Are you discouraged, by some events in your life? If you are, you are not alone.
There are many Christians around the world, who have felt discouraged in their life, in one way or another, by what has happened in their life, or by what is happening now. Perhaps you are one of them. You see, we all pass through discouraging and difficult situations in our life, from time to time, not because God wants us to suffer, but because of many factors in this world, and our life. There always are people or circumstances and various things, which can cause our hearts to be sad, and painful. We leave in a world, which is full with people, who do not know God, and do not like to know him, and because of that, all they have, is the sinful nature in their bodies, which is often dictating what they do or say. And we have natural disasters and pandemics, which add to our suffering. Another one, who has come to steal, kill and destroy, is the enemy of our souls, who is having only one purpose, to destroy as many people as he can, so that people can not go to heaven, but join him in hell, because he hates people going to heaven, the place where he was kicked out by God. We wonder sometimes, if God is good, why does he allow so many people to suffer, and Christians to suffer too. But we should not forget, that Jesus gave us a clear promise, in the Gospels, that in this world, we would have trouble. But he did not say just that. He also said that he has overcome the world. And he said, that we should not allow our hearts to be troubled. Why did he say that? Because he has overcome the world, and if he did, so can we, because he lives in us. Jesus did not promise us a problem free life. No. He promised to be with us, in the midst of our problems, and not just be with us, but to help us and comfort us, by either delivering us from our troubles, or by giving us grace, to endure and go through them. If we read 2 Thessalonians 2:17, that God will encourage our hearts, and strengthen us in every good word and deed. But notice that it first says that God will encourage our hearts. How can do and encourage other people, if we are discouraged? Before we do the good work of encouraging somebody, we need to be comforted and encouraged by God ourselves first. Then when we have the encouragement and the comfort from God, we can encourage other people, and they can see it easily, if we are discouraged or encouraged and comforted by God ourselves. They can notice if we are full with comfort and encouragement from heaven, or full with discouragement and sadness. Some more literal translations of the Bible, like the New American Standard and the King James version, use the word 'comfort', instead of 'encourage', for the 2 Thessalonians 2:17. No matter how many discouraging and depressing news you watch on the TV everyday, God has promised to encourage and comfort your heart, so that you can cut like knife through butter, through all those depressing TV news, and though any challenges you face, in your daily life.
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Every single day, we are bombarded from all directions with all sorts of shifting bad news. The world is sinking into depression and despair, and most people out there, do not know what is going on, or what will be going on, in the near future. But we as Christians, are not left unaware, of why things are, as they are in the world, or what will happen, in the future, because our God has said in his Word, what will happen, in the last days! We have read the end of the book, the Bible, and we win! Glory and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for that!
When we read Psalm 116:6-9, we can see someone, who has learned to do the right thing, when they feel down or depressed. The are not continuing to wallow in their depression, but have lifted their eyes up to God, away from all those depressing things, in their lives, and around the world. They have decided to think about the heavenly things, and not about the earthly things, as we are admonished to do, in the Bible. The person in Psalm 116:6-9, pays attention to their soul state, and and when they find that their heart is sinking in despair, they remind themselves, and their soul, to take a rest. But what is important is to realise, that the reason that person in that Psalm 116 is telling his own soul to take a rest, or to relax in other words, is because that person knows their God, and trusts in him, and his Word. In verses 6 and 7, the psalmist says that God has dealt bountifully with him, and that it is God who has taken away his tears. Do you see that? It is not about what is happening around the psalmist and his life, no. It is about the fact, that God has taken his tears away from him. The confidence and the comfort of the psalmist in Psalm 116, comes from his trust in God, and his Word. That psalmist knew very well, that no matter what happens in his life, God is always there to help him, and comfort him, and to keep him from stumbling or hurt in his life, in the future. In the same way, we as Christians, have to trust what Jesus said and promised to us, that if we are burdened, we should come to him, and find rest of our souls. The rest Jesus provides for our souls as his followers, is always there for us, 24/7, but it is up to us to believe that, and to take advantage of that rest, provided from God for us. If we do not take that rest Jesus provides for us with faith, it will not enter our hearts and souls. We have to receive the rest God provides for our souls, with faith, just as we receive everything else from him, by faith, if that is a spiritual blessing or material. That is why Jesus said in the Gospel of John, that we should not let our hearts be troubled. He is putting the emphasis on us, not to let our hearts be troubled. Only then, we can really experience the peace Jesus provides for us, and the rest he gives us. If we fret, and worry, and are full with anxiety, and not trusting in what God says in his Word for us, how can we have and enjoy the rest which Jesus provides? From the very beginning of creating this world, people all over the world, have been facing all sorts of suffering. And people have always questioned and wondered, if there was God in heaven, does he care about the suffering they are in. But also, from the very beginning of the creation of the world, God has not left people to figure out on their own, how to sort out, or get rid, of their suffering, but has been concerned about them, and the pain they have been passing through. For that reason, you can be certain, that God is concerned about your suffering, and the situation you find yourself in! Just look at Psalm 107:41. It says that God raises the up the afflicted. Are you afflicted? Then pay attention, because you are the one of those people, God wants to raise up, above and over your afflicting or difficult situation, because that very verse 41 says, that God raises the righteous people out of their affliction. If you are one of his children, and you believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, then according to God, you are righteous, and he wants to raise you up, from your affliction too! Perhaps you find yourself, in a difficult challenging situation, and you continue in your suffering, day after day, but bear in mind, you can be sure, that is not the will or the desire of God for you! Some Christians tend to think, that God causes suffering in their life, or gives them illness, in order to teach them something. What a crap! What a absurd believe which comes straight from hell itself! God never gives pain or suffering to his dear children, for whom he was ever willing to give his own son Jesus Christ, to suffer on the cross for their sins! No, God will never give you illness in order to teach you whatever! The only desire God has, is to heal you, and to deliver you from suffering! That is it! Just look from the first book of the Bible, to the last, and you will never find one single example which shows, that God gives illness to people, in order to teach them something, or that God wants his children, his beloved followers to suffer! There is only one person in the entire heaven and earth, who wants you to suffer or be sick, and that is the devil himself, because Jesus said that the enemy has come to kill, still and destroy! But Jesus also said, that he has come, to give us life in abundance! How can the one, who came to give us life in abundance, will also be willing that we suffer? Impossible! You can not live a life in abundance, if you are suffering or sick! What kind of abundance we find in sickness but just pain and suffering. No, God who is the source of every blessing, wants you blessed too! From day to day, just switch on the 'false prophet', I mean the TV, and it starts to 'prophecy' lies to you. Not just lies, but terror and all sorts of suffering, everywhere. The suffering everywhere, the one of the signs that it is the end times.
But, we as Christians, are not left alone to wallow, in all the misery, that is going around, no! Although God is allowing suffering to take place in many parts of the world, he is not careless about our own suffering, because of various reasons, but he cares about it, just as he has promised in his Word. Do you find yourself sometimes, in a position of waling and crying, because your situation is too heard to bear? And what does God think or wants to do about that? What do you think, he wants to do about that? Well, just look to Psalm 30:11, and you can see that God turned the suffering of king David, into dancing. That is his will for you too! No doubt! God is not a respecter of anyone! Your are his favourite just like any other Christian there is! If you read about the life of king David, you can see how many times, he was in a serious trouble, and plenty of suffering in his own heart, and yet, the Bible tells us, that he was the man after God's own heart. So, do not ever think, that just because you feel depressed or worried because of the painful situation you find yourself in, that God does not pay enough attention to you, or is ignoring your own suffering! No, he never does that and never will! Just look at how so many times in the Bible, God has promised to help people who are suffering and in pain, and he has promised to deliver them. You can start with Psalm 34, because in that Psalm alone, God has promised that the righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him out of them all! Do you see that? Who is the righteous man? Well, me and you if we are in Christ. Yes, God says in Psalm 34, that you and me can have many troubles, but has promised to deliver us of them all! And that is not just a promise in Psalm 34, but in many other parts of the Word of God! That is what God wants to do, in your own personal situation of pain and suffering! What are the troubles God will deliver you from? Well, any trouble! God does not categorise your or my own troubles, but as much as that is a trouble in my or your life, he wants to remove it! Or look at Psalm 147:3. It says that God heals the brokenhearted, and binds their wounds. What does it mean? It means that he wants to heal you from depression, because what else can a broken heart mean, than a depression or sadness, and he wants to heal that condition of your heart, that is your spirit. So, God is always involved in your suffering, no matter what your needs are, for healing, provision or anything else you need from him, and he wants to help you. Just believe that he does, ask him for help, and thank him that he will do it for you personally, because he cares! Are full with anxiety? Do you worry most of the time? Are you anxious of what will happen in a particular situation in your life? You are not alone, and many people these days are. But, you do not have to be!
This world, and the circumstances in your life, may give you all the reasons to worry, and be anxious. But ask yourself the following question. Does God want to to wallow in worry and anxiety, or to be free from worry and anxiety? Perhaps you say, 'Yes, I want to be free from worry and anxiety, but I can not'. Well, maybe you can not, but there is One, who can set you free. And not only is God able to free you from worry and anxiety, but he has also promised in his Word, that he will do so, not once or twice, but quite a few times. Look at Psalm 121. First of all, it says that your help comes from God. Help for what? Well, any help you need, it is there, available from God for you. But you may wonder, if that help, includes freedom from worry and anxiety. Yes, it does. Why should God help you only in one area of your life, but not help you in another? He does not just help you half a way, only for half of the things in your life. No. Would a earthly father help his children just for some of the things, but not for others. Of course, a good father will want to help his children for everything. How much more does God want to do that for us. In Psalm 121, verse 3, it says that God will not let your foot slip. What does it mean? Well, it means that he cares enough for you, so that you will not fall flat on your face, and hurt your nose in life. The main reason God will not let your foot slip, is so that you will not fall and hurt yourself. That is it. When you spiritually begin to slip and fall in life, he will do exactly that too, he will not let you get hurt, but will comfort you, even if you do. He watches over you says verse 5. Watches over you for what? So that you will be free from harm, as verse 7 says. What harm? Well, any harm. Be it physical or mental. And that includes the harm from anxiety and worry. Yes, it does, because anxiety and worry, hurts you not only mentally, but physically too. God wants to be your shade by day, as verses 5 and 6 say, so that the sun will not hurt you. When you get too 'hot' in your life, from various worries and anxieties, God wants to cool you down mentally, so you will be comforted. God watches over you, verse 7. He watches over you, so you will not be harmed, mentally, or physically. When he watches over you, that includes him caring to set you free from worry and anxiety, because he has promised to keep you from all harm, verse 7. It says all harm, and not only some harm, and that includes keeping you from the harm of worry, and anxiety too. Oh, suffering, there is plenty of it, wherever we turn!
Turn on the TV, and there is plenty of suffering to see, to keep you glued to the TV for 24/7. But can you really be free from suffering? That is the big question. What does God think about your suffering, and what he wants to do about that? There are only three choices God can make about your suffering. One, it is set you free from it. Two, it is to be indifferent about your suffering. And the third choice is not to release you from it but let you continue in it. Which one of the choices you think, God will definitely make about your suffering and your difficult situation? I hope you guessed it already! That he will definitely make the choice to help you and set you free from pain and suffering. If you read the Bible, you can clearly see, that in Old and New Testament, God is concerned about your suffering, and not only that, but really wants to help you, and set you free from it. God will either set you free from suffering, but even if he does not for whatever reason, he will help you to go and pass through it, but definitely, will not leave you helpless! The problems we sometimes face, is that we often seem to trust in people, and what people can do for us, instead of trusting in God, and what he can do for us. For example, if you are ill, and need healing, there is one of the best doctors and specailist you know, who has a very good reputation of helping a lot of people get better and get healed from their sickness and disease. And because of the doctor's expertise and reputation, you rush to make an appointment, and wait to be helped. There is nothing wrong with seeking help from doctors, and they can help you and do help people to be healed and feel better, but the point is, that sometimes, even the best know experts and doctors, can not help at all. And that is what happens, in many people's lives. But with our God, there is no a 'No' answer. Everything is possible with the one who believes. God does not have a limited ability or knowledge, of how to deal with your suffering or disease. With his is always 'Yes' and 'Amen' to all his promises! And many of those promises are about a healing from God, comfort from him, or delivery from suffering. The person who wrote Psalm 108, has surely learned in his life, that the only sure help in the time of suffering, is from God, from heaven, and not from men. If you actually look at Psalm 108:12, the writer is very clear, that help from men is worthless, and is asking God for help in trouble. That is what we should do, always remembering that God can never say to us 'I can not help you', and that he has actually promised and said in his Word 'I will help you', not like many doctors out there, who can come to people and say 'That is all we can do. We are sorry but we can not help you'. That is what a worthless help from men is, sometimes, something which you will never hear from heaven! We should try not to give our hope of release from our suffering, regardless of how hopeless our situation look like, because we believe the God of hope. There is always hope with God, no matter what you are passing trough, because he is always present help in trouble, just as we are promised in Psalm 46:1, and in Psalm 50:15. When it comes to suffering, in the life of the Christian, God is always concerned, and is always ready to be present in trouble, as he has promised in Psalm 46:1.
God always cares about our tears, and he wants to wipe them away, as he has promised in the book of Revelation. God cares for your tears! What are you crying for! If it not of joy, then it surely is because of suffering. There is so much going around in the world now, to make you feel crying for a week, non stop. Is God passive to hurry up to comfort you, and wipe away your tears? The Bible is full with verses about God, wanting to comfort his own children, in the Old Testament and the New. If you look at Psalm 119, verses 50, 52, 92, and 93, you can see how vital is for everyone, who has the Word of God, living of the inside of them, to make sure, that they do not forget, what God has promised. You can parish in anguish, disappointment and fear, if you mainly concentrate and look at the bad things going around you, and in the world. But in Psalm 119:92, 93, you can see that the writer claims victory over suffering, by holding on to his faith in the Word of God. He is making sure he does not forget what God has promised in his Word, and that surely includes promises about comfort from God, in a time of trouble. Trouble on the outside, but comfort on the inside by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit himself, and by the promises of God, kept in your heart. The load of suffering and depressing news in this world, is growing bigger and stronger, from day to day, and unless we pick up the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and think, it, apply it, and meditate on it daily, we too, can easily perish in suffering and despair. The Word of God has the ability to revive the soul, as it is written in it. When we find ourselves in the fire of suffering, more often than not, we naturally think and worry, about the thing which makes us suffering and how to get out of it. But, what God wants us to do, is to spend more time thinking about what he has promised to do, when we are suffering, and think more about that. Just look at verses 50 and 52 of Psalm 119, and see how the person was finding comfort in his own suffering. By remembering the Word of God, and by holding on on the promises of God. If you continue to meditate and hold on, on the promises of circumstances and what you hear and see, they will infiltrate, your mind, your heart, and eventually your life, and they will become your new reality, instead of the truth and the reality of what the Word of God says. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, as the Proverbs say. How often you think, when you get depressed, that you are stuck with it, and can not get rid of it?
I have got good news for you! If you are a child of God, and you have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit in your heart, you can definitely be free from depression! Why do I say that! Because the Word of God says that! And there is nothing better to hear, when you want to be free from depression! You see, the more you watch the News, the more depressed you will feel, because, most of the News out there, are a depression producing news! in most of them there is no good. And vice versa. The more of the Good News you listen to, the Word of God, the better you will feel, and the Word of God has the potential to heal and remove the depression from you, because the Word of God is living and active, as the Bible says. If you look at Psalm 10 verses 14 and 17, you can see that God really cares for the afflicted, and that includes all those who are depressed. In a matter of fact, verse 14 in the NIV translation of the Bible, says that God considers your grief, and takes it in hand. Do you know what that means? That means he cares enough for you, to heal and deliver you from grief and depression! Why should he take it in hand, and consider it, if he did not plan to heal you and deliver you from suffering? God is not only sympathetic with our suffering, but he cares enough to be willing to deliver us from it. In verse 17 of Psalm 10, in the NIV version, it says that God wants to encourage you, and he listens to your cry. What are you crying to God for? Are you depressed? Do not forget what it says in verse 17, that God wants to encourage you! Just go to him, remind God what he has promised in his Word, that he will encourage you and that he listens to your cry for help, and than thank him for the answer, and believe that he has done it! That is all! It is not complicated. If he says that he will, he will and you just accept it with faith and thank him for that! Do you worry about the things going around in the world? Do you worry about things in your own life, perhaps how get rid of a chronic disease, or how to find an employment, or perhaps, about broken relationships with members of your own family?
Why do we worry? Well, worry does on in our own brain, by us calculating and estimating what we can do, in order to make sure, that we will be free from danger, or to make sure, that we will be safe, and without unnecessary suffering in our life. All that sounds good, that we are taking a precaution of how to avoid harmful or dangerous things in our life. But, the problem becomes, when we start thinking too much, and on a regular basis, about the same things again and again, so much so, that those thoughts of worry, occupy our mind most of the time, or at least, very often. The Word of God is full with examples of people being anxious or worried in their life, about various things. Just look at the Psalms, and you can find plenty of anxious and fear loaded people, and how they came to God for help, and for comfort. In Psalm 68:19, the Word of God tells us very clearly, that God bears our burdens daily. That is interesting! God is concerned about my and your problems, anxieties and worries, on a daily basis. Because our daily burdens are just that, our daily fears, anxieties, problems and worries. If not, then what else could our burdens be? But is says very clearly that God bears our burdens or problems, daily, not some times, not once a wee, but every day! Is not that comforting to know, that God cares for what troubles us, and what we worry about? Just as the Bible tells us to cast all our anxieties on him, because he cares for us. Next time you sit down and worry about certain things in your life, I would suggest, that you grab Bible, open in on Psalm 68:19 and remind yourself, of what God thinks and says about the problems you worry about. God wants to take care about your burden and worry everyday. Would you let him have your problem and sort it out, or would you continue to keep the problem to yourself, and carry on worrying about it, instead of dropping it in God's hands, to let him sort it out for you? The choice is yours! What to do, when you are in a great distress?
Read Psalm 77. Verse 2: When our soul is so distressed, that we naturally refuse to be comforted, because we have lost all hope! Verse 4: That is a great distress! So much trouble and distress that you become numb in your emotions, unable to speak! The solution? Start remembering all the blessings help and good things God has given you in your past! Meditate on them! How did God helped you in any distressing situation in the past! Think about that! Verse 6: Remember all those days or nights in the past, when you were feeling so blessed from God, and his presence, that you sang him songs! Verses 7, 8, 9: Ask yourself these questions? Can God stop being merciful and loving you ever? Can he forget you and your distress? Oh, no, his great love and mercy for you make him unable to forget you and your distress! He cares for you! Just hung on him and his promises! Do not give up, because he never gives up on you, because he loves you so much! Verses 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 The solution to your distress and problem, is to start meditating and thinking about all the mighty and powerful miracles and things which God has done many times in the past, either for other people like his own people Israel, or for you personally! When we start thinking about all the blessings, and all the help God has given to us or others in the past, that is when we start hoping and believing that there is no reason for him not to do the same today in our lives! Why should he do it only in the past, but not now! He does not change, his love and mercy for us does not change, so he will do it for us again! There is so much trouble out there in the world today, so that the heart of a Christian or unbeliever, can sink into the darkness of despair. All that Covid 19 stuff, has created even more fearful event in the world, to make your head spin.
As a Christian, do you find yourself sometimes also sinking in despair and anxiety, even just by watching what is going on in the News? Do you sometimes feel fearful and worried, what is going to happen next in all this situation of trouble and bad news in the world? If you do, you are not alone! Even as a Christians, we can fall into depression and negative way of thinking just by watching what is going around us, and in the world. But, as a Christian, you have the great advantage, in comparison of people of this world, without God! What is the advantage? Well, the solid truth and fact, that you have the Spirit of the Almighty God, living on the inside of you, the one who is also called the 'Comforter' in the original Greek language by which the New Testament is written. You see, when we read chapter 14 and verse 1 from the Gospel of John, we can clearly see, that Jesus told his disciples, not to let their hearts be troubled. That is not an option, I believe that is a command! God does not tell us "Well, if you want to feel anxious and troubled, that is fine, but I suggest that you do not let your heart be troubled". No, Jesus did not say that! He just said to them in a very simple plain language "Do not let your heart be troubled"! Do you see that? God is saying "You DO NOT LET your heart be troubled". So we make the choice to let it be or not be troubled. All starts with us, not with God, about the condition of our hearts in the time of trouble. We can let our hearts be troubled by our circumstances, or we can chose not to let our hearts be troubled. It is all down to our choice. The only way we can experience the peace of God which Jesus has left for us, and which passes understanding, is if we first, DO NOT LET our hearts be troubled! The Bible commands us to not be anxious for anything, but in everything to pray to God with thanksgiving in our hearts. I know that is easier said that done in our lives, especially when we are in a difficulty, but that is what God wants from us, to aim to stop letting our heart be troubled, and to let our hurts trust in God, for his help and deliverance in all the adverse and difficult situations in our life. God has already given us all that we need, to not let our hearts be troubled, when there is trouble in our life. He has provided everything we need from him, in order to continue to be with hearts full with his peace from heaven, as Jesus promised us that he has left his peace to be in us. When you read John 16:33, you can see, that there is a promise from Jesus for us, and that is, and the promise is, that in this world we will have trouble. Oh he knows all about this Covid 19 and all other troubles that bother us, and he cares! But in that same verse, he also said, that we should take courage, because he has overcome the world! That is a powerful statement! I believe Jesus is saying to us in John 16:33, "OK, I know you will have trouble in this world, but I have given you solution and help in those troubles, because I have overcome the world". Do you see that? If Jesus has overcome the world, so can we, by him continuing to overcome the troubles we have in this world, just because he lives in us today. He still continues to overcome the world, and its troubles through us, and by living in us, for his glory and our comfort! Jesus was saying to the disciples in John 16:33, that if he could overcome the world, so can we, just because he lives in us, and wants to make us over-comers of the world and its troubles as he is even today. |
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