At the End of Your Rope

There are three interesting prayers in the Old Testament. Three very interesting prayers in the Old Testament. One is in Numbers 11, not our text for today, Numbers 11 where Moses says to the Lord, the burden of all this people is too much for me. If this is a way you're going to treat me, just take my life. The second prayer is Jonah, chapter 4 and verse 3, where Jonah, because of disillusionment with how God had been dealing with him and actually blessed the people of Nineveh, Jonah said much the same thing. I've had enough take my life, Lord. The third prayer is when we're going to see this morning by Elijah in 1 Kings 19, same thing. He's had enough and he asked God to take his life. Now think of that. Moses, Jonah, and Elijah all prayed for God to take their life. I remember several years ago, I used to attend a pastor's conference at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, went for about 15 straight years and I remember one of those times, I heard Dr. Adrian Rogers speak and of course speaking to pastors and so he spoke on those three prayers and the title of his sermon was for pastors, Monday Morning prayers. Think about that for a moment. You may get the idea. Monday Morning prayers. A lot of pastors are discouraged and on Monday mornings are ready to give it up. Well, there's another one that could be added to that list and that's Paul. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul says he didn't want the Corinthians to misunderstand the fact that in Asia he was burdened beyond measure to the point of even despairing of life. You say what's going on? Moses, Jonah, Elijah, Paul, all four of them asking for God to take their life or at least in Paul's case saying he despaired of life. What's going on with those guys? I think they all might be suffering from what we call burnout. Burn out. Burn out has been described as being at the end of your rope and feeling like you can't hold on any longer. Dr. Paul Meyer and Frank Menerth who are Christian psychiatrists wrote a book on burnout, they define it more technically. Burn out is they say a cluster of symptoms including emotional and physical exhaustion, depersonalization or tendency to withdraw from people and decreased personal and professional performance or it's being at the end of your rope and feeling like you can't hang on any longer. Lots of people suffer from burnout. In fact, it really doesn't know any boundaries as far as kinds of people that it touches. Homemakers, factory workers, farmers, executives, doctors, nurses, pastors, counselors go right on down the list. Practically any group of people, any person can be touched by burnout. Now Menerth and Meyer again give the actual symptoms of burnout. I want to read through some of those to see if I'm describing anyone, no hands raised or anything like that, but you may recognize that I'm describing some of you here today. They say that burnout is approaching if you find yourself gripping more and more and enjoying it less and less. If you can't stand people, if you want to withdraw, if you feel like the school bus driver that said, I love my bus, I like my route, but I hate every single student who rides my bus. Ouch. They go on to describe burnout as approaching if you have had a major blow up, yelling at people or collapsing in tears, or if you have just felt paralyzed when you needed to take action. Maybe that describes where some of you are this morning. They go on to say burnout is probably acute if you are experiencing an emotional breakdown or suicidal feelings or if you are completely overcome by exhaustion or uncontrollable anger. And didn't they say burnout has become chronic if you continually find yourself withdrawing physically from your job. If you have trouble maintaining contact with people, even eye contact or verbal communication, if you quit your job without good reason, if you lack the emotional energy to handle the daily hassles of family life or they say burnout has become chronic if you refuse to discuss your problems or acknowledge a need for help. When we come to 1 Kings chapter 19, we are going to find that Elijah, his experiences offer us a classic case of burnout. Now I know that can become a psychological psychiatric type term, but it's a term that describes the symptoms that we see of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. And I believe those other men who got to the point, they were so burdened down and stressed out that they actually didn't want to live any longer and ask God to take their lives. For into that can happen to Moses. If that can happen to a prophet like Jonah, if that can happen to Elijah, if that can happen to Paul, it can happen to you and me too. And probably for most of us in this room, we've had some of those symptoms that describe burnout. So what does the Bible teach us here? After all, we're looking at Elijah, a great prophet of God and we've seen in chapter 17 that he faithfully delivered God's message fearlessly before King Ahab. We've seen that he trusted God for amazing provision of food and drink at Brook Carreath and at Zaraath at the widow's home. We've seen that he even raised a young man from the dead. Didn't chapter 18, he stands on Mount Carmel before 450 prophets of Bale and declares that the true God is the only God and God answers with fire from heaven. And then he prays several times for an extended time and God gives rain again. And then we come to chapter 19. Look at the first four verses. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 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 that time. Now basically in my language, she was saying, but watch out because by tomorrow I'm getting you. I'm going to kill you just like you killed the prophets of Bale. Well notice what Elijah does. Verse three, when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life and went to Bersheba which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. 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. Elijah, I believe, is suffering from what we call burnout. His experience again is a classic case of burnout. It's a classic case because as we go through this passage this morning, we will notice first of all the characteristics of burnout. We'll see them clearly played out in Elijah's experience, but we'll also see the cure for burnout and that's what the Lord will show us as he deals with Elijah. But let's look at the characteristics of burnout first. The first characteristic is physical exhaustion. Physical exhaustion. Think about it with me for a moment. Think about the events of chapter 18 on Mount Carmel. Elijah is representing the Lord and remember the profits of bail go on for hours with their efforts to try to get bailed to answer their prayers and Elijah is goading them on. He's there the whole time and then he prepares his sacrifice. He's been there all day. We know that from morning until three o'clock at least in the afternoon, the profits of bail are doing their thing and finally Elijah comes to the scene at about three o'clock. He's been there all day and then he goes and prays diligently while Ahab goes to eat, Elijah's praying. He probably hasn't had anything to eat all day and then remember when the rain comes, he runs 17 miles to Jezreel. I'd say by the end of that day, he's exhausted, physically spent, but that's not the end in verse three when he gets the news about Jezebel seeking his life. He basically takes off for bear cheba. That's a hundred miles from Jezreel and he probably had to walk another hundred mile trip and that's not the end. He goes another day's journey out into the desert before he finally collapses under a small tree that only has enough shade for one person. I'd say he was suffering from physical exhaustion. It's quite clear he has spent himself and there's nothing left in the tank. He is physically exhausted. A big reason, a big cause for burnout is exhaustion because physical exhaustion affects everything about us. You see, God has made us as unified people when things are not going well physically, that also affects you mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And that's what we're seeing with Elijah. His physical exhaustion caused him to lose any desire even to live. You become gloomy, you become irritable, you become depressed. And here's what happens. If you keep trying to push through that, I could lie to you, win another hundred miles after already being physically exhausted, you keep trying to push through that thinking it'll be better tomorrow. I just got to work my way through this than you will at some point reach collapse. You'll reach a burnout situation in your life. There are some of you probably here today that anytime you even sit down, your body is crying out for rest. That's why people go to sleep in church. Did you know that? See, I just gave you an out. That's why people go to sleep in church. They're exhausted. There's an interesting contrast in sculptures on Fifth Avenue in New York City. In front of one building, there is a picture of Atlas, the mythological Greek figure who's supposed to be holding up the world. Well, that sculpture has him bending under the weight of the world on his shoulders. Right across the street from that establishment is St. Peter's church. And in front of St. Peter's church, there's a sculpture of Christ effortlessly holding the world in one hand. Now, just think about that contrast for a while. And it'll really sink into your heart. Those two sculptures really represent two ways of living life, of looking at life. One is feeling like I've got the responsibility and the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. The other is to recognize that Jesus holds the world in his hand and we can trust him with whatever is going on in our lives. But physical exhaustion can be the first sign that you're headed to burnout. The second characteristic of burnout in Elijah's life here at least, I think in most people that would bear true is feelings of failure. Feelings of failure. Look again at verse four. But he went himself a days journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die and said, now notice his prayer, it is enough. Now Lord, take my life for I am no better than my fathers. I think Elijah expected that Mount Carmel would be the beginning of a national turning to God. I mean, all the people on Mount Carmel even say, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. And so Elijah no doubt thought, this is the beginning of a great national revival of a turning of our people back to God. A. Hab and Jezebel, he probably thought, would be convinced that Jehovah is the true God. They will turn in heart repentance to him, but it doesn't happen. And he takes it personally. He takes it as a personal failure when he says, I am not better than my fathers. What Elijah is saying is my fathers, those who preceded me, the prophets who came before me like Samuel and others, they failed to turn the nation completely to God and I have failed too. And no doubt in his mind he is thinking, the three and a half year drought and the miraculous display of God's power on Mount Carmel, that's all for not now. It doesn't mean a thing because Jezebel has not trusted the true God. And many of you have experienced this when you really put yourself into something and that it doesn't turn out as you expected, as you thought God would do, as you thought he would work, it didn't turn out that way. It can lead to some pretty serious disillusionment and eventually burn out, wanting to give up completely. I think all of us have probably had some idealistic expectations shattered on the rocks of reality. And when reality sometimes doesn't give us what we think we should have or what we would have that can lead to anger, can lead to blaming, can lead to bitterness and eventually to complete burnout. So feelings have failed here. The third characteristic of burnout or calls of burnout is withdrawal from responsibility. Now I think Elijah here is not just going on vacation. I think he's done. He said it's enough. Take my life. He's resigned from the prophetic ministry. He's gone a wall. He has left the ministry that God called him to. He has given up all of his responsibility, the rest of the chapter and how God deals with him will make that very clear. He's deserting his duty. Remember the symptoms that Minerth and Meyer talk about in their book? Whenever you feel just a physical withdrawal from your job and can't take it anymore or you quit your job without a good reason, yeah, that can be a symptom. A withdrawal from responsibility is one way that we show that we're in a phase or state of burnout. The fourth characteristic, because I want to spend most of our time this morning on the cures that God gave him. But the fourth characteristic is this, an overwhelming sense of loneliness and overwhelming sense of loneliness. Did you know that even dogs get lonely? Did you know that? A number of years ago, back in the 90s, we had a little miniature snows are named Scooter. And Scooter was a great dog. Our whole family loved him. He was fun to be around. He wasn't a real yappy dog, even though he was one of those little guys. He wasn't a real yappy dog. He was loving. He was friendly to everybody who came in the house. But when the last person would leave the house in the morning, Scooter got changed into a completely different beast. The last person out the door, you could actually hear him whining at the door. And then you'd come home later in the day and all the trash cans would be turned upside down. Stuff would be chewed all the pieces and strewn throughout the house. There were messes everywhere. You know, I began to think, you know, I began to remember the pigs that Jesus had the demons go into and they ran off the cliff and I thought, is this dog demon possessed? What's wrong with him? And then I read this article on January 5th, 1999, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first antidepressant for dogs. Seriously, the drug cloma calm is designed specifically for dogs and helping them deal with separation anxiety. I didn't know dogs had separation anxiety. They do. Of the 55 million dogs in the United States, about 10% of them have this problem to some degree. Well, Scooter was a 10%er. This drug is supposed to help calm dogs down when they are left to themselves by eliminating symptoms such as excessive barking, destructive chewing, clawing, and uncontrollable bodily movements. Specialists say dogs have a strong need to be around other animals and people. And if they are left too long by themselves, they begin to engage in destructive behavior. Cloma calm at about $1 per pill, this is back in 1999, is being built as a drug that will help dogs cope with the anxiety that can accompany aloneness. Well, we didn't buy any cloma calm for our dog. We figured just putting them in some kind of restraint or some kind of basket or some kind enclosure would be enough and it was. And then we showered some extra love on him when we got home. But if dogs can sometimes feel that degree of aloneness, you think we do? Obviously. Yes, we can feel terrible times and overwhelming sense of aloneliness. Look at verse 10, if you will, we'll get to these verses in just a moment. We want to go ahead and look at verse 10. When God asks He lied to you, what He was doing there, He lied just response in verse 10 is this, I've 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. Notice this, I alone am left and they seek to take my life. Well, God shows him some things that we'll look at in a few moments and in verse 13 asks him the same question. What are you doing here, Elijah? Elijah's answer is almost word for word the same in verse 14. I've been very zealous for the Lord of 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. Now Elijah was kind of a loner anyway. He was a prophet that was just out in the wilderness and he would suddenly pop into the national scene and speak to Ahab or on the Mount Carmel with the prophets, but he was kind of a loner anyway, but it got to the point where there's no one to share his burdens with. There's no one to really talk to. He feels all alone to the point that when when he realizes he has completely spent, he has an overwhelming sense of loneliness. And that's why he says to God in verse 4, I've had enough. It is enough. Just take my life. I have had enough. I've done all that I know to do and I've failed. When you are attacked, when you are misunderstood, when you are misrepresented, when you have poured yourself into something and it doesn't work, or God doesn't seem to come through for you, like you think he should, you can feel all alone. You may feel nobody knows, nobody understands, nobody cares. You may even think God doesn't even understand. God doesn't even care. We're all familiar with those great verses at the end of Isaiah chapter 40. Tremendous verses were familiar with these verses. Have you not known? Have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faint nor is weary, is understanding, is unsurczable. He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fail, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. We're familiar with those verses. We revel in those verses. We draw strength from those verses, but do you know they come at the end of a complaint by the people of Israel? What I didn't read is the verse right before these four verses, it's verse 27. It's on the screen for you. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 27, and why do you say, oh Jacob, and speak, oh Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God. It's in response to that that God says, I am everlasting, I am your comfort. I will give you strength. If you wait on me, I'll give you strength, but it's in it's in response to people feeling like God doesn't see what I'm going through. God doesn't care what I'm going through. God is not here for me. Have you ever felt that way? Elijah did. Elijah felt overwhelming sense of loneliness. The story is told of a woman by the name of Mary Anne who walked the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, homeless lady. She was an alcoholic, and she had been in a little flimsy shelter under an underpass or something like that. The city was cleaning some of that up, and she was forced out of her little flimsy shelter. So she went to the entrance of a homeless shelter and learned that that shelter was at full capacity, and they had no room for her. So she just began to wander the streets and had nowhere to go at night, wandering aimlessly. Early one morning, she was found dead in a parking lot in downtown Atlanta, dead from the elements, and as the police were tending to that scene, they noticed a piece of paper stuck in her pocket. They pulled the paper out. This is what she had written. I have nowhere to go. No one to understand. God is not dead. He is only sleeping, but sleeping very soundly. You ever felt that way? Oh, you wouldn't say God is dead. Of course not. Of course not. Only atheists think that. You ever felt like he's sleeping and sleeping very soundly, because you feel totally alone. You feel like you're bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders, classic case, classic characteristic of burnout. Well, what does God do with Elijah? Elijah has prayed. I've had enough. Take my life. I have failed. I'm no better than my fathers. What does God do? I think it is absolutely fascinating. It is also a clinic on how to deal with burnout from a biblical perspective, because this is what God did. The cure for burnout will counter every cause that Elijah was feeling. Every characteristic of burnout that he had, God would address them one by one. And in that order, in the very order, we saw them with Elijah. God deals with them in that order. The first cure for burnout is renewed strength. Renewed strength. Look at verse 5. Remember, he's gone 100 miles, and then another day's journey out in the desert, he's collapsed under a little trees in some shade. Verse 5, then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him and said, arise and eat. Then he looked, and thereby his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 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. And he arose and ate and drank and he went in the strength of that food, 40 days and 40 nights as far as horub the mountain of God. That's the mountain where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. So what did God do first to address? Elijah's burnout, his depression, his desire to just stop living and quit the ministry. What does God do? Does God say, look at you. Elijah, you call yourself a prophet, you're a spiritual weakling. Now get up and get back to work. That's not how God deals with him. God says, first of all, let's fix you some food. You need some food and you need some rest. And he goes through that cycle a couple of times, maybe over a couple of days. There is no shame, there is no rebuke, there is no blaming or shaming of Elijah. God says, you know what you need? You need some rest and you need some food. The place to start in dealing with burnout is most often renewed strength. And so maybe if you're finding yourself in this kind of a burnout condition, maybe you need to start with more rest or better diet or regular exercise or start taking a day off for crying out loud or get away, just get away for a while. Maybe you need to just remove yourself for a vacation time, get some time away. Some of you I'm convinced here today are burning the candle at both ends and feverishly trying to figure out how to light it in the middle. That's how stressed out your life is. If that's the case, the place is not to hear some shaming from God or a preacher or a friend, the place to start is with renewed strength. Remember even Jesus got away. The Bible says that he often found times of solitude in prayer with his father. And in Mark chapter 6, when the disciples had been on a preaching tour and they came back, exhilarated but also exhausted, Jesus said, come apart and rest a while. The old evangelist, Vance Havner, used to say, come apart or you will come apart. There's a lot of wisdom in that. Come apart and rest a while. And Jesus, remember in John 21, when after the resurrection, he's only appeared to the disciples twice the first two Sunday evenings after the resurrection. And he hasn't appeared to them again. And so Peter says, I'm going to go fishing. And we're not sure whether Peter meant that he just wanted something to do or he was quitting this disciple thing and going back to his previous vocation. But six out of the disciples went with him. And remember that there's a stranger on the shore cooking some breakfast. And the disciples immediately realized that it's Jesus because they tell him to, he tells them to drop down their net. So over the side of the boat, they'd fished all night, caught nothing, dropped down your nets. They got a great catch of fish. And they suddenly remember that's exactly how Jesus called us to be disciples. Same thing happened back in Luke 5. So when they get to the shore, does Jesus shame them, rebuke them, say, you quitters, what are you doing? No, he says, come on, I've got breakfast ready for you. What you need is some food. You've had a long night. It's been tough. I know you're discouraged. Let's sit down and fellowship over a meal. Renewed strength. Renewed strength is the first cure. The second cure is a re-evaluation of success, a re-evaluation of success. Now let's begin in verse 9 with our reading. So then after Elijah got to Mount horror, verse 9, 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? And that's when Elijah gives that answer about, I've been very zealous for you and children of Israel for saking your covenant, torn down your altars, killed your prophets. I'm the only one left and now they're going to take my life. So notice what the Lord says in verse 11. Then he said, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind, tour the mountains and broke the rocks and 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. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. 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? Now I want to skip down to verse 18 because it ties in. Verse 18, the Lord says, yet I have reserved 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to bail and every mouth that has not kissed him. What are these four symbols all about? What's the deal with the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, and the still small voice? What are those things communicating? What's God doing here? I believe God is using those symbols to teach Elijah a very important lesson. Success is not always measured by external appearances. You see, we often equate the idea of might and success with things that are great, things that are loud, things that are, we can really see if it blows, if it shakes, if it burns, then that is really great. That's what God is in. God's really doing that kind of work. And sometimes he does. God did speak to Job out of the whirlwind. God did speak to Moses out of a fire at the burning bush. And God did speak to Isaiah and Isaiah 6 in a voice that shook the pillars of the temple when he spoke. Sometimes God does work in those amazing, outstanding, visible, earth-shaking kind of ways. But he doesn't always work that way. And he doesn't work that way with everybody. I think sometimes we get the wrong impression that the only real work of God is earth-shaking, earth-shattering, and it's amazing, and we can see the great results. Sometimes God does that, but he doesn't always do that. And God doesn't work the same way with every person. Sometimes God is just as busy in the still small voice, the gentle whisper, the quiet work in people's hearts and minds where deep life transformation is taking place. I believe this is what God was teaching Elijah. He was not in those big, loud, momentous things, but he wasn't the still small voice. I think God was teaching Elijah. Elijah, your best ministry was not in the big events like Mount Carmel, where it was obvious. I mean, the fire fell. And that was the earth quaking and the wind blowing and the great demonstrations of God's power. I think God was telling him, those were not your best moments, Elijah. You know where your best ministry was? God brings up the fact that Elijah has said, I'm all alone. I'm the only one left. And God says, I've got 7,000 people left. 7,000. Why did he bring that up? Just so Elijah wouldn't feel lonely? I think there's a deeper reason than that. I think it's to show Elijah there are 7,000 people that have not bow the knee to bail. And probably one of the reasons they have stayed faithful is because of the ministry of Elijah. Just seeing his example on the national stage, he has encouraged them to be bold. He has encouraged them to stay true and get this. Elijah didn't even know they existed. He thinks he's the only one left. But all this time, God has been using him to challenge and change and deepen the hearts of thousands of people who have stayed true to God. Often what looks like failure may actually be success. We just need to redefine success because we've become too enamored with the world's way of measuring success. It's that which really shakes and burns and blows. And sometimes God says, no, no, no, no, no, wait a second. I'm doing a work of a gentle whisper in hearts that you may not even realize. You know, Peter preached a sermon on the day of Pentecost. Amazing, powerful sermon. 3,000 people get saved. And that really is the fire burning and the wind blowing and the earth quaking. That's an amazing demonstration of God's power. God did that. No question about that. But you keep reading the book of Acts and you get over to chapter 7 and you read about Stephen. Stephen is a decan in the church. He's not an apostle like Peter, but he's a faithful servant of God. And he's called upon to give his testimony before a group of officials who will eventually put him to death. And he preaches one of the greatest sermons in all the Bible in Acts chapter 7, going back over the whole history of Israel and how they had kept rejecting God and now the people of Israel and his day have rejected God. The religious leaders have rejected Christ. Did they all turn to the Lord? Did 3,000 get saved that day? No. There was no evidence of any movement on that day and they stoned Stephen to death. But you know where I'm headed, don't you? There was one young man who was one of those Pharisees who actually was responsible for holding the cloaks of those who threw the stones. His name was Saul. And a couple chapters later on the road to Damascus to find more Christians to persecute, God spoke to him and said these words, Saul, it's hard for you to kick against the pricks. What he's talking about there is the pricks of conscience, the pricks of the conviction of the Spirit of God who kept tugging at Saul's heart. Where do you think that started? What do you think started those pricks of conscience? I'm convinced it was as he watched Stephen die and as Stephen died, he died like Jesus in the sense that he looked up to heaven and said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And then he said, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit. Two of the saying Jesus said from the cross, he died just like Jesus as far as his demeanor toward those who were putting him to death. I think Saul couldn't shake that. I don't think he'd ever seen anyone die like that. And the Spirit of God used that testimony, although there was no visible evidence of anything happening that day. God used that testimony for Saul to come to Christ. He would become the apostle Paul. How many countless millions of people would be exposed to the gospel eventually because of the missionary ministry of Paul. Now, who's more successful? Peter on the day of Pentecost or Stephen? That's not ours to say. But when we measure success like the world measures it without word results, outward numbers, the fire that burns, the wind that blows, the earth that shakes, well, we can see that. We can feel that. We would say Peter was the one who was successful. Well, in God's way of looking at things, maybe Stephen was just as successful, maybe even more so, because of a faithful testimony that penetrated and began to prick the heart of a young unbeliever. Maybe what we need is a re-evaluation of success, a redefinition of success. To help address burnout, the feeling like we've been a failure. One of the most amazing things about heaven will be to see how God has used things that we never, never knew happened, that we did or said, going to be one of the most amazing things of heaven to see all of what God did. The third cure for burnout is a recommitment to responsibility. Remember Elijah was given up on ministry. He was leaving. He was quitting. It is enough. I've had enough, he said, just take my wife. Get me out of here. And God very gently after feeding him and giving him rest, helping him redefine success, realizing there are 7,000 people that have been encouraged by him. What he does next is to give him more responsibility, a recommitment to responsibility. We have already seen in verses 9 and 10 that Elijah said, all these things have happened. Children of Israel forsaken your covenant. Torn down your alters. Killed your prophets. Now look at verse 14. After the second time where God has asked him the question, what are you doing here, Elijah? Verse 14, he says the same thing. And then verse 15, the Lord said to him, go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, anoint Haseyl as King Overseeria. Also you shall anoint J.H. the son of Nimshi as King Overseer Israel. And Eliasha the son of Shefat of Abel Mahola, you shall anoint as a prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sort of Haseyl, J.H. will kill. And whoever escapes the sort of J.H. Elisha will kill. Now all of that basically was saying to Elijah, Elijah, this is not the time to quit. I know you're discouraged, I know you're down, but I've still got work for you to do. Now this is not some kind of harsh, get back to work, you weakless, spineless prophet. This is not that kind of thing. I mean remember God first of all said, you just need some rest and some food. And then let's talk about what success really is. It's after that that he says, I've still got more work for you to do. Twice he asked him the question, what are you doing here? Now you know this, don't you? God never asks a question in the Bible for information. Does God need to know what Elijah was doing there? Of course he didn't. God knows why he's there. God knows what he's going on in his heart, better than Elijah knows what's going on in his heart. God never asks a question for information. He has all the information. He asks questions of people in the Bible to penetrate their hearts and to get them thinking. He's got Elijah thinking, what am I doing here? How did I get here? What brought me to this place? What am I really doing? He's examining his heart and then God says to him, Elijah, I've still got work for you to do. Now I'm not going to take the time to do this. This would be a good study for you to pursue on your own. Take the four complaints that Elijah made about what's happened, the destruction of the altars and so forth and then take the four jobs that he gave him to do, they match up because God addressed every one of his complaints with one of the responsibilities he gave him. For instance, Haseal would be God's means of judging Israel because of their departure from God. He would attack Syria, would attack Israel and defeat them. J.H.U. would be responsible for both putting A.H. and Jezebel to death. So God would deal with them in his time and Elijah is going to be the one who puts those people in place and then we'll see at a moment how God brought Elijah into his life. What God is saying is Elijah, you do need to get back to work. You can't quit. You've got to get back to doing what I have for you to do and I've got some new responsibilities for you but he's also saying to him, Elijah, you need to learn how to delegate. You don't have to do it all. Haseal is going to do some of it. J.H.U. is going to do some of it and Elijah is going to do some of it. You need to bring alongside some people who can help you in the work. Recommitment to responsibility and then finally the last cure for burnout is so important. Replenishing relationships. Replenishing relationships versus 19 to 21. I'm not going to read them for a sake of time but Elijah goes and fulfills that last responsibility of finding Elijah and Elijah would follow Elijah and look at the end of verse 21. He arose and followed Elijah and became his servant. His companion in ministry really we might translate that. He became his assistant. God would call alongside Elijah a friend, a fellow prophet, someone who shared the same heart for God and for the nation and for ministry. Someone that Elijah could really open up to. If you're struggling with burnout you need to develop relationships with people who replenish you. I'm not talking about the kind of friends who drain you and we all know who those folks are. They're always needing something from you. They're always needing you to do something for them to handle this or to handle that or to take care of their needs. We all need to do some of that for sure but we also all need friends who replenish us so that when we go to their home it's not like we're supposed to be there at seven. We look at our watch at 7.30 and we're thinking, when can I get out of here graciously? No, no. I'm talking about the kind of friends that you look at your watch at 10 o'clock and you say, where'd the evening go? This has been so wonderful. It's been great. I needed this. I needed to talk. I needed to open up my heart. I'm talking about those kind of friends. Replenishing friends are so important. You know the Bible talks about those kind of friends quickly. Look at these verses on the screen. Proverbs 17 and verse 17, a friend loves it all times and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 18, 24. A man who has friends must himself be friendly but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother and that's not just talking about Jesus. Obviously the fullest application of that is to Christ but it's also talking about there are friends who are closer to you than family because they're people who have a common spirit. You can open up your heart to really share with them what's burdening your heart and not feel like you're going to be shamed or you know people are shocked or that kind of thing. One other passage, Ecclesiastes 4, familiar passage, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. If they fall one will lift up his companion but woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up. Those verses Ecclesiastes 4 verses 9 and tell us that it is much better to have someone who when you fall can be there by your side to lift you up and it's not talking about you know falling, breaking your hip that kind of thing. It's talking about when you struggle with life, when you reach burnout and you're ready to quit you need someone who can come along side you and share your burden and be the one to whom you can confide be the one on whom you can lean until the strength is renewed. That's a replenishing relationship. That's how God dealt with Elijah, renewed strength, re-evaluation of success, recommitment to responsibility and replenishing relationships. And you know what Elijah would go on to serve several more years, a number of more years. He did recommit himself to ministry and he served effectively and if you're on the verge of burnout today if you feel that the description early in this message applies to you then you can come back, you can be fruitful again, you can be effective again. But I would say this to you better yet recognize the signs of stress leading to burnout and take the cure that God offers you. Maybe you need some time off, maybe you need some change in your physical schedule to give you renewed strength. Maybe you need to re-evaluate what God sees as success anyway and it's not always just cranking out more stuff and adding up the numbers. Sometimes it's very quietly building into the life of one person. Maybe you need a recommitment to responsibility, not a whip back into shape and get busy again but no, no, you've got too much to offer and having rested and redefined success. Now you need to get back into game and serve God faithfully and you definitely need replenishing relationships. Friends that are closer than family that you can share your heart with and will help you through those tough times. Martin Luther's greatest hymn that we still sing today, a mighty fortress is our God. It was written in 1527 and if you study Luther's life, 1527 was a year where he was ill most of the year and he became so depressed. It was one of those times when he threw an ink well at the wall and told the devil to get away from him. He was depressed and discouraged but during that year he wrote a mighty fortress is our God. I would challenge you sometime to very slowly read through all four verses of that hymn and think about this coming from a man who has burnt out, who has been attacked and vilified and feels all alone. Think about those words coming out of burnout and you will understand that God dealt with Martin Luther just like he did Elijah. God showed him the same things he showed Elijah, the same things he wants to show you and me.