A Godly Solution for Depression -- Derek Grier
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00:00A crayon says, I'm not sharp enough.
00:06A pencil says, I'm not colorful enough.
00:10But peace will never come until you stop comparing yourselves
00:14to others.
00:16The pencil is not designed to do what the crayon does.
00:21The crayon's not designed to do what the pencil does.
00:25You aren't gifted to do what I do,
00:27but I'm not gifted to do what you do.
00:30We are not in competition.
00:31We have different functions and purposes in our lives,
00:36and we've got to embrace our particular function
00:39and purpose.
00:51Today, I want to talk to you about how
00:52to get through what I'm calling broom tree moments.
00:55Broom tree moments are those moments
00:59that you feel so broken, so defeated, so disappointed,
01:02you feel so helpless, that all you can do
01:05is sit down and try to breathe.
01:09Has anyone ever been there before?
01:11And Ahab told Jezebel.
01:16In the Bible, in 1 Kings chapter 16 and 30,
01:19actually, scripture says that Ahab
01:22was the most wicked king in all of Israel's history
01:26up until that time.
01:28But what may surprise you is Ahab
01:30was the quintessential wimp.
01:33He was a world-class coward, but he
01:36was a man that had and held tremendous power.
01:41If in the 1800s BC you googled the term wuss,
01:47Ahab's face would show up right next
01:50to the lion of the Wizard of Oz,
01:53if you're old enough to remember,
01:56Commodus of Gladiator, and Cypher of the Matrix,
02:05for all you moviegoers.
02:09And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done.
02:15And you're reading through your Bible,
02:16and many of you are familiar.
02:18You just read this portion of scripture.
02:21Elijah had just called down fire from heaven.
02:23He defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
02:27Then he prayed and ended a national drought
02:29that lasted a little over three years.
02:33And after the king saw God's power move through Elijah,
02:38he went home, he laid his head on the queen's lap,
02:43and with thumb and mouth told her all that big bad Elijah
02:49had done.
02:51Single ladies, look for a man who runs to God first
02:56when he has a problem, not you.
03:03First Kings 21 and 1, let's take another glimpse
03:07at Ahab's character, lest you think
03:10I'm taking too much license here this morning.
03:13Verse 1, and it came to pass after these things
03:17that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel,
03:21next to the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria.
03:26The palace here was the king's second home,
03:29but Ahab and Jezebel turned out to be neighbors from hell.
03:32How many have ever had neighbors like this?
03:35You don't ever want neighbors like this.
03:38So Ahab summoned his neighbor, Naboth, and he said,
03:42give me your vineyard that I may have it for a vegetable garden
03:46because it is near next to my house.
03:50Now King Ahab already had everything
03:52he could possibly need, but he had to have more.
03:58You see, in this time in history,
03:59and you might not know this, but the pharaohs of Egypt
04:03were known and celebrated for their beautiful palace
04:07gardens.
04:08And it seemed here that Ahab couldn't
04:11resist running with the Joneses, and he had to have one too.
04:16Can you, yeah.
04:19A crayon says, I'm not sharp enough.
04:25A pencil says, I'm not colorful enough.
04:30But peace will never come until you stop
04:33comparing yourselves to others.
04:36Amen.
04:41The pencil is not designed to do what the crayon does.
04:45The crayon's not designed to do what the pencil does.
04:50You aren't gifted to do what I do,
04:52but I'm not gifted to do what you do.
04:54We are not in competition.
04:56We have different functions and purposes in our lives,
05:01and we've got to embrace our particular function
05:04and purpose.
05:10And Ahab said, listen, Naboth, for it,
05:12I will give you a vineyard better than the one you have.
05:17Or if it seems good to you, I'll give you its worth in money.
05:21But there are some things in life
05:22that just are not for sale, particularly
05:26our personal integrity.
05:29But Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord
05:32forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers
05:35to you.
05:37You see, in the law, Moses wrote that,
05:41and he actually forbid Jews from selling their land permanently.
05:46In fact, even if you sold your land,
05:48really more of a lease, you'd get it back in 70 years.
05:51But the king asked for permanent ownership of the land,
05:56and Naboth was not trying to disrespect the king here.
05:59He was just trying to comply with God's word.
06:03Here's the question.
06:05At what price would you forfeit your faithfulness to God?
06:10For a higher paying job?
06:12To be in with a certain crowd?
06:15For that girl in that tight dress?
06:18Or that guy in the gym?
06:22Whatever you compromise your relationship with God to get,
06:25you will eventually lose.
06:28Yes, I'm preaching good.
06:34So Ahab, watch this, went into the house sullen and displeased.
06:39He was pouting like a little child.
06:42I told the first servants that his lip was poked out so far
06:46that you could have tripped over it.
06:51And he was upset because of the word which
06:54Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him.
06:59But the problem was Ahab wasn't taught
07:02the word no as a youngster.
07:06You see, I'd like to say yes as much as the next person,
07:10but I also know that most relationships
07:12won't stay healthy without a few well-placed no's.
07:17Parents, keep that in mind.
07:19Your child will not grow up healthy
07:23unless he first experiences some well-placed no.
07:26Not no to everything, but every now and then,
07:31you got to give him a no so he can deal
07:34or she could deal with disappointment.
07:36That he or she can understand the world
07:38don't revolve around their whims.
07:39Pay attention to what I'm saying.
07:44So the first time they hear no on the job
07:47or in the real world, they don't fall apart and start
07:49kicking and banging and crashing things,
07:51shooting people, and all the rest.
07:58You see, no matter how much you give to certain people,
08:05they'll always ended up wanting more than you have.
08:10So I've learned in my life to set up boundaries that
08:16protect both me and them.
08:20So watch the king here.
08:23He lay down on his bed and then turned away his face
08:29so his wife couldn't see it.
08:32Pitiful.
08:37And he would eat no food.
08:40Really?
08:45He refused to eat because Naboth's commitment
08:49to scripture gave him a tummy ache.
08:55But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said to him,
09:01why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?
09:07She's like, my baby, my baby, baby, baby.
09:11And then he responded, breathing all hard through his nose.
09:19Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him,
09:24give me your vineyard for money, or else if it pleases you,
09:29I will give you another vineyard for it.
09:32And he answered me, queen, I will not give you my vineyard.
09:44Somebody actually told Ahab no.
09:49You know, a good part of my troubles as a young pastor
09:52was me saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.
09:59You can still be a good person with a kind heart
10:04and still say no sometimes.
10:07No can be one of the healthiest words in our vocabulary
10:13if used correctly.
10:16Every yes we give to something is actually
10:21a no to something else.
10:24And many times, a no sets you up to be able to say yes.
10:32Sets you up to be able to say yes.
10:38So then Jezebel, his wife, said to him,
10:41you know you exercise authority over Israel,
10:45and nobody's going to hurt my little baby's feelings.
10:49Aren't you the king?
10:52Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful,
10:55because mama's going to fix this for you, baby.
11:00I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
11:06And when you read the Bible, Jezebel immediately
11:10had Naboth stoned.
11:13Mama don't play.
11:16But there are a few things in nature
11:19that are sadder than a weak man controlled by an evil woman.
11:24Yes.
11:30Now let's go back to 1 Kings 19.1.
11:33So you know that I'm not just making stuff up about Ahab.
11:37You see that the Bible clearly portrays
11:40what type of man Ahab is.
11:42And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done,
11:46also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.
11:51Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah.
11:54Now watch this.
11:56Ahab did nothing.
11:58Wifey fought all the battles.
12:02Matter of fact, if Jezebel wasn't so wicked,
12:06I'd admire her, because she knew how to get it done.
12:10I want you to listen to her determination
12:13and her character in this next clause.
12:17She said, she starts swearing, actually.
12:20So let the gods do to me, and more also,
12:24if I don't make your life as the life of one of them
12:27by tomorrow about this time.
12:30So many good qualities in this woman Jezebel gone wrong.
12:37Jezebel was decisive.
12:40Jezebel was passionate.
12:43Jezebel was a go-getter.
12:45And if Jezebel just would have came home
12:48to a little bit of strength at night,
12:51she might have been a different queen.
12:55Yeah, I know.
12:58But no woman can love a man hard enough to make him strong.
13:06And when Elijah saw what the queen was about to do,
13:12he arose and ran for his life.
13:16He knew this Jezebel didn't play.
13:18She was a very capable and strong woman.
13:24A weak king is a danger to any strong queen,
13:28because he doesn't know what to do with her.
13:32And a weak man, I tried to change this in my preparation,
13:36but it just kept coming up, coming up.
13:40And a weak man can't change until he
13:43stops blaming his failures on the strengths of others.
13:50And Elijah went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah,
13:56and he left his servants there.
13:57He needed some time alone.
14:01But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness.
14:04And Jezebel scared Elijah so much,
14:10he ran until he couldn't run anymore.
14:14And finally, when he came to the end of himself,
14:16completely exhausted, he came and sat down under a broom tree.
14:24And all of us, at some point in our journey,
14:27if we're really walking with God,
14:28we will find ourselves under a broom tree.
14:35Until this point in 1 Kings, every major move
14:40that Elijah made was prefaced by the words,
14:45the word of the Lord came to him.
14:49But you'll find in the next six verses
14:52that those phrases are completely absent.
14:59Elijah was a prophet, called of God, appointed by God,
15:03moved in great powers, signs, wonders, miracles.
15:09But like you and me at times, he got caught up in his feelings
15:14and he stopped listening to God.
15:17Now, I'm not sure about you, but I know in my life,
15:20every major mistake I have made in my life
15:25started with me saying, God, I'm tired,
15:29as if my weariness justified the decision I was about to make.
15:36You see, emotions are very, very important companions.
15:40Pay attention to them, make sure they're healthy,
15:44but they are terrible leaders.
15:48And Elijah came at the end of himself, exhausted, under,
15:55sitting and sat down under a broom tree.
16:00Years ago, God spoke to me through these scriptures.
16:04When in a very short period of time,
16:09a dear friend of over 20 years at that time
16:13and our church administrator died.
16:18My pastor of many years, we traveled different continents together,
16:25spent several times a year together.
16:28He'd even come here to preach.
16:32He died young and surprisingly, and much of the world mourned.
16:40Then in the same period, people that I had traveled with for years
16:47just upped and walked away and then took with them as many as they could.
16:54Heads of departments were gone, people I trusted,
16:59people my children love, people who sat in our home,
17:04we visited, their home gone.
17:07And the church started to decline for the first time in about a decade.
17:14And I found myself sitting under my broom tree.
17:22And as Elijah was sitting in his broom tree,
17:24he was doing the same thing I was doing and the same thing most of us do
17:28when we get under a broom tree.
17:31He began to blame himself for his problems.
17:35And he prayed that he might, what, die.
17:40He started asking himself while he was sitting under that tree,
17:43is my living in vain?
17:47God, has my giving been in vain?
17:50Is my praying in vain?
17:52Is my preaching?
17:53Has my loving?
17:54Has it all been, Lord, in vain?
17:59But don't let the rejecting of just a few make you forget all that God has
18:03brought you through.
18:13You know, the details of each of our broom tree experience will be different
18:16from person to person.
18:19But at one point or another, if you walk long enough with God,
18:23we're all going to find ourselves in the predicament of this prophet.
18:30And he prayed that he might die.
18:37And he said, it's enough.
18:38Lord, I'm tired.
18:40Lord, I can't take it anymore.
18:45Lord, take my life for I'm no better than my father.
18:48Lord, despite all I do, despite all I've preached, all I've said,
18:52how long I've prayed, how often I fast, the world remains just as fallen out.
18:56I've got the same family problems.
18:57I've got the same friend problems.
18:59I've got the same church problems.
19:00I've got the same business job problems.
19:02Lord, no matter what I do, it seems to just turn out the same.
19:07But this is where we learn to pray this famous prayer.
19:11God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
19:19The courage to change the things I can change.
19:23And Lord, give me the wisdom to know the difference when to let go and when to push forward.
19:35Then as he lay and slept, this man was not dealing with theological or imaginary problems.
19:43These were real-world problems.
19:45Somebody was trying to kill him.
19:49And if you know anything about Elijah, Elijah was a tough guy.
19:52He was harsh.
19:55But he wasn't a bad guy.
19:58He just let himself get tired, and he needed some rest.
20:05Constant, pay attention to me, I don't care who you are.
20:12Without emotional output, without life-giving input will cause even the best of us to eventually
20:21crash.
20:27And the prophet of God who had done miracles of God, who had heard from heaven accurately,
20:34was left there just, just, just, just probably in a fetal position.
20:38He slept under a broom tree.
20:43You would expect the answer to a situation to be more supernatural than this.
20:50But the first thing God did was let the prophet get some rest.
20:57But then watch what happened next.
21:00Then after he began to rest, suddenly an angel touched him.
21:07So God sent an angel that carried the presence of God.
21:14And when you're tired, you need the presence of God more than anything else in your life.
21:25So he starts to get some rest, but the second thing God does is send him some good company.
21:35And then he said to him, the angel speaking for God, arise and eat.
21:41The last thing that God asked Elijah to do was eat some good food.
21:49So all Elijah needed to get back on his feet, all you need to get back on your feet is get
21:57some rest, a little bit of good company, and some good food.
22:06Before you throw in the towel, before you go to the doctor and ask for stronger medication,
22:14try a little rest, a little company, and some healthy food.
22:23If you're listening to me with your spiritual ears, I just gave you some important answers.
22:30Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals.
22:38God will bring you the food you need and the food that no one else knows of.
22:42That's what Jesus taught us.
22:45In a jar of water, Elijah did not need psychotherapy.
22:51Just some rest, a little company, and some better food.
22:59So he ate and drank and laid down again.
23:05This might be the most important point I say today.
23:09May not even sound interesting, but do not miss your seasons of rest.
23:18They will not come every day, but when the Lord offers you that moment to breathe in
23:23and exhale, do not be too busy.
23:27Don't keep running.
23:29Sit down and take it.
23:40This guy was so tired, the angel had to come back a second time and do the same thing all
23:44over again.
23:46And the angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched him and said, and there are
23:53moments that God wants to give us a fresh touch, a special touch, but you've got to
23:59be sitting down calm and quiet under the broom tree.
24:06Arise and eat, watch this, because the journey is too great for you.
24:11I said this before, if your vision for your life is easy enough for you to do without
24:18God's help, it's not from God.
24:23God puts us in water above our heads so we can learn to stand on His shoulders.
24:33Everything God asks you to do, whether it's in a relationship, whether it's a job, whether
24:38it's whatever, God always gives you something so challenging that you've got to tap into
24:49Him to get it done.
24:52And a lot of times when we try to do it in our own strength, we say, well, Lord, it must
24:56not be you because I can't do it.
24:57It's like, it is me because you can't do it.
25:01I get no glory if you could do it.
25:03I get glory when you let me help you do it.
25:12I'm almost there.
25:15So Elijah arose, and he had a part to play in getting better, and you have a part to
25:23play in getting better.
25:27And he ate and drank.
25:31God gave him some rest.
25:35God gave him some fresh and new company, fresh fellowship, the presence of God in that fellowship.
25:44But watch what he also did.
25:46He also ate through his battle with fatigue.
25:52If you want to make it, I'm telling you what I know, through periods of exhaustion, whether
25:57it be physical, emotional, intellectual, or otherwise, learn to rest in God's Word, make
26:07better choices about the company you keep, and maintain a steady diet of God's Word.
26:24It took Pastor and I a few months.
26:27Now, he seemed to do this in days.
26:29He was much more anointed and more powerful than I'll ever be.
26:34But eventually, our strength came back, and yours will too.
26:42But you got to get some rest.
26:47You got to sometimes get better company.
26:52And you got to eat nutritious and good food.
26:59And he went in the strength of that 40 days and 40 nights as far as Horeb, the Mountain of God.
27:14For me, these verses came alive maybe, you know, 10, 8, I don't know, years ago.
27:22But I know in my life, those tough times were just preparation for harder times.
27:28And God was like, listen, dude, if you can't run with the footmen, how you going to run
27:32with the horses?
27:35If you can't deal this little bit of crap, how you going to deal with the real stuff?
27:40I've called you, dude.
27:44And he ran in the strength of that food.
27:48You got to learn to eat differently when you're exhausted.
27:53You got to dig deeply.
27:55And I began to see the word differently.
27:58I need to hear even different, stronger teaching.
28:03Little light, soft teaching will get you through light and soft times.
28:09But it takes some collard greens, you hear what I'm saying?
28:12It takes some strong, sometimes bitter stuff to get you through the tough times in life.
28:21And I'm grateful for those years because those years prepared me for this year and last year
28:28and the year to come.
28:35And he went in the strength of that food he received under the broom tree.
28:43But you only experience that type of a vision and refreshing when you sit down under your
28:50particular broom tree.
28:55So in perhaps my shortest message of the year, when things get bad, number one, rest.
29:05Rest in His promises.
29:07Yes it's physical, but it's also spiritual.
29:10And a lot of times my dis-ease was because I didn't really believe.
29:16I didn't really trust that He got it and that He'd work all things together for good and
29:21that His thoughts about me more than the number of the sands of the sea.
29:25I might have preached it, I might have said it, but I didn't really believe it yet in
29:29my heart.
29:32Rest is not always just a good night's sleep.
29:36It's trust.
29:37It's, Lord, You got it.
29:41It's bigger than me and I'm okay with that, Lord.
29:45And not my way, Lord, Thine be done, Lord.
29:48I'm going to cast this care on You for You care for me.
29:52I can't fix it, but God, You can.
29:54And God, I'm going to rest in Your promises.
29:57I'm preaching good even if You're quiet this morning.
30:00I'm saying some things.
30:04Number one, rest in His promises.
30:11I do not go to the Scriptures to sound smart.
30:15I go to the Scriptures to get peace, rest, and ease for a troubled mind.
30:25When things get bad, number one, rest in His promises.
30:29Number two, get in environments where you can experience the presence of God through
30:35His people.
30:37I had to avoid strife like the plague.
30:40I didn't want to be around arguing people, mad people, bitter people.
30:44I couldn't handle it.
30:48I had to get in the environment where I can experience the presence, and in this case
30:55it was an angel for Him.
30:56For me, it was angelic-like people.
31:00And number three, feed yourself through the battle with super doses of God's Word.
31:08So I've learned when I wake up at night, 2 o'clock in the morning because some pressure
31:14is on me and I can't sleep, instead of just rolling over, I'll get up, I'll get in the
31:20Word until peace comes and go back to sleep.
31:24I'm like, listen Mr. Devil, you're gonna regret you woke me up tonight.
31:27Listen Mr. Worry, you're gonna regret that you woke me up.
31:31Listen Anxiety, you're gonna regret that you got me up tonight because I'm gonna feed myself
31:36through it.
31:37And the Bible says through the fatness of the neck, the yoke is destroyed.
31:41And what I learned to do is get fat in God's Word in times of crisis.
31:46Feed myself, feed myself over and over and over until it comes alive, muscles begin to
31:50grow and a strength arises and I can't explain it and I can go in a new strength that I didn't
31:57have before that broom tree.
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32:30God bless you.