Discouragement can find subtle ways to enter a leader’s life. A beloved, valued teammate gets restless and moves away; you need to work extra hours on a short term project and become physically exhausted; you neglect your daily prayer and devotion time; something goes wrong at home and it seems that for months nothing has worked according to plan. You begin to evade a few responsibilities; you begin to blame others; and you blur the facts to meet your own emotional needs. Before you know it, discouragement has landmines buried in your path and all around you. Discouragement doesn’t always have to be a process and take place over time. Sometimes discouragement hits a leader after a great loss or a great victory. Read 1 Kings 19:1-15.

Elijah became a discouraged leader following a great victory over the false prophets of the land. Emotionally drained, physically spent, full of self-pity, Elijah broke. He became discouraged after a threat from royalty and ran for his life. If you have been around leadership long you know the feeling Elijah had in his stomach and the paralysis he experienced being totally unable to fix the situation.