After Elijah fled to the desert and hid in a cave, God asked him, 'What are you doing here?' (v. 9). Whereupon Elijah replied, ". . because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." He is saying that he has been working hard because the people of Israel have abandoned God's covenant, destroyed God's places of worship, and murdered God's prophets. He says that he is the only one left, and now they're trying to kill him (see v. 14). Another thing that causes depression is assuming false blame. When we take on a responsibility God never gave us, it's too heavy a burden to bear. If you're in the habit of helping people, you soon realize they don't always respond in the way you'd like. And that's the case whether it's your children, your friends, your spouse, or the people you work with. People react in many different ways, and you can't assume personal responsibility for their responses. God has given each of us a free will, and when you accept responsibility for other people's decisions you take on a burden that will only depress you. At best, you can influence people but you can't control them. The final decision is theirs, so don't let yourself get down over something that you can't control. When you know you've done what God told you to do, trust Him to do what you can't do. Any time you try to convict, convince, convert, control, or change another person, you're setting yourself up for misery. The Bible says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."(Philippians 2:13). So when you've done your part, back off and let God do His part.
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