Lamentations 3:19-24 Helpful thoughts

Traditionally Lamentations was written by Jeremiah not long after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple and carried most of the inhabitants into exile, leaving only the poorest there.  The book is comprised of 5 songs of grief and lament about the state of the land and its people, written in acrostic form using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin each verse. Song 3 is the highpoint, where grief is mixed with the hope in God’s character.

Lamentations 3:19-24:

{ז Zayin}19 Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. 20 I continually remember them and have become depressed. 21 Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: {ח Khet}22 Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! 24 I say: The Lord is my portion, I will put my hope in Him.

Helpful Thoughts

1. When we choose to focus on the bad, we will become bitter and depressed; we can choose to change our focus by asking ourselves “What is God’s truth in the situation?” [i.e. God is still in control, God loves me, God has a plan...]

2. Meditation on God’s nature and character reminds us of His faithful love, mercy, and compassion. God always is in control. 

3. We can never exhaust the supply of God’s love and faithfulness; they are new every morning!

4. In the midst of his difficult situation, Jeremiah wrote out his feelings; he did not try to hide them and then shared them back to God in prayer. This is a great model for us as well; name your feelings and share with the Father. He already knows, but naming them helps us to process and trust them to Him.

5. God uses the difficulties and hardships, even those that are a result of our own poor choices to train and shape us into what He desires. God does not waste our sorrows and tears.

6. God does not delight in the suffering of His children. He is not distant, but near us and in us by His Holy Spirit. His faithful love, mercy, and grace are always there. 

7. As we learn to “seek Him first,” we learn that “He is our portion” and all we need. Remember the Cross.

Dealing with Discouragement 1 Kings 19

We all face discouragement: circumstances change, jobs, people, even ourselves, —we get overwhelmed, can’t seem to see a “way out” and just want to to push the button and say, “ok, I quit, I’ve had enough!”  Learning how to deal with these feelings is a major step in our growth as a Christian and walking daily with the Lord.  After a quick review of an event in the life of Elijah, we will look at some specific ways God dealt with the prophet that can help us with discouragement when it comes our way.

The prophet comes on the scene in chapter 17 as he proclaims God’s declaration of no rain, which would last for 3½ years. King Ahab, Israel’s monarch of the northern tribes had fostered idolatry across the kingdom. In God’s timing to end the drought, the prophet is commanded to confront the king and challenge those that are responsible for turning the people’s hearts against God. 

Directed by God, Elijah calls for a public challenge between Yaweh and Baal, the Canaanite storm god and bringer of rain. The prophets of Baal were to offer their sacrifice and Elijah his; the god who answered by fire would prove himself to be truly God. For several hours the prophets of Baal cried out with all their might and by all possible means, but no fire came. Elijah even made fun of them. Then when it was Elijah’s turn, he repaired the altar built for the sacrifice which the other prophets had tried to destroy it in their frenzies. Water was then poured over the entire sacrifice 3 different times.  Elijah prayed and fire fell consuming everything so that nothing is left. The people erupted in praise declaring the Yaweh was God alone and then the 450 prophets of Baal were killed. 

Ahab told his wife, Jezebel, that the prophet had killed all of the prophets of Baal, the god she worshiped, but nothing of what God had done. She vowed to have Elijah killed, so he fled for his life, going as far south as the southern edge of the kingdom of Judah, out of Ahab’s rule. He leaves his servant there and goes a day’s journey into the desert. Convinced his life and ministry have been fruitless, he tells God, “It’s enough! Everything I’ve done is worthless!” 

In chapter 19 we see the same prophet who called down fire from heaven so discouraged, he is ready to die. What happened? I’m sure there is much more, but I would like to make a few suggestions to show how God worked in Elijah’s life to bring change and restoration. Let’s trace what happened:

1. The prophet was physically exhausted. In 18:45-46 we read that Ahab rode back to town after the showdown on Mt. Carmel, but that Elijah ran and beat him there. Sometimes we keep pushing to go own, whether because the situation is so dire we just can’t stop or that we just because we have developed habits of burning the candle at both ends. Regardless, our bodies will begin to send warnings. For Elijah, his strength to focus was lost.

2. He lost his focus on God and focused on his fear of Jezebel because of his weakened condition.  He began to make poor choices. He left his servant in Beersheba, perhaps for the servant’s protection from the queen, but in doing so he lost companionship, encouragement, and any sounding board that might have helped him think differently.

3. God continued to watch out and direct His prophet. Elijah was alone, depressed, exhausted, discouraged and finally collapsed into a long sleep. God provided food [not unlike what he had been eating with the widow for 3½ years], and fell asleep again. God’s angel woke the prophet again and instructed him to eat otherwise the journey would be too much for him. Elijah then traveled 40 days [200 miles] to Mt. Horeb without eating, reminiscent of Moses receiving the law after 40 days of fasting in the same place. Elijah then found a cave in which to rest.

4. God began to help him change his thinking.  God asked him: “What are you doing here?” That sounds odd, since God was the one who led him there, so there must have been more to the question. Elijah’s answer seemed almost rehearsed, perhaps a thoughts and words that played a continual loop in his mind: “I’ve been obedient, but it hasn’t made any difference and they are trying to kill me.”  His physical condition and circumstances had led to distorted thought patterns. He had forgotten the great victory God had just given and the people’s declaration that only Yahweh was God. Instead of Jezebel, now an nebulous group called “they” were out to kill him.

5. God responded in a way that Elijah was not expecting. Rather than respond to the prophet’s commentary, God sent him out to the mouth of the cave where God would pass by, again, like Moses. There was a powerful wind, but God didn’t speak, an earthquake, but no voice, and a raging fire; still God did not speak. All three of these could have been understood as things God would use to display His power and might, but God didn’t choose to speak through them. Instead, after all three, there was a period of silence and the prophet heard a still small whisper. Sometimes God speaks in ways that we are not expecting.  We need to listen carefully in the times of silence.

6. God repeated the same question. To get a better grasp of the situation, it might be helpful for us to repeat the question, but change the emphasis on the words:

— What are you doing here, Elijah? 

     Hiding in a cave? Running away? Am I not the one who protects?

— What are you doing here, Elijah?  

     You are my prophet, my voice, your life and mission are wrapped up in my will for you.

Unfortunately, Elijah was stuck in his distorted thoughts. He responded with the exact same words as before as if God didn’t hear it the first time.

7. God shared His truth about the situation. God sent him back to anoint two foreign kings and a replacement to take his place as prophet, but just as important, God shared His truth and reality of the situation that Elijah did not know: there were 7000 in Israel who were faithful and had not bowed down to Baal. Rather than chastising the prophet, God helped him see God’s truth and called him to obedient service once more.  When we get stuck in distorted thoughts, we need to go back and ask ourselves, “What is the truth of God in this situation?” and be obedient. God’s command showed the prophet that God still had work for him to do and that his work would not be in vain; it wasn’t all left up to Elijah, but God to carry on His will.

Ministry and life in general are challenging; relationships, jobs, illness, and a host of other issues can lead us down a path toward becoming discouraged. However, we don’t have to stay there; there is hope. 

Hope in our God that is ever watching over us, even when we are down. 

Hope that His plan is perfect, even when we can’t see the way. 

Hope in seeing the truth of God in difficult situations and being obedient to His will.

Solutions for Worship Leader Burnout

One of my favorite Old Testament characters is Elijah:
-he prays and it doesn’t rain for over three years,
-blesses a widow’s oil and flour so that it lasts during the time there is not any rain,
-raises the widow’s son from the dead,
-prays again and the rains return
-calls down fire from heaven and brings about a revival of the worship of Jehovah to an entire nation.

On the mount of transfiguration, Elijah is seen with Moses, all talking to Jesus. The forerunner that was to announce the coming of the Messiah is said to come in the spirit of Elijah. He is seen as a model prophet, God’s spokesman, boldly declaring the truth regardless of the consequences.

Yet, even in the life of this great man of God, we see a glimpse of what can happen to any one of us if we are not careful. In I Kings 18, we see that God sends the prophet to show himself to Israel’s evil king, Ahab, even though Ahab has been looking to kill him for three years. Elijah calls for a showdown between the prophets of Baal and Jehovah God on top of Mount Carmel. The story is well known, so I won’t go into detail here, but only to say that Elijah the challenge required that whichever one could call down fire from heaven would prove himself as the true God. It must have been quite a sight to see the 400 prophets of Baal dancing in a frenzy, cutting themselves, calling on their god, tearing down the altar Elijah had set up for his sacrifice.

After several hours and no fire, Elijah finally gets his turn. Calling all the people together to prove he has no tricks up his sleeve, he calls for water to be poured on top of his sacrifice. He prays a simple prayer and God sends fire that burns up even the stones around the altar. He then has the 400 prophets of Baal killed, the people swear allegiance to Jehovah alone and God is glorified in one of most celebrated stories of the Old Testament. However, it’s what happens after this that I would like for us to focus.

Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel, sends word to Elijah that she is out to kill him, so the prophet flees for his life to Beersheba, some 90 miles south, where God feeds him. After rest and more food, he then travels another 200 miles or so to Horeb [Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the commandments], all of this in 40 days. He goes into a cave to rest and God asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” The prophet replies, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” God then tells him to go stand before the Lord on the mountain. There is a strong wind, but God was not in the wind, an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake, a fire, but God was not in the fire. Finally, there was a gentle whisper, and God repeats his question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah repeats the same answer.

Wonderful insight can be gained by emphasizing different words of the question: WHAT are you doing here? [implying he was doing what he had been called to do] What are YOU doing here? [Elijah, you are my prophet, my model for the people, I called you, you are mine] or What are you doing HERE? [of all places, what has caused you to fear that you would run and hide?]. Among other things, Elijah was experiencing burnout. He lacked rest, he was physically and emotionally exhausted, and felt like he was all alone with no one even caring whether he lived or died.

I would encourage more time mediating on the passage and questions, but for now, just look as some observations:

-Elijah had just experienced a major spiritual victory in his life. Sometimes, such victories make us forget how susceptible we are to other problems and we tend to think of ourselves as “super Christians,” above the normal fray of trial and temptation. Such thinking makes us forget how dependent on God we really are.

-Elijah was exhausted and hungry. Lack of sleep, irregular eating habits can cause severe problems.

-Elijah was unable to see the larger picture of what God was doing. He only focused on his situation and what was immediately around himself. His viewpoint is only negative, he cannot break free of his thinking everything is bad.


What was God’s solution:

- Food and rest: twice God provides food and rest before he sets out on this journey.

-God gets him away from the situation

-God shows his power and flexibility: He doesn’t always have to respond in the same way

-God makes the prophet look at his situation differently by asking him questions

-God shows him the larger picture, that there were over 7000 that had never bowed to worship Baal, that he was the not only one left.

So what does all this have to do with Worship Leadership? It’s obvious, isn’t it? You may have had one of the most memorable worship services or programs of your life, yet afterward you feel completely worthless. Perhaps you feel like you just want to give up, that nobody cares, no one even knows how much you do, and that everything just seems to be failing all around you? You may be in burnout. What can you do?

Ministry schedules are brutal at times, since rehearsals depend on the availability of volunteers and their schedules. Planning, organizing, dealing with poor budgets, inadequate equipment, or people that don’t get along with each other, all take their toll on emotional energy, sapping the strength needed to complete tasks. Many times, leaders themselves are bi-vocational and are holding down a full time job, providing for their family, besides investing countless hours in worship ministry. They stay up late, have to get up early, and getting the proper amount of rest is the last consideration on their agenda. What can you do?

First, we cannot be all that God has called us to be if we fail to be good stewards of our physical bodies. Proper rest, adequate diet, exercise are not just something for the few, but the basics for everyone, especially those in leadership. Show me a person failing in these areas, and I’ll show you a person who is also failing in leadership areas as well.

Second, plan some time to “get away” from the situation on a regular basis. This doesn’t have to be a major vacation, but at least some time when you have some time to refocus, mediate in God’s Word and pray, away from the daily demands of your position. This certainly can be done with the entire family, and better than leaving the spouse to take care of the kids alone.

Thirdly, go back and review your call to ministry, how God has brought you to this point. Spend some time listing the things your are grateful for that God has done. Seriously, write them out. Take the time, then read them out loud. Ask your spouse and kids to add to the list. What a great family project this could be!

Fourthly, ask God to help you see the bigger picture. What is God doing around the world? Where is He moving in power, even in difficult situations? Remember that He is in control and He will have the final word and judgement. We can trust Him, even when things are seemingly hopeless to us.

Lastly, get up and be obedient to what God has called you to do. Literally, get up and go do something He has commanded: helping someone in need, visiting someone in the hospital or at home, the elderly. Do not just “stay” where you are. Again, many times these are things you can do as a family. One more thing: Plan the next "get away" before you finish.