Moments of Sadness
“Women received their loved ones back again from death” (Hebrews 11:35 NLT).
She didn’t realize she had invited a world changer into her home. She was a widow living in the village of Zarephath, and one day Elijah, a great prophet of the Lord, asked if he could stay in her home. This widow had a son, her beloved boy, and very little money. Even so, she fed him from the meager supply of food that she had.
Yet God kept providing for her, and she always had what she needed. But one day her son became sick. And then he died. In her grief, she actually blamed Elijah for it. Essentially, she told the prophet, “I never should have invited you to stay at my house. This happened because of you.”
Then the Bible tells us that Elijah carried her son upstairs to where he was staying, and he cried out to the Lord. God answered Elijah’s prayer and raised the boy from the dead.
We tend to think of Elijah as a biblical legend, a rock star. After all, he called fire down from Heaven, stopped the rain, and raised a boy from the dead. But Elijah was someone like you and me. The Bible even says, “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” (James 5:17 NLT).
Here’s something to remember about Elijah. After he had his great contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he fell into a deep funk. He was deeply depressed and actually didn’t even want to live any longer.
This reminds us that even world changers get depressed at times. We all have our moments of sadness. We might even deal with depression. Yet God worked in and through Elijah. And God can work in and through you as well.
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