Immediately after Elijah’s victory at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18-19), he suffered from fear, depression, and anxiety. When Queen Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah fled to the desert, leaving his servant behind. The irony is how confident Elijah was at Mount Carmel, and how fearful he was afterward.

In the Great Lives from God’s Word series by Chuck Swindoll, there is a book called Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility. In it, Swindoll writes, “Our most vulnerable moments usually come after a great victory, especially if that victory is a mountaintop experience with God. Those are the times when we need to set up a defense against the enemy,” (114). Elijah was exhausted and drained and, therefore, susceptible to doubt and discouragement.

By allowing Jezebel to intimidate him and in fleeing to the desert, Elijah separated himself from people who could have kept him strong, offering encouragement, strength, and, most importantly, objectivity. If he had reached out to others, he would have gained perspective and realized the God who answered by fire would continue to be with him. But instead, Elijah gave in to self-pity, saying, “I have had enough, Lord…Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors,” (1 Kings 19:4 NLT). Self-pity is toxic—it exaggerates and makes it easy to cultivate a victim mentality. Self-pity mixed with exhaustion causes your emotions to spiral downward.

In the midst of Elijah's self-pity party, God confronted him. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9). Elijah responded to God’s question by whining about how he was the last prophet, how he was alone, zealously serving the Lord, and now he was on the hit list too. Instead of rebuking Elijah for his self-involvement and lack of faith, God told Elijah to get out of the cave he was hiding in. Then, God showed Himself to Elijah, and showed him the truth—that there were 7,000 people still faithful to God. He was not alone, despite how things seemed.

By giving in to self-pity, Elijah lost his perspective. By looking inwards, he took his eyes off of God. “Elijah had to get his eyes back on the Lord. That was absolutely essential. He had been used mightily, but it was the Lord who made him mighty. He stood strong against the enemy, but it was the Lord who had given him the strength,” (Swindoll, 121). In the face of doubt, we must fight not to give into discouragement. When things look like they can’t get any worse, we must reach out to others to gain perspective and objectivity. Elijah reminds us to look up, and to choose to believe in God's faithfulness, even when everything seems to us to be the opposite.

“Nothing makes us more uncertain and insecure than not being sure we are in the will of God. And nothing is more encouraging than knowing for sure that we are. Then, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what happens, we can stand fast,” (84). When we know we’re in the will of God, we’re invincible.

Read Part One Hope in the Face of Doubt: Mountaintops and Deserts