But there is another kind of darkness, one which can involve the people of God and sometimes, too often perhaps, even the ministers of God. It is the darkness of discouragement.
Discouragement can be fatal.
Many of God's servants are out of the ministry today because they succumbed to this subtle but devastating power. From the Scriptures we know that on occasion even the greatest servants of God are vulnerable to this temptation. Recall the story of Elijah as told in the nineteenth chapter of 1- Kings. Fear gripped his heart, and his first impulse was to run. It was natural to want to escape from danger, but in this case Elijah fled from the post of duty.