Sound Mind Week 5
2 Timothy 1:7 — For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
What are some boundaries that are needed in your life?
1 Kings 19
3 Elijah was afraid. He got up and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba of Judah, he left his servant there.
4 But he himself traveled for a day into the desert. He came and sat down under a juniper tree. There he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life. For I am not better than my fathers.”
5 When he lay down and slept under the juniper tree, an angel touched him. The angel said to him, “Get up and eat.”
6 Then Elijah looked and saw by his head a loaf of bread made ready on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him, and said, “Get up and eat. Because this traveling is too hard for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 He came to a cave, and stayed there. The word of the Lord came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it.
— Coach Lou Holtz
What is a step you’re sensing to take?
You are not the thoughts you think.
You are the thoughts that you believe.
— Author Jon Gordon
There are two extremes to avoid: being completely absorbed in your pain, and being distracted by so many things that you stay far away from the wound you want to heal.
— Henri Nouwen
Get up, before you get too comfortable being down.
— Pastor Lonnie Keene
Rest
1 Kings 19:5-6
Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Am I stewarding my sleep?
God instituted rest into our life’s rhythms.
Even the most dedicated servants of God need physical rest and spiritual renewal. Taking time to recharge is not a sign of weakness but a necessary step to continue our journey with strength and purpose.
Matthew 11:28 — Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Reset (Restart/Refresh)
1 Kings 19:7 — Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Return
1 Kings 19:15-16
Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet.
Then the Lord did what perhaps was best of all for Elijah, he gave him some more work to do. He sent him off about his Master’s business again.
— Spurgeon
Reality (Truth)
1 Kings 19
14 Elijah said, “Lord God All-Powerful, I have always served you the best that I can, but the Israelites broke their agreement with you. They destroyed your altars and killed your prophets. I am the only prophet left alive, and now they are trying to kill me.”
18 I still have 7000 people in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed that idol.
Relationships
1 Kings 19:15-16
Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet.
Feeling disconnected is strongly associated with depression.
Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is considered the cruelest of punishments.
— Author Gary Chapman
(The Five Love Languages)
Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God's people.
— Charles Spurgeon
Racists are not born, they are raised. Isolation is the breeding ground for racism. The more you come to know the world around you and people different than you the less likely you will become an extremist. The Church needs to bring the world together.
— Author Erwin McManus
No matter how low down you are; no matter what your disposition has been; you may be low in your thoughts, words, and actions; you may be selfish; your heart may be overflowing with corruption and wickedness; yet Jesus will have compassion upon you.
— Dwight L. Moody
Avoid the quicksand that bears the marker "God has left you!" Don't indulge this lie. If you do, your problem will be amplified by a sense of loneliness. It's one thing to face a challenge, but to face it all alone? Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret.
— Author Max Lucado
You need to come out of the cave.
Other people need you to come out of the cave.
God can find your cave!