God is preparing the best path for you

At a church service, a minister offered an invitation for people to come forth to the altar for prayer. Then the minister encouraged, “At the altar, we have some of the church leaders who are available to offer...

At a church service, a minister offered an invitation for people to come forth to the altar for prayer. Then the minister encouraged, “At the altar, we have some of the church leaders who are available to offer you prayers of healing.” And with that, he gestured with a sweeping motion indicating the way for the people to walk down to the large, circular altar.

Comforting piano music filled the room while a few in the congregation began making their way down the aisle. A line was forming. And before long, edging closer and closer, most of the congregation was situated around the altar. The minister and the church leaders were taken by surprise by the response and the magnitude to the invitation for prayer.

Later that afternoon, the minister asked his church leaders, “What type of prayer was most needed?” The leaders revealed, “Two out of three people who came to the altar asked for prayers for their discouragement and depression.”

Next, they continued, “Many people said, ‘I feel unworthy. I’m depressed. And I don’t have much of a future anymore.’ For many carry the scars of childhood or pains of the past all through their lives.”

Through the years, disappointments, mistakes or unjust circumstances, possibly, have taken their toll. Plans may not go as expected. We could fall on hard times. And mounting problems can seem to overtake us, until we’re pushed down to the point that we just give up.

Recently, I read in the Scriptures how even Elijah yielded to discouragement and became depressed as well. Elijah was one of God’s greatest prophets. He was not only the worker of miracles, but he also experienced one miracle after another.

Elijah, a widow, and the widow’s son were provided for during the famine. Miraculously, Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead, and the child was restored to life. God had sent ravens to feed Elijah. And Elijah prayed for a rainstorm that ended the drought.

So why would a man who had experienced some of the most powerful displays of God’s power be crippled by fear and hopelessness?

Unable to regain control of his emotions and in the depths of despair, Elijah was physically and emotionally broken down and fragile. He wasn’t eating. And with a self-focused perspective, he was drowning in self-pity. Depressed about himself and his work, Elijah isolated himself from other people. He had no strength. He was battling to maintain his faith. Feeling a deep sense of failure, Elijah thought that his best days were over. Seeing no