Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
Tonight in revival, I’m speaking from I Kings 19:1-18, specifically verse 4, “He (Elijah) came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.”
Elijah, after the greatest victory in his life (the BBQ on Mt. Carmel where God “showed up and showed out) is running in fear for his life. He goes to the desert sits under a broom (juniper tee) and asks God to ‘kill him.’
I understand this story.
I’ve been under the broom tree and wished to die.
I’ve been out in the desert where it’s dry, life seems dead, and one feels completely alone.
It’s called depression. It’s one of the “D words” and travels along in a pack with its cousins, discouragement, despair, disillusionment, defeat, disgust, dejection, and distortion.
Under the broom tree, you can’t seem to hear God’s voice and your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling, or in Elijah’s case, off the limbs of the broom tree.
You feel that God is a million miles away, even though he’s as close as your heartbeat. It’s a matter of perception.
Depression, or despair as the Bible often calls it, does that: it clouds and blurs one’s perception.
I call it “The Great Liar.” It tells you lots of things that aren’t true: there is no hope, life will never be good or happy again. No one cares, including God. You’d be better off dead. Everyone else would be better off with you gone.
These are all lies, and I believe they come (especially “you’d be better off dead) directly from “The Father of Liars,” Satan. Jesus said “The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.”* He was referring to Satan. *John 10:10
Depression not only tells your mind lies, but it clouds the truth. Wonderful truths of hope: God is for you, not against you; He is carrying you through this time; (The wonderful poem, “Footprints” sustained me during my dark days.) You will get better and the joy of life will return.
I’ll be adding thoughts and stories on this subject throughout the coming days.
Hoping.
Looking up.
Curt Iles
