Lessons From the Life of a Great Prophet: How to Overcome Loneliness

PEOPLE have some unique ways of trying to overcome their loneliness. There was a lady whose husband died. She found herself, of course, extremely depressed. She told herself that she needed to do something to overcome her depression. She took a trip to the pet store to look for something to comfort her in her loneliness. The proprietor introduced her to a parakeet that talked. The widow thought the idea of a talking parakeet was wonderful, so she took the parakeet home. She started talking to the bird, but the parakeet wouldn’t talk back. The woman talked and talked. This went on for a week, and, naturally, she was a little confused as to what was going on. The widow made her way back to the pet store. “The parakeet is not talking. “The proprietor said, “Oh, you forgot to get the mirror. The parakeet needs to see itself in the mirror; then, it will be encouraged to talk. “So, she bought a mirror, took it back, and placed it in the cage. She made sure that the parakeet could see itself. For another week, she talked to the parakeet. The parakeet still would not talk. The lady went back, yet again, to the pet store. “That parakeet is still not talking.” “Oh,” he said, “you didn’t get the swing. The parakeets got to be on the swing and swinging and looking at themselves for it to talk. “So, she bought the swing, put the parakeet on the swing, and started talking to the parakeet. Another week went by, and she made her way back to the pet store. “This dumb parakeet is not working. It’s not doing what I hoped it would do.” Oh, I am sorry. There’s one more thing you forgot to get—the ladder. The parakeet has got to have a ladder to walk up and down on. That movement will allow it to talk.” Begrudgingly, she bought the ladder. Another week went by. That parakeet didn’t say a word. However, at the end of the week, it fell over dead. The widow was really mad now. She marched back to the store and sought out the store owner. She said, “That parakeet you sold me died. I bought the mirror, bought the swing, bought the ladder, and that bird didn’t say a mumbling word. It just fell over and died.” The store owner said, “I cannot believe that it died. Did it say anything before it died?” Yeah, while it was falling over dead, it looked up with one eye open and said, ‘Don’t they serve any food at that pet store?’” For four weeks, that bird hadn’t eaten. The woman kept buying all the wrong stuff. That’s what a lot of us look for—all the wrong stuff. The things we hope will solve our problems die on us. They don’t produce what we expect.¹

I’ve heard this same illustration given by several different people — it doesn’t matter, though, because it makes a great point. If our methods are not God’s methods for dealing with the problems — if our only solutions are of the man-made variety — we will quickly fail. People have sought the answer to loneliness in an innumerable number of ways, but your best solutions are always in God. ‘Lessons from the Life of a Great Prophet: That’s Our Focus on This Week’s Light on Life.’

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God has a plan for your life, and it’s a good one! He is well able to help you overcome all the obstacles you face, including loneliness./callout]

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Question of the Day: What have you learned about the Lord’s power that brings victory over loneliness? Please share your story in the comments section below./callout]

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Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Loneliness: The First Problem God Ever Solved

The very first problem God ever solved on planet earth was not Adam’s sin.
It was his loneliness.

Genesis 2:18(ESV) — 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

In the very beginning, God said that it was not good for man to be alone.
So, the first problem planet earth ever experienced was not sin but loneliness.
God had created Adam and the entire world of wildlife, but amid all this stunning creation, Adam was still alone.
The stats show that Generation Z, ages 6–24, the largest generation in history, larger than the Boomers and the Millennials, are the loneliest.
That’s a fantastic fact which tells us that social media isn’t very social and is no substitute for direct human contact.
Physical, ‘in the same room – in the same space’ conversations is super superior to any conversation by computer.
COVID and Zoom meetings proved that.
Think about it – In the beginning, God made Eve as the singular solution to loneliness and isolation, not an Apple computer.

Scripture: Elijah In Action on Carmel

1 Kings 18:21–24 (ESV) — 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

1 Kings 18:31–40 (ESV) — 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Loneliness: The Mindset of Elijah a ‘Type A’ Prophet

What was the result of this tremendous display of God’s power on Carmel?
You would think it would be a joyous occasion — a great victory had been wrought in Israel.
But for Elijah, it was anything but a glad time.
The great victory at Carmel turned into a dark hole of fear and loneliness.
Elijah became depressed — downcast and down-trodden.

As his UCLA football team suffered through a poor season in the early 1970s, head coach Pepper Rodgers came under intense criticism and pressure from alumni and fans. Things got so bad, he remembers with a smile, that friends became hard to find. “My dog was my only true friend,” Rodgers says of that year. “I told my wife that every man needs at least two good friends—and she bought me another dog.”²

Loneliness: A Great Prophet Crash Lands

The heart of God is for His people to be happy, free, and joyful.
Elijah was as far from that as the South pole.
Ahab was a wicked king.
He was the seventh king of Israel.
Seven means something in God’s economy.
It means perfection.
Ahab, the seventh king, was perfect all right, perfectly evil.
He was one ungodly mess of a king.
The wickedness of his reign heralded a judgment of famine.
When things are bad on the inside of people, it becomes bad on the outside as well.

Luke 4:25 (ESV) — 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,

This famine, this withdrawal of God’s blessing, lasts three years and six months.
In forty-two months, the grass turned from green to yellow.
The ground cracked from the dryness.
The skin and bone carcasses of the animals fell to the earth.
The smell of decaying flesh was everywhere.
Famine was a sure sign to a covenant Israelite that the blessings of God had departed.
Since God promised Israel that He would bless them coming out and going in, famine was a covenant sign of departure.
Israel didn’t have to have any special revelation that the Lord had left them.
All they had to do was check the burnt grass – all you had to was look at the hollow sky.
For many days, the famine prevailed.
Many days mean much suffering.
It also means tremendous opportunities for mercy.
Heaven is always waiting for the earth to repent and turn their hearts to the Lord.
Elijah prays one of the shortest, most potent prayers this earth has ever heard on the slopes of Carmel.
When he did, God responded as flames of fire fell from heaven and scorched up the wood, the water, and the sacrifice.
This tremendous display of God’s power leads to a severe reduction in the available pool of false prophets.
Ahab and Jezebel had to have a job fair after the fiery events of Carmel because they lost four-hundred-fifty count positions that day.
Now, you would think that with such progress Elijah, would be having a high heel time.
I mean, this is a momentous day.
The devil’s bunch has received a crushing defeat.
The people of Israel, who have witnessed the scorching ‘fire-falling’ event, have now been reaffirmed.
The God who split the Red Sea has now crashed Carmel.
There is only one true God, and Baal ain’t it — that’s been graphically demonstrated.
But, with all of this progress, Elijah has fallen into the dumps.
He is ready ‘to jump off the bridge’ depressed.
Jezebel has not hitched herself onto the revival bandwagon.
She has not turned to God despite having a ringside seat to the events.
Instead, she vows to kill Elijah.
Now, you must add to all this Elijah’s personal perception.
He believes that he is all by himself in this Kingdom’s endeavor to turn Israel back to the only true God.
Elijah feels that he’s the only one who really loves the Lord and is willing to stick his neck out for the Kingdom.
He has a loner mindset.
He said so himself.

Kings 19:10 (ESV) — 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Do you hear him? — ‘Nobody is serving God but me. — I am all alone in this endeavor — that’s what Elijah is saying.
So now, we have a toxic cocktail of depression, loneliness, and the perceived failure of purpose all mixed.
This brings Elijah to the point that he no longer wants to live.

1 Kings 19:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 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.”

Depletion: Contributing Factors to Loneliness and Depression

So, Elijah is on the brink.
He’s exhausted physically from his long day at Carmel.
Emotionally, he’s bankrupt.
The account is empty; the tank is dry.
Upon hearing Jezebel’s threat, he high tails it out of town, on the run as perceived Public Enemy number one.
I say ‘perceived’ because Jezebel really didn’t want to kill Elijah.
If Jezebel wanted to kill him, she wouldn’t have sent a messenger to deliver a threat; she would have sent the executioner or a hitman to do the job.
This is all smoke and mirrors — Jezebel puts on a show to save face with her followers.
The absolute truth is that Jezebel was shaken to the core by God’s tremendous power display — a demonstration that cost her 450 men.
The rattled conniving queen bluffs the great prophet.
She’s not going to kill Elijah because of the high esteem Elijah now has with all the people.
Israel is now highly motivated after seeing God’s unique fireworks display.
They just set 450 false prophets plummeting to their death.
You bet they are motivated.
Pummeling the prophet, making a martyr out of the man of God, would only compound problems for the confused Jezebel.
Martyr’s always complicate things.
What’s hidden from Jezebel is the emotional wreck that her opponent is in.
She doesn’t smell Elijah’s blood in the water.
There are some lessons here for you and me.
Emotionally, we are most vulnerable after a heroic effort.
There’s often a letdown before the melt-down.
We must be unaware.
Elijah is depleted and, depression often follows depletion.
So, let’s look now at how God recoups His anointed.

A Good Meal for a Good Man

The answer to Elijah’s depression and loneliness starts with a good meal — a good meal for a good man.
Seriously? – food is the answer?
Yes, and a good nap to go along with it.

1 Kings 19:5–6 (ESV) — 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

Notice, the Lord didn’t tell Elijah to pray.
He told him to get some grub.
When the food settles in his stomach, Elijah crashes into a deep sleep.
The man of God is sleeping; he’s resting — the cortisol levels are resetting in the body of the prophet.
Nothing highly spiritual here — simply good food and good rest.
What happens next?

1 Kings 19:6–7 (ESV) — 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”

The angel awakes him for meal number two.
The scenario repeats itself — Elijah passes again like a light.
Again, get this – the divine response to Elijah’s negative emotional state is not rebuke.
The Lord didn’t scold him for being afraid — He didn’t rebuke him for running — He didn’t tell him he sinned for being depressed nor for being lonely.
The building blocks to Elijah’s road to recovery were sleep, steak, more sleep, and more steak.
What’s even more astoundingly magnificent is that God sent an angel to play chef for Elijah.
An angel served up the meal.
Talk about an Iron Chef!
All of this communicates that God is interested in all your being — your physical state as well as your spiritual.
And, not only interesting but understanding that there are connections between the physical and the spiritual in anyone’s life.
The angel cooked food for the man of God.
No, the angel did not anoint him and lift tiredness off him supernaturally.
That wasn’t the way out.
The angel did not give Elijah a message to pray a prayer for strength.
Ask yourself, what kind of meal do you think the angel fed him?
I playfully said steak early on just to get your attention.
But I’m just sure that the angel chef didn’t stop by some fast-food joint like McDonald’s and feed the prophet some meal full of cholesterol, sugar, and carcinogens.
What do you think?
Do you think that, just maybe, the angel served up a balanced meal meant to fuel the body as God created it to run?
I would think so.
What about the resting portion of this episode?
You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase many have touted that “It’s better to burn out than rust out” — haven’t you?
It’s not a good phrase — it’s not a good thought — burning out is not a God thought.
Elijah slept — sometimes the best thing you can do is go to sleep.
A bow that is always bent will surely break — that’s a guarantee.
Winston Churchill said this: ‘the world is run by tired men.’
It’s the truth — you must rest like you know you should and eat quality foods like you know you should.
Make the adjustment.
One gentleman said this, and with that thought, here’s the Quote of the Day.

I have prayed hundreds, if not thousands, of times for the Lord to heal me-and he finally healed me of the need to be healed.” –Tim Hansel

The point of all of this? — take care of the physical man, and the physical man will take care of you.
Proper diet, exercise, and rest are good God ideas.
A balanced life can protect you against thoughts of depression.
If you let yourself go physically, you’re only a half-step away from letting yourself go emotionally.
Saying it another way: letting yourself go in one area affects other areas also.
Keeping things tight physically is like rain falling.
It blesses not just the grass but the entire physical ecosystem.
Don’t be like the guy who tried to pass off a new style of exercise.

A visiting speaker was impressed by the enthusiasm our Christian school students showed in their physical education class. “I exercise, too,” he sighed, faintly smiling at our pastor. “Every morning I awaken to the alarm, jump from bed and run around the block six times.” As our pastor expressed surprise and offered hearty praise, the man continued, “Then I kick the block under the bed and go back to sleep.”

This is not what God had in mind for exercise.

The Carmel – Horeb Connection

1 Kings 19:7–9 (ESV) — 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

So, after the initial God-inspired period of rejuvenation, Elijah rockets over and hunkers down in a cave at Mount Horeb.
When he gets there, the Lord asks him a rhetorical question.
Every question the Lord asks is rhetorical because He is God — he already knows the answer.
“What are you doing here, Elijah — at Horeb in a cave?”
Knowing a little about Horeb might give us some insight.
Horeb is Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai is super significant in the scriptures.
Do you remember the behemoth display of God’s Presence and power in Exodus nineteen?

Exodus 19:16–19 (ESV) — 16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

God stepped on the mountain, and the whole thing broke loose – fire and smoke billowed everywhere — the entire mountain was caving in under the weight of God’s Presence.
All of this happened on Mount Sinai — which is, again, another name for Mount Horeb.
Now, ask yourself this question: ‘Why did Elijah choose to go to Horeb?’
The scripture does not say that the Lord told him specifically to go this mountain.
Catch this thought now: Elijah left Carmel where God’s miraculous fire falling power fell, Carmel, for a second mountain 200 miles away from where a similar event occurred at Sinai generations before.
It’s as if this is all that Elijah knows — the miraculous fire-falling power of God.
Elijah is mountain hopping.
We talk about church people — church-hopping — jumping from one church to another — never settling down.
Always looking for the next revival — always looking for the next prophecy or Word from God.
These are ambulance-chasing Christians.
In answer to the Lord’s question, Elijah states his case.

1 Kings 19:10 (ESV) — 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Here’s the next step to the prophet’s recovery.

1 Kings 19:11–13 (ESV) — 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 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?”

The next starts with a question, ‘what are you doing here?’
Three demonstrations of power follow that: a strong wind tears the rocks in pieces — but the Lord was not in the wind.
The Lord caused the wind, but He was not in the wind.
He caused it, but His Presence didn’t accompany it.
This is followed by a second demonstration of power, an earthquake.
The same MO — God caused it, but His Presence was not in it.
The third demonstration has a fire from God, but the Lord’s Presence is not in it again.
Lastly, there comes not an exhibition of power but the voice of the Lord, low and still.
The Lord’s Presence was in that voice — it was the voice of the Lord.
What are these three displays of power about? — why show them to Elijah.
These demonstrations are all that Elijah knew about the Lord.
He knew the God of fire on Carmel.
Elijah grasped the earthquake and fire of Sinai — what He didn’t know was the still small voice of the Lord.
Ambulance chasers take note: God’s Presence is often in the stillness.
You must slow down to hear Him — you must get quiet to be able to hear him.
Here’s another point to take note of — Elijah was disobedient o the Lord’s initial commandment.
The Lord told him to “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.”
Elijah didn’t do it — he stayed in the cave.
He sat in rebellion throughout all three outward displays of power, but when he heard the still small voice — the low whisper of God — that voice that rode upon the Presence of the Lord — when Elijah listened to that and sensed that Presence that is what brought him out of the cave.
The first component of Elijah’s recovery was physical – food and sleep.
The second component? — the Presence of God and the revelation that went with it.
The Presence brought him out of the cave.

The New Assignment: The Cure for Loneliness

Lastly, the Lord addresses the loneliness factor in his servant.

1 Kings 19:15–18 (ESV) — 15 And 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 over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

The Lord gives Elijah an assignment — he connects him with his purpose.
It’s a new assignment — it’s one that he just didn’t know about.
Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, to be king over Israel.
Connecting to your purpose helps you to overcome depression and loneliness.
The last part of the assignment was the best of all: Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
This was about demotion — it was about training.
God told Elijah to train his successor — He was getting old — and no one lives forever — he needed a successor.
If you continue to read the rest of First Kings into the front parts of Second Kings, you will see that Elisha never left the side of Elijah.
Elijah was never alone again — God gave him a faithful companion and a person to mentor who, by the hand of God, brought about the very thing that Elijah had longed for, the end of Baal worship.
Did you get anything out of this today?
Lessons from the Life of a Great Prophet: How to Overcome Loneliness — you guys have a great God week in Jesus’s Name, Amen.

How the Heart of the King Connects to the Hand of God [Podcast]

________
References:

Evans, Tony. Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009. ↩
Today in the Word, November, 1996, p. 27, Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩

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Lessons From the Life of a Great Prophet: How to Overcome Loneliness

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 45

by Emery Horvath

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