Aware of being in his presence

It is not just the teenagers of today's modern era who have suicidal tendencies.  Even Elijah, the prophet of the Old Testament, too had similar thoughts.

This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.

However the angel comes and offers him food and commands him to eat.  The reading concludes with the statement

He got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Well it might be true that it is the food that sustained him on his journey to the mountain.  But it was something more that actually moved him, besides the food.  It was the assurance that God was with him.  The assurance that he still had something to do and that he was not useless.  It is this awareness of God watching him and the mission that he is to carry out that gets Elijah up and going.  He later encounters God (in the gentle breeze) and that strengthens his resolve to carry on.

Most often, in our low moments when we do not see anything we do or say as worthwhile, God assures us, in His own ways, that we are precious and useful. Mere awareness of being in His presence is a great motivator and energizer.