One day in 1808, a man with a saddened and tired expression appeared before James Hamilton, a famous doctor from Manchester, England.  “What is troubling you?” Dr. Hamilton asked.  “Doctor, I have a serious illness,” the man replied.  “What is your illness?”  “I am afflicted with the constant fear that someone will commit an act of terrorism.  And I suffer from a severe depression.  I cannot find happiness anywhere, and nothing makes me joyous.  I don’t know what I live for.  If you can’t help me, I feel that I will die shortly.”  To this answer, Dr. Hamilton replied, “Sounds like you won’t die anytime soon.  Let’s bring some changes into your life.  Try laughing and be joyous one time.  The illness of your heart will soon go away.”  Upon hearing that he could get better, the man asked with hope, “Okay.  Then what should I do?”  “Go to the circus and see the clown.  No one in this world brings more joy and humor to people than a clown.”  Upon hearing this, the man grimaced and retorted, “Doctor, you have no idea what you’re talking about.  I’m the clown at the circus!”

 Even clowns and comedians can fall into depression.  Depression is a mental illness that often afflicts people in their twenties through forties.  However, the number of cases of depression is also rapidly increasing among the teenagers and seniors.  Gender wise, women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men are.  The reason is that women are susceptible to the serious effects of hormonal imbalance, pregnancy, birth, postnatal stress, and menopause.  Most of you probably remember the gruesome murder story of Houston that took place last year.  A woman suffering from postpartum depression drowned and killed all five of her children in the bathtub.  It was a telling example that clearly showed the fatal effects of depression.

 Modern people live in an era of depression.  From occasional spiritual gloom to clinical depression that require treatment, people are suffering from wide range of depression today.  The probability of an adult suffering from depression that would require professional treatment is one out of every six adults.

​The symptoms of depression are as follows.  Unexplained sadness and gloom are followed by anxiety; nothing captures interest, and laughter virtually disappears.  One cannot sleep comfortably due to insomnia, and reduced appetite decreases amount of food consumed.  One tends to say fewer words, and all activities feel cumbersome.  Forgetfulness increases, and attention span, or mental focus, shortens.  In some cases, although one may feel fine mentally, one suffers from indigestion, headaches, lump or blockage in the throat and the chest, constipation or diarrhea, and body aches.  These symptoms usually flare up in the morning, but depending on the person, symptoms can persist into the afternoon or evening.

 According to psychologists, depression usually afflicts those who tend to be compulsive, moral, inflexible, responsible, anxious, and sensitive.  There are many explanations for the cause of depression.  One of those explanations is self-acknowledgment, or self-punishment.  Those who suffer from depression tend to harbor negative feelings towards their situation and future.  More specifically, they constantly flog themselves for being unwanted people because of their shortcomings and faults.  They often misunderstand and misconstrue their present as the purgatory that was designed to torture and punish them.  They worry so much about their future that it becomes counter productive.  They are encapsulated by the defeatist thought that they will receive no recognition and eventually fail in the future.  Depression, therefore, is closely linked with our mental attitude and disposition.

 If we have good faith in God, we can overcome depression.  Today’s scripture proves this point.  Elijah, who suffered from depression, is cured through God’s grace.  Verse 4 of today’s scripture vividly illustrates the degree of Elijah’s suffering from depression.  “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, who recently commanded all under the heaven, became incredibly weak.  Reciting ‘God, please kill me!’ he uttered words that no man of faith should ever hold on his tongue.

 Who is Elijah?  The two most prominent and representative characters of the Old Testament are Moses and Elijah.  In Matthew 17, when Jesus converses with two people atop a mountain, He talks to Elijah and Moses.  Why were Elijah and Moses the interlocutors of Jesus’ conversation?  Because Moses represented the commandments and Elijah represented prophecy and prophets.  The fact that Jesus talked to these two men represents that Jesus completed the commandments and the prophecy.  In fact, during the age of Christ, Elijah was widely believed to be the prophet who would descend onto this earth before the final judgment.  (Mark 4: 5-6; Matthew 11: 14; 17: 12; John 1: 21).

 The name ‘Elijah’ means ‘Jehovah is God.’  As his name denoted, Elijah spent his entire life proving, through his mind and body, that Jehovah is the only God.  The one prophet with the greatest accomplishments in the Old Testament is the prophet Elijah.  Elijah was the hero who waged spiritual war against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who believed in pagan worship.  According to 1 King 18, Elijah was victorious against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah meaning that he fought and defeated 850 pagan prophets.  Through prayer, Elijah performed the miracle of brining rain to Israel, which had suffered from 3 years and 6 months of drought.  Upon death, Elijah did not decease like normal humans; rather, he rose to heaven on a flaming chariot pulled by horses of fire (2 Kings 2: 11).  Like Enoch, Elijah did not die he went straight to heaven (Genesis 5: 22-24).

 This Elijah was suffering from depression.  We often mistakenly believe that depression only afflicts those who are sensitive introverts.  Yet that is not true.  When placed in a difficult situation, outgoing extroverts can just as well fall into depression.  Let’s think about this.  Giant beings like Elijah can fall into depression and confide that he would rather cast all things aside and die at the hands of God.  Therefore, mere beings like us can easily fall into depression.  We can find comfort through Elijah.  “A great prophet like Elijah can fall into depression when the burden of life becomes too heavy.”

 Elijah fought King Ahab and Queen Jezebel alone.  In the midst of the populace’s lack of interest and acknowledgment, he waged this battle by himself.  He waged this spiritual war while no one commended his efforts or acknowledged his accomplishments.  Furthermore, upon learning that Elijah has killed the prophets who served her god, Queen Jezebel sought retribution and revenge against Elijah.  Gnashing her teeth out of rage, she sought Elijah to take his life.  Today’s scripture illustrates Elijah’s travails and tribulations as he attempts to escape Jezebel’s deadly grasp. 

 The important lesson of today lies in how Elijah escapes from his complete depression.  Within today’s scripture, we can find the knowledge to spiritually defeat depression.

​First, remember that the living God comforts us.  The God we serve is God of consolation.  He is a God who will stop at nothing to comfort and console His children during times of tribulations.  After screaming and imploring God to take his life, fatigued Elijah falls asleep under a broom tree.  He was rightfully tired, having evaded and escaped the vengeful blades of Queen Jezebel.  To the exhausted and sleeping Elijah, God sends an angel.  God sends a cake baked on coal and a jar of water for Elijah to consume.  In fact, He makes him eat and drink twice.  The angel touched and told him to get up and eat.  Through His angel, God is gently touching the depressed and despaired Elijah, giving him strength and courage to carry on.

 It is true.  Elijah longed and strove for death in the midst of despair and depression; yet, God had opposite intentions, thus sending him bread and water to sustain him.  Until His task for each of us has been completed, God will never abandon each one of us.  When we are discouraged and when we falter, he caresses and gives us renewed strength and courage.  We need to feel this gentle touch of God whenever depression overcomes us.  God will help us recover our strength by giving us consolation and hope.

 Second, we need to visit the Temple of God.  After consuming the cake and water that the angel brought, Elijah gained strength.  He recovered his will.  Then he walked for 40 days and nights to a cave at Mount Horeb.  Where is Mount Horeb?  Mount Horeb is also called ‘the municipal mountain.’  Located deep in the southern half of the city, Mount Horeb is the Holy Mountain for the people of Israel, ‘the mountain of God.’  Mount Horeb was also the location where Moses received God’s calling (Exodus 3: 1, 6).  It is also the place where God gave Ten Commandments to Moses (Exodus 19: 3).  Just as Moses experienced the existence of God at Horeb, Elijah hears the voice of God in a cave of Horeb.

 Where do we need to go when we are discouraged and depressed?  We need to go to God’s temple.  The cave of Horeb represents today’s church.  The only place where God surely exists and does His work is the church.  Elijah, after receiving cake and water through the courtesy of the angel, does not go back into the world.  To completely cure his depression, he goes to the mountain of God, to a cave in Horeb rather than going back into the world.  If we are to cure our own disease of the heart and mind, we need to go to God’s temple.  The only One able to cure our minds and hearts is God.

 There is a saying.  “Do not ride in automobiles.  20% of all fatal accidents are results of automobile accidents.  Do not stay at home.  17% of all accidents take place at home.  Do not use the crosswalk.  14% of all accidents happen when pedestrians use the crosswalk.  Do not ride in planes, ships, or trains.  16% of all accidents happen through one of those vessels.  However, only 0.001% of all accidents occur at the place of worship.  Church is the safest place you can be.  Attend as many church services as possible.”

 The above is a passage from a book written by an American writer.  Believe that the church is the safest place, the only place where we can surely cure our heart’s illnesses!  Psychologists and chemical treatments do play a role in curing mental illnesses, but we first need to receive God’s treatment at His place.  When we plead with God in His place of worship, the miraculous healing will take place.  Depression will go away. 

​Third, we must listen to God’s voice in the midst of tranquillity.  What happened when Elijah went to a cave in Horeb Mountain?  Elijah confessed to God the reason for his coming to Horeb.  He told God, through prayer, every reason why he was depressed.  Then God commands Elijah to exit the cave and stand atop the mountain.  At this instant, Elijah had the urge to see God.  First, a ‘great strong wind’ tore into the mountain and broke rocks into little pieces.  But God was not in the winds.  Second, an ‘earthquake’ passed by but God was not in the quake.  Lastly, there was a ‘fire,’ but God was not in the fire, either.

​After the wind, the earthquake, and the fire have passed by, Elijah heard a small voice, a tiny whispering sound, the sound of sheer silence.  Through these sounds, Elijah was able to hear the voice of God.  What does this mean?  What does the fact Elijah who was depressed, discouraged and hurt was able to hear God through not the loud sounds of wind, earthquake, and fire but through a small, almost silent voice mean?  We can only hear the faint, almost silent sounds of God only when our hearts are tranquil and calm.  Our super-ego, which resides deep within our spirits, can hear these faint sounds.  Therefore, Elijah heard the voice deep within his spirit through the faint voice of God.

 In truth, Elijah was very fatigued and enervated at the bottom of Mount Horeb from fighting the mob of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  He expended too much energy and will in the secular world.  He witnessed many miracles through his numerous accomplishments.  But he was just too tired.  His mind, spirit, and nerves were tangled and contorted from fatigue.  He had too many thoughts in his head.  Naturally, he started complaining to God.  “God, you know how great a prophet I am.  Did I not work hard?  But what is my compensation?  The blades and spears of Jezebel?”  Not having the opportunity to converse with God deep within his spirit, Elijah was depressed and full of complaints.  However, God is now hoping for peace and tranquillity in Elijah’s deep inner self by talking to him in a small, faint voice.

 One day, Theophilus, the Superintendent of Alexandria visited a monastery in the desert.  The friars urged the most respected monk of the monastery, Abba Pambo, to tell an inspirational story to the Superintendent.  But Pambo maintained his silence.  When people around him kept on pressing him, he replied with the following response.  “If he is not inspired by my silence, he will not be inspired by my words, neither.”  Sometimes, silence is the best way to hear the voice of God.  In the world full of misunderstanding and verbal conflicts, silence could be the best remedy.  One of the most important methods of spiritual training is solitude training.

​Do you feel stifled and restrained?  Are you depressed?  Take a spiritual rest in front of God.  Calm your hearts.  Organize the thoughts in your mind in silence.  Then hear the faint voice of God.  God will give you the remedy through his faint voice to treat your depression.  We cannot hear the voice of God when our hearts are burdened and constrained by secular worries and when our minds are filled with impurities of the world.  Empty your hearts!  Become tranquil!

​Upon hearing the voice of God, Elijah understood his mission in life.  Elijah returned along the path that he had previously used to retreat cowardly.  He defeated Ahab and anointed Jehu as the king of Israel.  He also anointed Hazael as king of Syria, the pagan-worship central that had teemed with those who worshipped Baal.  Finally, he anointed, with oil, Elisha as the prophet in his place.  Elijah completed his last three tasks.

​Anyone can fall into depression during the course of their lives, whether it is mild gloom or clinical depression.  A great prophet like Elijah suffered from depression.  But depression cannot sever our ties with God and His love.  God loves us all.  He caresses and heals our wounds through the angels, and gives us comfort, strength and courage.  And He gives us instructions, in a quiet, silent voice, on what we need to do next once we have calmed our hearts in the house of God.  I hope that today, we can calm and renew our hearts and be able to hear the voice of God that will give us infinite wisdom and courage.  Amen!