Under the Juniper Tree: Three Signs of Excessive Stress
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Pastor, I know you are under pressure.
Here in the U.S., for example, a study this year from Lifeway Research shows that about 60% of pastors report they are frequently overwhelmed.
Among other issues, church attendance is down on average about 30%. Of course, that varies from church to church.
I won’t belabor the point. Instead, I’d like to offer a story illustrating skills for coping with the stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and even burnout you may be currently experiencing.
Let’s just start with the basics. Elijah was a great man of God. However, that did not prevent him from experiencing some down days.
During one period of his ministry, he found himself under long-term stress. God had been sending him to King Ahab with messages – very unpopular messages. Elijah went into hiding for his life which had to be stressful.
He’s doing this for three years. Then he experienced an acute stressor (which turned out positive but was nonetheless highly stressful). He defeated Baal’s prophets at Mount Carmel. Afterward, he must have experienced a huge rush of adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormones our bodies create.
Yes, he had supernatural power. But he also has adrenaline and cortisol pumping into his body. It is just a physiological fact that such an experience leads to a crash.
Then we observe three signs of excessive stress in Elijah’s life.
First, things that ordinarily did not get to him, got to him. Jezebel sent him a message that she was going to have his life by the next day. Well, he had been under that threat for the past three years and it never quenched his boldness.
But it did this time.
Under sufficient stress, we may find ourselves being more irritable. We may not be able to be as objective as we usually would be if there’s a conflict. We could be more subject to being in fear, which is what happened with Elijah. Fear gripped his heart at that point and he had a lapse, a minor lapse in his trust in God.
When we’re under that type of stress and we crash, anyone of us could find ourselves under the juniper tree.
He requested for himself that he might die, which is so surprising for this man of God.
However, it’s not a sign of weakness or some sort of spiritual inadequacy. Under long-term chronic stress there can be a day for any of us where one more thing is just too much.
The second thing that happened to Elijah was a physical and emotional depletion. He found himself exhausted.
A pastor recently described a season of burnout in his earlier ministry in which he couldn’t even summons the physical energy and emotional motivation to go to his office and open the mail.
Just utter exhaustion.
The third thing: his thoughts became skewed. He told God that all of the children of Israel had forsaken his covenant and that he, Elijah, was the only faithful follower left.
That’s what happens sometimes when we are in a state of chronic stress or pushing the limits into burnout. We can be more susceptible to anxiety, and depression, and our thoughts can become skewed.
We start taking other people’s comments and words in the wrong way more often. We’re not as objective. We can even get into a pity party mode which Elijah seems to have done.
Pastor, you’ve struggled through the COVID issues for the past 20 months. Not to mention political and social turmoil that has spilled over into the life of many congregations.
Be aware of the three dangerous symptoms above in your own life. In my next article, I will suggest some coping strategies. But we can start with simple awareness.
1 Kings 19:5 finds Elijah exhausted, depressed, and almost suicidal. Then, “he lay down and slept under a juniper tree…”
Maybe you are under the juniper tree yourself at the moment. Know that is no reflection on you; you’ve simply reached a point of complete exhaustion. Elijah bounced back and you will, too.
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