There is an example of sclerosis found in the record of Elijah in I Kings 19, if you would turn there. Martin went through this in his recent sermon, so we will look at just a couple of things. I Kings 19 opens with Elijah fleeing for his life from Jezebel after his showdown with the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel.
In verse 9, Elijah encounters God at the mountain of Horeb. God asks him what he is doing there - because God had not told him to flee - and Elijah says, I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life (I Kings 19:10). That was a repetition of what he proclaimed on Mount Carmel during his showdown there. Now, it was true that Israel had forsaken the covenant, but Elijah had gotten stuck on the part about being the only godly one left. He believed he was the only one left who could do God's will, and his life was now seriously threatened by Jezebel.
So, after a series of dramatic acts, and then a very subtle act, in verse 13, God again asks Elijah what he is doing there. Elijah responds with the same line. His worldview had hardened. He could not see the circumstance any other way. Just as with Israel, even being in God's presence and witnessing God's works didn't break through. Elijah had a touch of sclerosis.
What is interesting is that God did not perform an angioplasty to clean out what was keeping Elijah from being more useful to God. Instead, God took Elijah's words as Elijah's choice. We have a saying that opportunity knocks, and then it moves on. Well, God is more generous. He knocked twice, but when He got the same response, then He moved on. God told Elijah to go anoint three other men, including one to take his place as prophet (I Kings 19:15-18).
In doing this, God showed that He is never limited. He always has resources for accomplishing His will. But because of his mindset, Elijah lost out on being used by God as he had been. This episode of despondency, of self-focus and self-pity, demonstrated an area of unbelief in the great God. His lack of faith in God's capabilities resulted in his being less useful to God. He didn't fall away, but his sclerosis made him miss out. He left God out of His thinking, and the result was that God left him out of what He did next.
God wasn't limited - Elijah was, and all because he wouldn't get over himself (as we say today). He didn't wholeheartedly seek God's perspective. Instead, he stuck with and acted on his own. It's not that Elijah stopped believing God existed, but that he let his circumstances cloud his view of God. It was a type of unbelief that Hebrews warns against.
The second solution, get a new faithful focus. Elijah believed that he was the only one in Israel who was faithful to the Lord. Continuing in I Kings 19:7, we will read down through verse 10.
So Elijah believed he was the only one still faithful to God, and he had seen both the king's courts and the priesthood become corrupt. And after experiencing a great victory at Mount Carmel, he had to run for his life.
Feeling lonely and discouraged, he forgot that others had remained faithful despite the nation's wickedness. And when you are tempted to think you are the only one remaining faithful to a task, do not stop to feel sorry for yourself. Self-pity undermines the good job you do. Being confident (even if you do not know who they are) others are faithfully obeying God and carrying out their duties.
Loneliness made Elijah feel sorry for himself. He was in touch with his feelings, but he was not in touch with reality. Things were not as bad as he thought, so God reminded Elijah of the truth. And later God told Elijah that 7,000 others were faithful. The fact was that Elijah was not alone.
