A Place to Return
originally published in Arise Daily Devotionals
Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. 1 Kings 19:5 NIV
I never seemed to know when to rest. I kept pushing toward the next deadline or the next season, always promising myself I would slow down — but I rarely did. Even vacations became opportunities to catch up or set new goals. One day, I hit a wall and simply couldn’t keep going. My body wouldn’t cooperate, I couldn’t work or take care of my people, and I had no more empty promises left to make to myself. I was so empty I could no longer fight it or find my way back to myself. This seemed so unreasonable to me as a woman of faith — somehow, I thought my faith was supposed to keep me from burning out.
The story of Elijah the prophet has always intrigued me. Here was a man who had just called down fire from heaven in a showdown against the false prophets of Baal, then spoken forth the rains that ended a three-year famine — yet he collapsed under the weight of his own despair. He literally lay down and fell asleep. (1 Kings 19:5) How could someone who heard directly from God, spoke on His behalf, and witnessed miracles firsthand fall into such deep discouragement? Even after all the signs and wonders God performed through the prophet’s words, Elijah ran away, wishing he were dead.
Yet for many of us, working out our faith still leaves us in a constant state of exhaustion and desperation — rarely seeing miracles and often feeling alone. So I wonder: how did Elijah, a man not only used by God to witness miracles but to usher them in, end up wanting to die?
Isn’t it interesting how God didn’t scold Elijah or tell him to snap out of it? Instead, God sent an angel to Elijah and, just like a parent caring for a weary child, gave him exactly what he needed most: nourishment and rest, on repeat until Elijah was well. Upon his recovery, God led him to a cave on the mountain, where he heard God’s voice — not in the wind that passed by, not in the earthquake that shook, or the fire that burned, but in a gentle whisper. Elijah recognized that whisper because he had an ongoing relationship with God. That relationship was what sustained him in his darkest times.
Being people of faith doesn’t keep us from struggling with our mental health — it gives us a place to return.
We so often bully ourselves when we become anxious or depressed, as if that will somehow make it go away. There are unspoken rules in Christian culture suggesting that people of faith shouldn’t struggle mentally or emotionally. But the truth is, we will — and God never expects us to simply muscle through it.
Elijah isn’t the only one in Scripture who wrestled with his mental health. David did too. He struggled with anxiety, and understandably so, especially while running for his life from King Saul. The Psalms are full of his raw, unfiltered cries to God — and they end not in despair but in praise. David shows us how we can process life by going to God openly and honestly, taking the time to reframe our thoughts on His goodness. The common thread throughout Scripture is a loving God drawing near to His people, holding them through each season.
When we nurture our relationship with God, we find — like Elijah did — that we are cared for before we are sent forward. The One who remains unchanging is the One who sustains us. I’m still learning to make space for that. But I’ve found that when I do, God meets me there — not always in the dramatic or the miraculous, but in the quiet. In the reminder that I am cared for before I am useful. That is enough to take the next step, even when that step is simply to sit down and rest.
What is God whispering to you today?
