For those who want a change from the Gospel

Trinity 10 – 1 Kings 19:9-18 (Related)

In the times in which we’re living there is, we are often told, a mental health crisis. Few of us will have escaped it, either ourselves or because we have had to watch close friends or family suffering. There is nothing quite as difficult as the feeling of powerless we get when we see someone we love suffering with depression, anxiety or any of the other symptoms of a troubled mind. I have had to watch two close relatives experiencing depression, and it’s awful. And it’s particularly bad for me because I have had counselling training and have had to face the fact that actually nothing I could say or do helped very much at all. We’re not told whether or not Elijah had any friends to suffer with him, but we do see God involved in his journey, and there are some hints for those of us who walk with friends through this dark valley. We would love just to be able to snap our fingers and make it all go away, but in real life, and in this story, it just doesn’t happen. It’s a journey people have to see through to the end, and hopefully they will emerge sadder but wiser. So what does God do for his friend?

He deals with Elijah’s physical needs

Earlier in this chapter we have seen God acknowledging that depressed people are still physical people. He provides food, drink and sleep, because he knows that Elijah needs these things, and that in his mental exhaustion he might not be able to provide them for himself. It sounds a bit EastEnders, but sometimes simply making someone a cup of tea might be just what they need at that moment. And giving people permission to rest and sleep can be a lifesaver. I can remember once being signed off for stress by my GP, and the enormous sense of relief that he had given me permission just to stop it for a while.

He listens to Elijah’s emotional needs

Our passage begins with God inviting Elijah to tell his story. A simple question in v.9 opens the floodgates for Elijah to pour out his grief and brokenness. At this stage God doesn’t interrupt, reinterpret or correct (although he will later). He just listens, and it is interesting that he does so repeatedly. Having heard it all in v.10, he asks the same question again in v.13, and hears the same answer. It is really hard to have that kind of patience when everything within us longs for our loved one to move on, to begin to get better. But we need to understand that telling one’s story is highly therapeutic, and we need to allow people do so over and over again.

He understands Elijah’s vocational needs

Part of depression is the feeling that you are useless, and are letting everyone down by not being able to function properly. You can be very well aware of the effect your illness is having on those around, particularly if they keep trying to snap you out of it or jolly you along towards recovery. When God judges that the time is right (and if you add up the chronology of this story we’re talking at least months, if not years) he calls Elijah to ‘go back the way you came’. He recalls him to his role as a prophet, and gives him some specific tasks to do. Note the gentleness of this calling: a nice easy bit of anointing, which is a lot less confrontational than facing up to 950 false prophets and calling down fire from heaven. I believe you’re ready to manage that, God is saying. And when you’ve done that, you need to think about succession planning, so I’m giving you a companion who will eventually take over from you. The underlying message here is twofold. You’ve still got what it takes to serve me in useful ways, but even without you my work will go on. So there’s no need to feel useless, and there’s not need to feel guilty: it isn’t all up to you. No pressure!

He restores Elijah’s perspective

Only now does he begin to suggest to Elijah that the reality with which he has lived for all the time of his illness might not be the only way of seeing things. Try telling someone running for fear of his life that it’s all OK and you’ll be accused, rightly, of not taking their illness seriously, not understanding the depth of their despair. But as he begins to get back on his feet God helps him to recover a more realistic view of things. Twice Elijah has told God that ‘I am the only one left’ who is faithful to you, and on neither occasion has God commented. But now Elijah is ready for the truth, that there are actually plenty beside him. His sense of isolation was just a symptom of his illness, and now he is recovering he is ready to hear that.

The Bible is not, of course, a psychiatric handbook, and yes, we have now discovered a lot more about what is going on for mentally ill people, both emotionally and biochemically. But as friends of a suffering person we can learn much from the practical wisdom of Scripture, even if we leave the treatment to those who know what they’re doing. To follow the common sense of this text can at the very least help us not to make things worse for sufferers.