now he's afraid of Jezebel. And he runs to Beersheba, and even there he divests himself of the only human companion that he had. And he goes along. He said, does it ever get worse?

It gets a lot worse. Elijah gets out into the desert where it's 130 degrees in the shade. I mean, that's enough to make you talk to yourself. And he says, okay, God, kill me and kill me now. He said, but this is a great man of God. You gave us the example from James chapter 5 that this man of God has been given as a model, as an example.

He prayed and it did not rain, and then he prayed and it rained. He's a great man of God, yes, but he's not even the only man of God who has found himself in this situation. In the book of Numbers chapter 11, after putting up with people's murmuring, after putting up with people criticizing, after putting up with people's complaining, after putting up with people bad-mouthing him, Moses comes to God and said, God, I would rather be killed. In the book of Jonah chapter 4, Jonah, after he preached and had great victory in Nineveh, he said to God, he said, look, if you are that good with the wicked people of Assyria, be good to me and kill me too. Jeremiah chapter 20 was so fed up with God's people's indifference to God, their indifference to God's kingdom, their indifference to God's work, and he was fed up with their self-centeredness and he said to God, God, I wish you would take my life.

If you've never been there, take note because you might be there and you want to know this and you want to know what to do. I want to give you some lessons that I have learned through the years and they come right out of this passage. Lesson number one, write it down, never act after victory without a word from the Lord. Never act after victory without a word from the Lord. If you look at verse 3 of chapter 19, you're going to notice something that is uncharacteristic of Elijah.

You want to know what it is? I'll explain it by giving you three other references. In chapter 17 verse 2, here's what it says, the word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, leave here and go to Cherith. And at the word of God, he left Ahab and went to Cherith Brooks. Verse 8 of 17, the word of the Lord came to him, go at once to Zarephath.

He left the brook in the wilderness and went to Zarephath. Chapter 18 verse 1, after a long time in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah. You got it? Do you know what it is now?

Can you see it? Elijah was a man whose movements and messages were ordered by God. But when you look at verse 3 of chapter 19, what is missing hits you between the eyes. There are no words from the Lord and therefore there was fear and there was panic and there's running away. There's resignation.

There's leaving. To put it bluntly, Elijah got blindsided. First lesson, do not make a major decision without a word from the Lord, particularly after great spiritual victory. Have you ever been blindsided? Have you ever been blindsided to get that letter or this phone call or this confrontation that you're totally not banking on and you're not even expecting and you would rather not have? What you need to do is wait for a word from the Lord. Don't respond immediately. In fact, there are many times when I get blindsided like this, I hear the Lord to be saying, don't respond at all.

He takes care of it. Second lesson, Elijah left himself alone at a time when he least needed to be alone. He left his servant in Beersheba and he walked for a day and there he sat under the tree putting his head between his knees and said, God, kill me and kill me now. I had to let my imagination run a little while when I look at the text and as I'm examining it and studying it I began to think if this was, as the traditions say, he is the son of that widow in Zarephath, he is the young man that he raised from the dead. I try to imagine if he had taken him with him for the rest of the trip, what would be his reaction if he hears Elijah to be saying, oh God, kill me, kill me now, I'm not better than my ancestors.

I would imagine this young man would have said to him, oh no Elijah, don't say that. Don't you remember what God did in Zarephath? Don't you remember the cruse of oil and the jar of flour? Don't you remember that I was dead and done for and you stretched yourself on me and I was raised from the dead. God brought me to life again. No, Elijah, there is hope in God. Don't you remember, Elijah, of how you sent me out to the seaside to look for the clouds. Seven times I kept going back and you never distrusted God and you never doubted God.

And God answered your prayers and he sent rain after three and a half years of drought. Don't you remember, Elijah, have you forgotten the fire that came from heaven and licked everything inside, including the water? No, Elijah, God still in the miracle business.

Elijah did not need to be alone at this low point of his life. Some of you are trying to walk alone right now and alone is the last thing that you should be doing. Some of you are trying to grit your teeth and you're clenching your fists and you say, I'm one of God's tough ones.

What you really need to do is surrender your toughness and let God give you a Christian friend to walk with you. There's a third lesson here I believe the Lord would have us learn from this passage and it is this. When you're down, you lose perspective.

When you're down, you lose objectivity. There's something here that fascinated me in this passage for years. It absolutely fascinated me and I don't know whether you've noticed it or not.

If you haven't noticed it, let me point it out to you. Verse 2 of chapter 19, 1 Kings, Elijah runs away from Jezebel because she wanted to kill him. So he runs away and where does he go? He goes to the wilderness, he goes to God and he says, God, kill me. What is this double talk? If he wanted to be killed, Jezebel would have done a much better job than God.

She would have killed him with passion. But you see, when you are in a bosom of defeat, discouragement and depression, you lose touch with reality. Look at what he said. He said, I am no better than my ancestors. That's a Semitic way and I want to explain it to you in plain American English. This is a use of translation.

Here's what it means. Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. I'm going to eat some worms. What is Elijah doing at this time? He's sitting there and he was beginning to think of the thousands and thousands of Israelites who were faithful to Yahweh, who lived for Yahweh and died for Yahweh. Those nameless people, those faceless people throughout the generations all the way back to Moses. And all of a sudden he said, I'm not better than they are.

I want to die right now. Elijah did not know he was going to wind up in a series of messages on how God works. He did not know he was going to be mentioned in the book of James. He did not know even who was going to be in the scripture. So that when you sit down and you begin to have your own personal pity party, remember Elijah.

There's something else here which is the fourth principle. Elijah was truly exhausted. I mean physically exhausted, emotionally exhausted, spiritually exhausted. He was exhausted in every sense of the word.

Look at verse five. You really find the bottom line of his depression and discouragement. He fell asleep the sleep of depression.

Some of you know what I'm talking about. That despondent, that dilapidating sleep, that sleep that when you wake up you feel more tired than when you went to sleep. That's what he was. How was he physically exhausted? Well he just ran a hundred miles to get away from Jezebel. I don't make anybody tired. How was he emotionally and spiritually exhausted?

Listen to me very carefully please. There is nothing that can emotionally and spiritually and psychologically exhaust you like spiritual warfare. You do not endure the confrontation with the prophets of Baal and Mount Carmel as he did. And then spend time on your knees imploring God to answer and give and fulfill his promise.

And then you're confronted with this wicked witch of the north. You don't face all of that without getting emotionally depleted. The greatest part of that whole passage is not his depression, not his discouragement, not his fear, and not his weakness.

No. The greatest part of this episode in Elijah's life is the way God deals with us. This is a whole series. It started way back talking about how God deals. This is how God works, how God deals. And this is it.

This is the nugget of the nuggets. And the Bible said that the Lord looked down and then he yelled at Elijah saying, You weak-willed, vacillating wimp, I gave you an important assignment and you blew it. What verse is that?

No and a million no. How does God deal with the depressed, discouraged servant of his? That is very important. Listen carefully.

I want to talk to you especially super achievers, super men and super women. I want you to listen to me, please. I know a little bit about you. I think most of you know why. You are harder on yourselves than God is.

Look at what happened here. When Elijah is down, God matches Elijah's every need at every point. Don't miss that.

If you forget everything I said, don't miss this one. Because Elijah did not wait for a word from the Lord, what does God do? He gives him a word from the Lord. Because Elijah left his companion way out there on today's journey, God gives him an angelic companion. Because he needed desperately some food and some drink, some refreshments, God supernaturally provides him with food and drink and refreshments.

He meets him at every point of his needs. When you're down, God does not say, You imbecile, you have failed me, you have let me down. No, this is not our God. This is not how God works with his faithful children when they get blindsided. More than anything else, God knew that Elijah needed samarana. That is why the angel does not come and say, Elijah, wake up and ponder the great doctrine of the sovereignty of God.

Now, there is a place for that. As you know, I believe with all my heart in the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, but there's times when God knows that's not what you need, and what you need is food and drink. And that is why after he ate and he drank, he went back to sleep. He was in desperate need of sleep. I remember one time I went for three straight days without a wink. I was traveling overseas. I literally did not sleep for three days and three nights.

When I collapsed, I've been to two different countries since then, and I'm glad my companions were taking me around because I didn't know where I was. They checked me in a hotel, I got to sleep. I wake up, I got to the next place. And that's what Elijah needed. He needed to sleep. He went back to sleep. And after the rest, he was ready to resume ministry. God was ready to talk to him, and he talked to him through the earthquake, but he did not really speak to him. He talked to him through the fire, but he did not really speak to him.

He waited until he spoke to him in a gentle whisper. Spurgeon, one of the great preachers of yesteryear, used to say that the bow that is always bent will certainly break. Let me conclude by saying this. I really had a great hesitation in my spirit as I'm working on this message, and I had some fear. You say, fear? Yeah, because this is dangerous stuff. You say, what do you mean dangerous? I'll tell you why it is dangerous.

It is dangerous because some slothful or lazy person, a pure warmer for many years, is going to say, man alive, I've been waiting for him to preach a sermon like this for ten years. He's giving me a lot of comfort today. That word is not for you. That message is not from the Lord for you. My fear is that when I preach a message like this, and the slothful and the lazy and those who are indifferent will react in this way, my biggest fear is that those who are exhausted, those who are frazzled in the kingdom work, those who have given sacrificially, those who have given of themselves, have given of their possessions, are going to say, he must be talking to the guy at the end of the pew, and they exempt themselves and they keep working hard.

Don't mix yourselves up today, please. In hearing this word from the Lord, this message belongs squarely to the few of you who work hard, give of yourself, give sacrificially, always ready to do whatever is needed, and you never rest. That message is from the Lord for you.

As to the spectators and the watchers and the pure warmers, I want to tell you there's another message from the Lord for you. Do something for God. Do something, do something, do something, do something for God. Get up and do something for God.

Thank you for joining listeners all around the world for Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. If you could use a strong voice to guide you toward rest or challenge you to do something for God, may we offer a conversation with one of Leading the Way's pastors on staff? They would love to spend time with you and help you walk toward the next steps biblically.

So start your conversation at ltw.org slash jesus. When I came here to Massachusetts and to train for ministry, there came a time in my life when I did not feel fit for ministry. In my second year of Bible college training, I felt like giving up.

I wanted to leave. In Dr. Youssef's new book, Never Give Up, he talks a lot about 2 Timothy and the importance of perseverance in our lives as Christians. I became a believer over ten years ago because Dr. Youssef preached a sermon. And I think Dr. Youssef never knew that his preaching brought me to faith in Christ. It's not always immediately apparent what God is going to do if you have the courage to keep going.

You never know the Timothy's that God might bring out of your life if you live a life of faithfulness. I've been pastoring now for six years, and I'm watching God do through me what he began to do through Dr. Youssef. I am grateful that people like Dr. Youssef continue to invest in areas that are difficult, like he did in Northfield, Massachusetts, because it is quite an amazing thing for somebody like Dr. Youssef to come to an area like this and give the gift he has to pastors here and giving them training. God is reaching people all over the world, and we just need to continue to execute the call that he's given each and every Christian, which is to proclaim Christ as Lord in every area of our lives.

And God will bring the harvest when it's time. Now, if you haven't already, make it a point to get a copy of Never Give Up. Dr. Youssef is offering to send it your way when you give a gift of any amount to Leading the Way. Call us, 866-626-4356, or order through Leading the Way's website, ltw.org. That's 866-626-4356 and ltw.org. Well, that's our broadcast for today. Thank you for being with us, and you're always invited to join Dr. Michael Youssef once again next time for more Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.