Once you give in to ‘stinking thinking’, your mood dips, you lose energy, God seems distant, prayer seems pointless, sin looks tempting, and your outlook in life becomes bleak. When that happens you become so focused on how you feel, you don’t realise it’s your thinking that’s causing you to feel that way. It happens to the best of us. Look at Elijah the prophet. The high point in his career was when he called down fire from heaven and defeated the prophets of Baal. It was a World Cup-sized victory! Then word came from Queen Jezebel: ‘You killed my prophets. Well, guess what? Now I’m going to kill you’ (see 1 Kings 19). As a result Elijah plunged headlong into fear. He felt worthless: ‘I am no better than my ancestors’ (v. 4 NIV 2011 Edition). Hopeless: ‘[He] ran for his life’ (v. 3 NIV 2011 Edition). Isolated: ‘I am the only one left’ (v. 10 NIV 2011 Edition). Unable to cope: ‘I have had enough’ (v. 4 NIV 2011 Edition). He wanted to die: ‘Take my life’ (v. 4 NIV 2011 Edition). So how did God respond to Elijah? In four simple ways: 1) He helped him to start eating right and get proper rest. 2) He spoke to him in ‘a still small voice’ (v. 12 NKJV), reassuring him and giving him courage. 3) He assured Elijah that he was not alone: ‘I have…seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal’ (v. 18 NKJV). 4) He gave him another mission to fulfil. There will always be a ‘Jezebel’ threatening to undo your best efforts and bring you down. The key is learning to control your thinking!