Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, like John the Baptist, hit a rough spot. Elijah wasn’t in prison like John, in fact, he had just won the Super Bowl of the Old Testament on Mount Carmel. But he crashed when Queen Jezebel threatened him. Instead of standing on the conviction he displayed in 1 Kings 18, his knees buckled, and he fell apart. He took flight and ran for his life. Depressed and isolated in the Valley of Jezreel, he wanted to die. While David Brooks’ insightful book, “The Second Mountain,” doesn’t mention the Elijah story, it illustrates even the best among us have valleys. It’s easy to be intimidated, bullied and sabotaged. It can result in us losing our nerve. Bad situations can illustrate how easy it is to forget how God has blessed and equipped us previously, and even recently. I have experienced a loss of confidence in ministry, too. Confusion and exhaustion can put us in a place where we crash. Living in an emotional and spiritual valley is not fun but we can learn from it. God’s will for us is not to remain in those valleys. God spoke to Elijah in an interesting way. It was time to get his legs and voice back and to reenter the fight.

- Pastor Tom Harrison