He challenges them to set up a great altar to sacrifice a bull, and taunts them to call upon Baal to bring fire down from heaven and consume the sacrifice. Then Elijah has this great showdown with them and demonstrates once and for all who the true God of Israel is. Jezebel, had put to death most of the Lord’s prophets, and she had replaced them with these false prophets. The prophets of Baal, under the leadership of King Ahab, and influenced by Queen Jezebel, had turned the people of Israel away from Yahweh, Israel’s true God. Baal was a false Canaanite god and an idol. Elijah had in fact just returned from a great victory against four hundred prophets of Baal. Let’s go back and briefly look at the background to this story. In this passage, Elijah is in a low, completely overwhelmed by despair and depression and he declares to God, “I give in!” “It is enough now. Our story from 1 Kings is about the prophet Elijah who, like Churchill, experiences both the highs and lows. He once said “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in…” A few drops of desperation is all it takes.” We don’t know the cause of his depression, whether it was chemical or a product of his difficult childhood, but it’s remarkable how Churchill was so crippled by what he called his “black dog,” and yet he led Britain and its allies to victory in World War II, not to mention the many other accomplishments of his life. Churchill is a real example of what we might call “the wounded leader.” His life shows what greatness can be achieved even in the face of huge challenges and personal self-doubt. I don’t like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water. I like to stand back and, if possible, get a pillar between me and the train. He once said to his Doctor, “I don’t like standing near the edge of a platform when an express train is passing through. ![]() Winston suffered from depression all of his life. On the one hand, when others challenged Churchill, he proved to be the master of the “comeback.” One of his fiercest critics, Lady Astor, once said to him, “if I was your wife, I would poison your coffee!” Churchill retorted “Madam, if I was your husband, I would drink it!” But his wit and humor were only one side of his personality, he also had a dark side. ![]() on vacation, I visited “Chartwell,” the former home of Winston Churchill. His life fascinates me, he lived it to the fullest, and he experienced both its highs and lows, great victories and also great defeats.
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