Many spiritual leaders in the Bible struggled to obtain victory while serving faithfully. The story of Elijah the Prophet is just one case study model for ministry. Many pastors and church leaders can learn a valuable lesson on self-care and God’s provision to take care of His own.
We will discover from Elijah’s story that mental health was not uncommon then nor is it uncommon in our day now. We are all called to serve in the capacity of the Father’s will for our lives. Elijah the Prophet was a powerful man of God, and God used him mightily, but ultimately, we find Elijah depleted, mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. I feel that way at times.
Many pastors today suffer in silence with mental health issues. It is crystal clear that the Bible speaks of servants like Elijah the prophet and King David, a man after God’s own heart. And the list goes on of many others who have served the Lord. We can learn and share their transparent stories around mental health-related issues.
The Lord lifted them all up and their stories are recorded to educate us. We don’t have to give up on our ministry; we just need to be ministered to for a season, like God did for the prophet Elijah. Yes, we may be depleted but never disconnected from God and His love for us.
It is necessary for twenty-first-century pastors and church leaders to consider the case study on the life and ministry of Elijah the Prophet. Elijah was overwhelmed by mental health even though he lived in the days of the Old Testament.
In James 5:17, James, a New Testament writer, declares that Elijah the Prophet is just like us. We are no different than he was—we have all experienced similar symptoms, and we all have stress-related issues, even if it is nothing more than member depression or depression over assignments.
Elijah’s story is about his mental health condition while serving God in a Spirit-filled ministry and operating under a great anointing. This is nothing new; the suffering of mental illness has always been present in some form of anxiety or depression from the beginning of time, and even now as we serve God. But God does care and provide for His own.
Now in the twenty-first century in which we live, this commonality with Elijah the Prophet is devastating for us to believe when we encounter the dramatic events of his life story that took place so long ago yet is relevant today. Elijah’s story is found in 1 Kings chapters 17 and 19. The same God who took care of Elijah is still the one who cares today for His pastors and leaders. He still STOPS to hear us, and He is still asking the same question today, “What can I do for you?”
In the New Testament, if we would just follow the STOPS of Jesus, we would learn how Jesus showed compassion and healed those in His presence. He loved them so. Today, like our Master, we should STOP and show a more compassionate spirit toward those suffering mental illness. God stopped to restore Elijah’s health and replenish his spiritual well-being.
Elijah’s story is about the God in him, which made him so powerful in his moments of weakness, and how God provided for His own. The Bible reveals the mighty acts of God in the prophet Elijah’s life; it is a story about how God uses His people for His glory regardless of one’s mental condition or status. With God, no one is disqualified from service. Not even the pastor He calls today will be given a different task—the requirements for ministry have not changed. Pastors and leaders are not exempt from God’s calling, no matter what we are experiencing in life.
The prophet Elijah’s call was not based on ability, but rather his availability. Our inability or insufficiency has never mattered to God; that should be encouraging to us. The Lord told the Apostle Paul in the New Testament that His grace is sufficient in all things. It has always been, and always will be, about God’s greatness and mighty acts done through His people. God is so compassionate to those who serve Him. Jesus truly is a burden lifter, a lover of our souls, and a restorer of failing health.
James says that Elijah was just like us. He suffered from anxiety, despair, unbelief, weakness, loneliness, and lack of human ability. But by living a life of persevering faith and dependence on God’s grace, mercy, power, and presence, God used him to confront the wayward sinful nations while displaying God’s glory and truth.
