Discouragement; disappointment; despair … 3 very real emotions that can cripple a believer. I don’t happen to buy into the whole line of Christian thinking that to experience one of the 3 D’s means you have a lack of faith. Dwight L. Moody, famous American preacher/evangelist, I have read, suffered from great bouts of depression during his short life*. I believe it is safe to say that DL Moody was not lacking faith.
DISCOURAGE (def): to deprive of confidence, hope, or spirit.
DISAPPOINT (def): to fail to satisfy the hope, desire, or expectation of; to frustrate or thwart;
DESPAIR (def): the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well.
Is it any wonder that God encourages us to dive into His word. For it is THERE that the 3 E’s are found: encouragement, edification, endurance. We need not wallow in self-pity any longer. We have all the help we need. It is in God’s word. Why would someone NOT want to be strengthened, built up and brought to a place of great blessing? There is a fairly simple answer to that question. People don’t want to relinquish control of their lives to ANYONE … not even God.
Surrendering your life to an unseen Deity is a preposterous concept to millions of people. “Why I’m not so bad”, they proclaim proudly; however, just because you haven’t committed robbery or murder, haven’t cheated on your wife or been a booze hound doesn’t make you a good person. If all it took to get into heaven was being a good person, who would decide what was good enough and not good enough? You? Me? A government appointed agency? No my friend, I am afraid that the final judge in all this is Almighty God. Either that or we die and rot in the ground and there is nothing more.
It is a matter of belief. Everyone believes in something. Many would rather believe in a benevolent God who allows us to live life as we choose as long as we put a few “coins in the coffers” as the old saying goes, in church on Sunday. People don’t happen to want to be told that they are not quite as good as they seem to think they are. We all need a major renovation. Even those who KNOW Christ, could stand a purging or two … I absolutely could.
When I get “down in the mouth”, I write. What do I write? Things like what I am writing here. It helps remind me of the goodness of God; of His promises to us; of His steadfast faithfulness even when things look pretty bleak. God NEVER fails! He never has and He never will. Now we must kick our faith and trust into overdrive and simply believe. It WILL come to pass. Whatever it is you are seeking WILL come to pass as sure as God is in His heaven.
Do you know the old saying “a watched pot never boils”. I believe we can all figure out what that means. Don’t just sit there waiting for your answer from God. Go about your business. Cling to your faith and trust in God and move on. When you least expect it God will bless you with an answer. He knows. He knows all about it. He knows you are ill; He knows how badly you need a job; finances; a mode of transportation … . He knows all about it. Trust Him. Rely on Him to work things out for you. Then thank Him. Bless His name. Give Him and Him alone all the glory. He is most worthy of our worship, wouldn’t you say?
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
* Moody died at the age of 41; suspected cause of death, congestive heart failure.
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