There's a popular praise song being sung in churches across the country these days. The chorus goes: "Every day with you, Lord, is sweeter than the day before." Like most contemporary praise choruses, it's exceptionally catchy and fun to sing. Unlike most, it's not entirely accurate (in my opinion).
In a spiritual sense, our lives DO get better every day. Though we age outwardly, we are inwardly being renewed day by day, and every day we live brings us one step closer to the great and final reunion with our Lord. But even the most committed followers of Christ will have bad days from time to time. Take a moment to read Paul's "resume" in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. Does it sound like Paul had some rough moments in serving Christ? Jesus even promised us: "In this life you WILL have tribulation."
Even Elijah had bad days. We'll look at an extended session of darkness in Elijah's life when we study 1 Kings 19 this Sunday. Ironically, his season of depression came right after the high point of his life.
Please be prayerful for this sermon. There will surely be people there Sunday (including, perhaps, you) who are going through the valley of the shadow of death themselves. I don't expect this sermon to cure all their ills, but I hope it can inspire them to move towards hope. All of us will experience difficult times, just like Elijah. This Sunday, we'll see how God responds to us in those moments.
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