By Steve Greene

We have been looking at the life of the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

Following a threat from the queen, Elijah was discouraged and afraid. He was at the end of his rope. He wanted to die. He had had enough. He couldn’t take anymore.

Can you relate? Perhaps you feel like Elijah right now. Maybe you feel like your financial future is coming unraveled. You’ve done everything you can. You are trying to pay the bills and one more thing just broke. You can’t take it anymore.

For others, it is a relationship, you’re trying to do your part, but they just lied to you again. You may feel like you can’t take it anymore.

For somebody else, it’s your schedule. It seems like all you do is work. You’re trying to keep all of the plates spinning and stay on top of everything, but it seems like the harder you work, the further you fall behind, and you just don’t know how much longer you can take it.

It could be something as simple as making dinner a thousand times. And a thousand times, no one even said thank you. And a thousand times, you cleaned up the kitchen by yourself. No wonder you would say ”I can’t take it anymore.”

Elijah had all he could take. In the midst of his discouragement, Elijah made four critical mistakes that are a potential hazard for all of us.

The first mistake was that Elijah ran himself into the ground physically and emotionally. Elijah was pushing too hard for too long. He simply overdid it. So often, we get to the end of our rope, not in a day or a week, but it is the days, the weeks and the months leading up to that moment that got us there.

That is what happened to Elijah.

Elijah had been involved in some emotionally draining events. He was already spent physically and emotionally when he found out he was the target of the queen.

The text says he was afraid, and he ran for his life. He ran to Beersheba, which was about 100 miles. He ran the equivalent of four marathons. He was completely exhausted. He was physically worn out. You may be there right now.

Have you been going way too hard for way too long? If so, what are you going to do about it? Elijah’s first mistake had serious implications. Be careful about overdoing it on any level. There is a price to pay.

We’ll look at mistake No. 2 next time.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor at The Point in Seymour. You may email him at [email protected]. His weekly blog can be found at pastorgreene.wordpress.com. Send comments to [email protected].