Grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ who takes all our worries and cares away. Amen.

1 Kings 19:3-8 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

A man was working on his motorcycle on his patio and his wife was in the house in the kitchen. The man was racing the engine on the motorcycle and somehow the motorcycle slipped into gear. The man, still holding the handlebars, was dragged through a glass patio door and the motorcycle dumped onto the floor inside the house. The wife, hearing the crash, ran into the dining room and found her husband lying on the floor, cut and bleeding, the motorcycle lying next to him and the patio door shattered. The wife ran to the phone and summoned an ambulance. Because they lived on a fairly large hill, the wife went down the several long flights of steps to the street to direct the paramedics to her husband. After the ambulance arrived and transported the husband to the hospital, the wife uprighted the motorcycle and pushed it outside. Seeing that gas had spilled on the floor, the wife obtained some papers towels, blotted up the gasoline, and threw the towels into the toilet.

The husband was treated at the hospital and was released to come home. After arriving home, he looked at the shattered patio door and the damage done to his motorcycle. He became despondent, went into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, he flipped it between his legs into the toilet bowl while still seated. The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard a loud explosion and her husband screaming. She ran into the bathroom and found her husband laying on the floor. His trousers had been blown away and he was suffering from burns on the buttocks, the back of his legs. The wife again ran to the phone and called for an ambulance.

The same ambulance crew was dispatched and the wife met them at the street. The paramedics loaded the husband on the stretcher and began carrying him to the street. While they were going down the stairs to the street, accompanied by the wife, one of the paramedics asked the wife how the husband had burned himself. She told them and the paramedics started laughing so hard, one of them tipped the stretcher and dumped the husband out. He fell down the remaining steps and broke his arm.

And you think that you have bad days?

This morning we will discuss how God may allow you to have bad days, loads of trouble, and maybe even tears of sorrow and sadness. Do you think your life is stressed? God tells you not to be depressed. You are too blessed.

In our lesson for today we find Elijah complaining to God about his difficult situation. Just weeks before, Elijah had won a great victory over the 450 prophets of Baal and had witnessed God's miraculous fire coming down from heaven and burning up Elijah's sacrifice. Then Elijah convinced God's people to kill those false prophets. A great victory for God and Elijah, right?

Except that wicked Queen Jezebel didn't take too kindly to the fact that her prophets were lying dead on top of Mt. Carmel. So she contracted a hit on Elijah. She vowed, "May the gods deal with me ever so severely if by this time tomorrow you aren't dead and lying at my doorstep." (1 Kings 19:2)

Elijah was terrified. And he took off running. He ran about 100 miles away from Jezebel, but that still wasn't far enough away from the wicked queen. So Elijah went even farther into the wilderness. And there he sat, all alone, under a broom tree. Although he did decide to throw himself a party -- a pity party.

He had had enough. He was tired. He was scared. He felt all alone. He was depressed. And stressed. He gave up. He prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life."

Have you ever felt like Elijah? Sitting under the broom tree, all alone, stressed, depressed, despondent, moody, throwing a pity party for yourself?

I know I have found myself under that broom tree more than once. As sinful people with a limited focus, we tend to focus on ourselves and on our problems. And we go, "Oh, me, oh, my, why is this happening to me? Why am I the one who is going to be laid off of work? Why do I have to work this holiday weekend and not somebody else? Why is it that my family has all the health problems? How come I'm the one who has to do all the work around here?" And all our energy is focused on us. We are concentrating on our problems.

We are looking for someone to blame. We become tired. Worn out. The devil is tempting us to drive us to depression. He wants us to give up. He wants us to look to God as a last resort, after we've finally figured out that the problem is too big for us to handle on our own. "Well, I guess it's time to take it to God in prayer. Nothing else seems to be working." Better yet, the devil would want us to blame God for how rough our life has become.

I'm going to guess that most of you remember the character Norm, from the TV show Cheers. In one episode, Norm walks into the pub and he is obviously having a really bad day. When he is asked how he is doing, he waves his hand in disgust and answers, "It's a doggie dog world and I'm wearing milk bone underwear." I love that one.

Truth is, we can all relate to Norm, can't we? Some days it seems like our lives are doggie dog and we are wearing milk bone underwear. Ouch!

We might be like Elijah under the broom tree, wondering, "God, if you are loving, why do bad things happen to me? Are you out to get me? Are you punishing me for something I've done? Don't you care about me anymore? Because it sure doesn't seem like you care."

It's not just you and me and Elijah who become down and depressed. Other great men of God have shown their weaknesses when their burdens became too great. Moses, for instance, gave up and asked God to kill him, even though he was leading millions through the wilderness, saying, "If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now ... and do not let me face my own ruin" (Num 11:15). Jonah was also ready to curl up and die after a successful revival at Ninevah, praying angrily, "Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live" (Jon 4:3). And even the great apostle Paul confessed that he "despaired even of life" while ministering in Asia (2 Cor 1:8).

So what should you do when your life becomes too stressed and you start to feel depressed? Just shrug it off? Go shopping? Eat some chocolate? Have a smoke and a beer? A better solution would be to turn to God. Focus on how God has already blessing you and how he promises to continue to bless you.

When Elijah was complaining, he was implying that his work for the Lord was all for nothing. With his pouting, he was implying that God was no longer taking care of him. And did you notice what God did when he heard Elijah asking for his life to be ended? He just ignored the request. Isn't that fantastic!

When my girls whine and complain, that really gets on my nerves. It is much easier for them to receive a spanking or a time out when they push my buttons with their tears. But that is why God is so much of a better Father than I am. He is patient and he always forgives. He doesn't come to us with threats and punishments to scare us into obeying him. He comes to us with love and mercy.

When Elijah was hungry and weak, down and out, God didn't pile on more troubles, or guilt for running away, or shame for being depressed. Instead, God sent an angel – and not just any angel, this was the Angel of the Lord – the Son of God. The angel of the Lord touched Elijah and said, "Get up and eat." There by his head was a cake of bread and a jar of water. He ate and drank and got some for sleep. Then the angel came back a second time and woke him up and gave him some more food. Strengthened by the food, Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights so that God could prepare him to do more work for him.

Have you heard about the lost and found notice in the paper: "Lost dog: three legs; blind in left eye; missing right ear; tail broken; recently hit by a truck; answers to the name 'Lucky'"? Maybe there have been plenty of times when you've felt like old "Lucky" yourself.

Think of some of the people you know from church who may seem like "Lucky" right now. Undergoing chemotherapy, dealing with the pain of a broken pelvis, going through a divorce, being laid off at work, having a spouse with Alzheimer’s, getting older. I know some of you seemed to have opened your own pharmacy in your dining room. And those are just a few problems your Christian brothers and sisters are dealing with.

But friends, God isn’t out to get you. Don’t think that he is throwing darts at you from heaven. God is for you 100%! Paul promises: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31b, 32) God gave his Son for you and laid him in a manger on that very first Christmas. He had his Son nailed to the cross on Good Friday so that every single one of your sins might be fully paid for by his holy, precious blood! You are forgiven, completely and fully.

Because God is for you, he won’t ever let you down. He will lead you through this doggie dog world. Nothing can separate your from his love. He will provide strength to handle every trial and challenge. Don’t be afraid.

Perhaps when we allow ourselves to become stressed and depressed is when we focus on our troubles and not on the strength and hope God gives us to deal with these troubles. Paul said, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor 4:8,9) We aren't crushed, in despair, or destroyed when troubles come our way. Why not? Because we haven't been abandoned by our heavenly Father. God is with us. More than that, he has given us his Son, Jesus, to be our brother -- a brother who loved us enough to die in our place to pay for our sins. He took our punishment so that we might receive blessing instead.

Jesus is our true blessing. He is the Bread of Life. He is the precious treasure of the good news of God's love. He has promised us that as difficult as life is, as tempting as Satan is, as depressing as life may be at times, we know that the gates of hell cannot defeat Jesus' kingdom. His Word and Sacraments are too strong, even for the devil to overcome. So when life becomes difficult, we just need to listen to God's love come pouring out upon us from our Bibles. We need to remember our baptism into God's holy family. We need to desire the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Then we will remember just blessed we are. Though sin plagues us, still God has blessed us with a home, family, friends, and church home. He has blessed us even more with love, grace, and forgiveness. He has blessed us with salvation, eternal life, and the mansions of heaven. So, when your troubles seem heavy, remember that heaven outweighs all your troubles.

Paul reminds us: Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, (and old age causes us to waste away) yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles (and when you think about it, our troubles are only light and momentary) are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Cor 4:16,17)

How awesome is that eternal glory, which will be ours when we stand with our Savior in his heavenly kingdom! It far outweighs death threats made by wicked queens, illnesses brought on by old age, troubles caused by sin. It far outweighs whatever we are suffering now and makes all our problems seem "light and momentary."

As someone once said, and I truly believe it: "As Christians, we are too blessed to be stressed." Amen.

And now may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.