Read 1 Kings 19:1-10

Discouragement

Even in the life of a faithful child of God, there will be times when everything seems hopeless. It appears as if no one around you is doing what they ought, and you are fighting a battle you can never win. No matter which direction you turn, you will lose. There is no point in even trying!

The prophet Elijah was discouraged following the defeat of the prophets of Baal. Ahab told his wife Jezebel what happened, and she sent word to Elijah that she would have him killed. “And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a room 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!’” (1 Kings 19:3-4).

Have you ever been so discouraged in your life that you prayed for death? Elijah saw himself as a failure. Despite proving the power of God and defeating the idolatrous prophets of Baal, Elijah continued to stand alone. No one wanted to join him in serving the true God of heaven. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10).

There will be times in life that you will feel alone in doing what is right in the sight of God. Don’t let that discouragement derail you from doing the will of God! Keep in mind that even if you stand alone with God, you are still on the winning side. God cannot be defeated.

Consider the words of Paul the apostle: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?…Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-32, 37).

You will get discouraged. Don’t give up. Stand with God through it.