Podcast Summary: "I Hate It Up Here" | Robert Madu | Social Dallas Podcast

Date: August 17, 2025
Host: Social Dallas Church (Lead Pastor: Robert Madu, Assistant: Taylor Madu)
Episode Theme: Honest Conversations on Mountaintops, Success, Vulnerability, and the Nearness of God

Episode Overview

In this powerfully honest sermon episode, Pastor Robert Madu explores the contrasting realities of spiritual "mountaintop" moments, diving deep into Scripture and human experience to reveal how achieving "the top" can leave us isolated, tired, and unfulfilled. Drawing from 1 Kings 19 and the story of Elijah, Pastor Madu ties biblical insights to modern struggles with success, disappointment, and spiritual exhaustion. Throughout, the tone is raw, humorous, and compassionate, inviting listeners and the church body to embrace vulnerability, wait for God’s “whisper,” and make authentic choices in their walk with Christ.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Central Theme: Mountaintops Are Not What We Imagine

• Scripture Foundation: Psalm 92:13-15 (“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish…”).
• Series Context: Second week of the "Mountains" series, examining biblical mountain experiences as both triumphs and struggles.
• Core Message: Many strive for mountaintop moments, only to find that “the air is thinner up here”—success can be lonely, stressful, and unfulfilling.

2. Modern Parallels: "I Hate It Up Here" Moments

Pastor Robert draws real-life analogies to illustrate how dreams and goals fulfilled can still lead to emptiness or suffering:

• Olympic athletes’ hidden struggles (e.g., Michael Phelps’ depression after winning gold) [07:09]

  “At a mountaintop moment, he said...‘I was at the top, but I did not know who I was when I wasn’t in the water. Translation: I made it, but I hate it up here.’”

• Career, marriage, parenthood, and ministry: Each success has potential shadows—loneliness, jealousy, a sense of isolation, or disappointment [10:09–12:36].

  “What do you do when the weight of success feels worse than the weight of failure?” [09:09]

3. Biblical Example: Elijah’s Despair on the Mountaintop

• Reading: 1 Kings 19:1–13 [05:25–05:45; 13:42–15:20]
• Context: After Elijah’s triumph on Mount Carmel, calling down fire and turning Israel’s hearts back to God, he flees, broken and exhausted, after Jezebel threatens his life.
• Key moment: Elijah prays for death under a broom tree, displaying utter vulnerability.

  “This brother is suicidal, and the Bible did not edit that out.” [02:57]

4. The God of Fire is Also The God of The Whisper

• Contrast between two mountains:
  • Mount Carmel: God appears in fire—dramatic, undeniable victory.
  • Mount Horeb: God is not in the fire, wind, or earthquake, but a gentle whisper [43:13–46:30].
• Key Insight: God doesn’t just work through the spectacular; he is closest in the quiet, the whisper—especially when we are broken, hungry, exhausted, and empty.

  “If God is whispering, it’s because he’s close. The challenge is, many of us won’t wait for the whisper.” [47:49]

5. Exposing Half-hearted Devotion & The Need to Choose

• Elijah’s challenge: Stop straddling the fence between God and idols (specifically Baal).

  “‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’… Half-hearted devotion is worse than open idolatry.” [27:41–29:44, 30:40]

• Application: True devotion means making an honest, all-in choice—not living with split loyalties or fake commitments.

6. Honesty, Practicality, and Community in Spiritual Battles

• Physical Needs Matter:
  • God meets Elijah’s depression with practical care first: food and rest before spiritual instruction.

    “Sometimes we’re too heavy on the spiritual that we negate the practical… Elijah, you are hungry.” [42:30–43:34]

• The Danger of Isolation:
  • Elijah pushes others away in his depression.
  • “That’s the trick of the enemy: to get you in isolation before he takes you out.” [43:34]
• It’s Okay to Be Honest:
  • Many biblical heroes (Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, Paul, even Jesus) had “I hate it up here” moments.
  • Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s part of the faith journey.

7. Waiting For The Whisper — An Invitation for Renewal

• The enemy shouts, but God whispers.

  “The enemy loves to shout at you… but Our Father always comes in the whisper… Wait for the whisper.” [47:49]

• Empty doesn’t mean ‘the end’; it means it’s time to be filled by God again.

  “Empty is not a sign to quit. Empty is a sign to come to the One who can fill you.” [47:58–ending]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On unattainable satisfaction:

  “You could go down any industry… got to the pinnacle of their career… only to get there and find out the air is thinner when you get up here, only to get to the top and find out it’s lonelier up here than it looked when I was down at the bottom…” [08:39]

• On life’s unmet expectations:

  “What do you do when you deal with the trauma of success and you made it to the top but winning doesn’t feel like winning?” [09:19]

• On spiritual exhaustion:

  “Sometimes we’re too heavy on the spiritual that we negate the practical.” [43:10]

• On idolatry and decision:

  “Half-hearted devotion is worse than open idolatry… I’d rather you be honest in your rejection of God than fake in your devotion to him.” [29:44]

• On the function of emptiness:

  “Empty is not a sign to quit. Empty is a sign to come to the One who can fill you.” [47:58]

• On God’s nearness:

  “If God is whispering, it’s because he’s close.” [47:49]

• On honesty in faith:

  “Elijah, the one who called fire down from heaven, says, ‘I don’t have anything else to give. God, I hate it up here, because you didn’t show up the way I thought.’” [41:34]

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–02:48: Introduction; Word for the year “Planted”; setup for mountain metaphors
• 05:25–05:45: Announcement of message title: “I Hate It Up Here”
• 07:09–10:26: Michael Phelps analogy and the crisis of the mountaintop
• 13:42–15:20: Unpacking Elijah’s "I hate it up here" moment and biblical examples of despair
• 17:26–20:06: Elijah’s credentials and the significance of his legacy
• 22:16–26:19: Context for Elijah’s ministry and the problem of idolatry (Jezebel & Ahab)
• 27:32–29:44: Elijah’s call to make a decision on Mount Carmel; the exposure of duplicity
• 33:18–35:03: The showdown on Mount Carmel: “cut the bull” and the fire from God
• 37:49–39:13: The people’s repentance, the return of rain, and the connection between surrender and God’s blessing
• 43:10–45:10: God addresses Elijah’s physical and emotional needs first
• 46:12–47:49: God reveals Himself in the whisper; the importance of closeness, not just big moments
• 47:49–end: Call to respond, prayer for those struggling, and invitation to surrender to Jesus

Conclusion: Invitation to Respond

Pastor Robert closes with a raw and hopeful invitation: It’s okay to admit, “I hate it up here,” when life at the top isn’t what you expected. God does not shame our exhaustion or emptiness. Instead, He invites us to draw close—to wait for His gentle, restoring whisper. The episode ends with prayer for those dealing with spiritual suffocation, depression, and an altar call to surrender to Christ, reminding listeners and the church:

“Yes, He’s the God of Mount Carmel, but He’s also the God of Mount Horeb, who whispers… Are you close enough for the whisper?”

For listeners who haven’t heard the episode:
This message offers deep honesty, scriptural wisdom, humor, and hope for anyone who has found disappointment or isolation at the heights of achievement. It’s an invitation to drop the mask, deal with both the practical and spiritual, and let God fill us again—this time, close enough to hear His gentle whisper.