Finding the Light in SuicideSample

DAY 1

ELIJAH

I know the subject of suicide is a difficult one. In fact, most people find it too uncomfortable to talk about. However, I pray that you can work through the uncomfortable feelings. Let God’s Word sit with you to shine light into the darkness and provide you hope for a new day. I pray His Word can supply you with the strength to overcome the depths of darkness our topic holds.

I believe God placed this Scripture on my heart to share with you, and I want to dig in as soon as we can. Tomorrow we will start with a deep study into 1 Kings 19:1-21, but today we begin with our backstory.

This week we are discussing a story about Elijah, one of God’s great prophets.

You see, Elijah did everything for the Lord. He did so much for God that Elijah was the odd man out in his culture. During this time in history, the worship of other gods was common. Specifically, the worship of Baal had been going on for generations. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah proposed a challenge to the Baal prophets. Elijah, being one man, challenged 450 prophets of Baal. In a general sense, he said, “We both get a bull; we prepare it for sacrifice and let the true God provide the fire.”

The 450 Baal prophets took this challenge and prepared their bull. They prayed, and nothing was happening. Morning turned to noon with no fire, so they started cutting themselves according to their customs and prayed louder, yet no fire. Evening fell, Elijah took his bull, prepared it, and built an altar with a trench surrounding it. He had water poured all over the prepared bull not once, not twice, but three times until about 3-4 gallons of water filled the trench. Elijah prayed ONCE, and our God lit the bull on fire. Everyone was in awe of this miracle, and Elijah thought he had won this battle.

However, tomorrow we will see Elijah running for his life, and he finds himself depleted without hope. It is here where Elijah has suicidal thoughts.

Join me tomorrow for another three minutes as we start breaking down this Scripture. Perhaps you will find similarities in Elijah’s story. This week we will see God’s response to Elijah’s hopelessness and perhaps shed some light on an answer in your own darkness.

For now, I leave you with this thought: Elijah, one of God’s greatest prophets, who was so faithful, will be taking a turn for the worse when he feels God has forgotten him. By the end of the week, we will see God has not forgotten Elijah through these trials, and I pray you will see He has not forgotten you in yours. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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