Stress Pt. 4

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 1 KINGS 19:4

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Good morning. Let's take some time with God together. When
you put God first in your day, you find it
easier to put Him first in your life. The Bible
talks about setting your mind on the things above where
God is.
And you know you set your mind at the beginning

(00:26):
of the day, as people have said, you don't tune
your instrument after the concert is over. You tune it first, right,
to be ready for the concert, and in the same
way you need to tune your mind, set your mind
on things of God at the beginning of the day,
and that's what we do each weekday morning at this time.
And all this week we're talking about stress.

(00:48):
Stress. What are you facing in your life today that
is stressful for some of us? Those stresses are small things.
Some things due today. It may seem like a big thing,
but in comparison to other people, sometimes they are at
the end of their wits. They're about to have a
breakdown and their life is falling apart.

(01:11):
Both of these are real to us, aren't they? Stressful situations.
We've been looking all week at a story in the
life of Elijah the prophet in the Old Testament of
the Bible. When he had been faithful to God, he'd
faced some very stressful situations, and then to cap it
all off, Jezebel, the queen has threatened to take his life.

(01:32):
He's running for his life. He's panicking. He's out of energy.
He's at the end of his rope. He doesn't know
what to do.
He runs, and the first thing he does is he
just gives up and lies down and falls asleep. He
wakes up and God has sent an angel to give
him something to eat. And then he falls back asleep

(01:52):
and the angel comes again and gives him something more
to eat. And through that rest and refreshment, he's carried
along for 40 days after that.
The first thing you need to do in your life
when you're facing enormous stress is to try and carve
out some rest in your life. The second thing you
need to do, what Elijah did was talk to God

(02:14):
about your stress. Don't hold it in. Don't bottle it up.
You need God, to talk to Him. Even the act
of talking to God acknowledges that God is there and
that changes your perspective. It makes you realize when I
can't turn to any anyone else.
There is still God, and God can make a difference

(02:35):
in this situation.
Well, when you talk to God about it, here's the
next thing. Let God change your perspective.
Here's what happened in the life of Elijah. He said
to God, I've been so jealous for you. The people
of Israel had forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars,
killed your prophets with the sword. I'm the only one left,

(02:56):
and now they want to kill me. And God said,
Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.
And behold, when he did that, the Lord passed by,
and a great and strong wind tore the mountains.
And broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but

(03:17):
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, the sound
of a low whisper like a gently blowing breeze.

(03:38):
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in
his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance
of the cave, and behold, there came a voice to
him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?
He said, I've been so jealous for the Lord, the
God of hosts. The people of Israel have forsaken your covenant.

(03:58):
He goes over it all again. They've thrown down your
altars and killed your prophets with the sword, and I,
even only I am left, and they seek my life
to take it away. The Lord said to him, Go,
return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and
when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king

(04:19):
of Assyria.
And Jeihu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to
be king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphat
of Abol Mehollah, you shall anoint to be prophet in
your place.
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael
shall Jihu put to death. The one who escapes from
the sword of Jeihu shall Elisha put to death. Yet

(04:42):
I will leave 7000 people in Israel, all the knees
that have not bowed to Ba, and every mouth that
has not kissed him.
Well, God is saying you're not alone, Elijah, and I
am here and I'm going to act and bring judgment
and justice.
Relax.

(05:03):
And Elijah's perspective was changed from his time with God,
and yours will be too. I'm John North.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
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