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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You have to have a confidence in God, and believe him, in order to be like king David, who entirely relied on his God, to help him, in his troubles.
When you read the Psalms, you will find in many places, that king David, always went to God for help, in whatever trouble he was facing. He had that trust and confidence in his God, that God will help him and protect him. I mean, think about it. King David was involved in battles, on the battle field, where he could easily be killed. And that was not only once or twice, but many times, while he was a king. And yet, he trusted in God for protection, and God protected him. When you read Psalm 25:15, 16, 17, you can see, that king David, was suffering, and was in anguish, for whatever reason, and very often as you can read in the Psalms, the reason was his enemies. King David, was the man after God's heart, as the Bible says, yet, he was many times in trouble and anguish. You may be thinking, well, how can king David, be a man after God's own heart, and yet, suffer and be in anguish, so many times? Well, yes, he was a man after God's own heart, and God delivered him from all sorts of troubles and suffering, but God did not prevent king David, having troubles. It is obvious that king David had troubles and suffered a lot, as you read through the Psalms, and in the Old Testament. But God delivered him, and helped him, in all those troubles. So we as Christians, have a promise from Jesus too, that we will troubles in this world. That is one of the promises of God for us, and we like it or not. But yet, Jesus also said, that he has overcome the world, and he expects us, to do the same, with his help, and for his glory. Read John 16:33. Going back to king David, in Psalm 25:15, 16, 17, he was asking God, to release him from his anguish and his troubles of his heart. King David, the man after God's own heart, often felt squeezed and pressed, from various directions in his life, which made him feel alone, in anguish, helpless, afflicted and fearful. Do you find yourself in a similar situations sometimes? Do not despair. There is hope for you! Whenever you feel lonely, call on him, who is always with you, and promised to never forsake or leave you! Whenever you are full of fear, call to God to help you and release you from fear, just like king David did, and just as it is written, in Psalm 34. When you are in depression of despair, come to Jesus, who promised to leave his joy in us. Whatever ails you, come to God, because his hand is not too short to deliver, and comfort you in trouble. He has the answer, before you even had the problem. But he is not going to just pour out his answer to you, unless you come to him, and show and prove by your actions, that you are in trouble, even though, he knows it anyway. He just wants you to come to him, and pour out your heart, not because he does not know what is in your heart, because he does, but because he wants to see your willingness to come to him for help, and expressing your trust and believe in him, for delivering you, from your trouble. You may wonder sometimes, if God has forgotten or does care about your suffering and pain. If you have suffered for while, and you have been in pain, either emotionally or physically, and have not seen relief yet, it does not mean that God does not care for you, or that he has forgotten or does not pay attention to your suffering.
How many good fathers are there, who will not care or pay attention to the suffering of their children? Not many! And why is that, that there are some Christians, who tend to think, that when they are suffering or in pain, God has forgotten them, or does not care about their suffering. Let me tell you, that it is a lie straight from hell. The enemy of your soul, will want you to believe, that God does not care for your suffering, and does not pay attention, to your pain. In Psalm 22:24 the NLT New Living Translation, says that God has not ignored the suffering, and has not turned his back to the afflicted person. And that person includes you, if you follow God, believe in him, trust him, and want to obey him. And it is not only in Psalm 22:24, that the Bible shows us that God really cares for us. And he said that we should cast all our anxieties on him, and that includes our suffering and pain. Because, what are some Christians anxious about sometimes? Is it not sometimes about health issues, and sickness? Of course that is. If you suffer in persecution for your faith in God, and you want to be free from persecution, then God can deliver you from persecution for your faith in him, but sometimes, he will not deliver you from being persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ, but will give you enough grace and strength, so that you can endure that persecution, for your faith in him. Read the book of Revelation 2:10. After you read it, you can see very clearly, that Jesus says some who are addressed in Revelation 2:10, will be put in prison for 10 days, because of their faith, so that they could be tested. Now, you can maybe ask yourself, why does not God deliver them from persecution and suffering? Well, we do not know why, but that is what is written in the Bible. God could deliver them if he wanted, but he let them or their faith in Jesus, be tested, by letting them be persecuted for 10 days. But nevertheless, the pain of the child, is also the pain of the father. God just does not look from heaven at your pain and suffering, and wonder if he is going to deliver you or not. His will is always to take care of your suffering, and to wipe every tear away from your face, just as it says that he will, in the Book of Revelation. How could God want to wipe every tear away from your face, and yet, not want to deliver you from pain and suffering? Of course he does, and he will. Just believe that it will happen for you too, personally. Do you find yourself, in the middle of a challenging situation in your life, where you are in pain or type of suffering, but do not know what to do, and do not know how to end it?
Never forget! When Jesus said that he will be with us always, that includes he being with us, in our good times, and our bad times, when we are laughing, or when we are suffering. In a matter of fact, the Word of God says in Psalm 145:14 that God will uphold those who fall down. That is, those who are either depressed, or suffering in any way, or are in pain. Depression, suffering and pain, makes us feel down and in low mood, but God and his Word, do not depend, and are not influenced by our mood. The Word of God, can change any type of mood, if it is connected with faith, in the person with the low mood or depression. In Psalm 73:26, it says that we can suffer either in our body, or in our soul, but it also says, that God is the strength of our heart. What does that mean? Well, it means, that when your heart is depressed because of whatever situation in your life, God will be always there, to provide his strength and comfort for you, to deliver you from your depression and suffering. And, if your body is suffering, because of disease, or other causes, even then, God can give strength in your hear or spirit, in order to help you fight and overcome that pain in your body. The Bible clearly says that laughter is like medicine, and that applies to our bodies as well, because, if your spirit or soul, is strengthened from heaven, from the Spirit of God in you, that can provide you with the strength, to face your suffering and challenge better. Just like Jesus was strengthened from heaven, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and was in a great anguish, just before his crucifixion. In Psalm 73:26, God shows you, and wants you to know, that no matter how many times your heart or soul, may be in anguish or depression, and no matter, how many times your body suffers, because of disease or anything else, God is always there for you, to provide you with strength, so that the pain in your body or soul, can be reduced or completely eliminated by him. Want a proof? Well, look at all the Gospels, and see what a great part of what Jesus was doing, was exactly that! To set prisoners free, and to bring light to those in darkness. Jesus was delivering people from pain, suffering and illness, all the time. He was constantly healing, wherever he went. That shows you and me, that he really cares about our suffering and pain! And not just cares, he wants to remove it too. Jesus is not only sympathetic with our suffering, no, he cares enough in order to reduce or completely eliminate it. 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! Ah, depression! It is prevalent in these days in the life of many people, and even in the life of Christians, the very children of God! But what is the difference?
The difference is, that we as Christians, believe in God, who has promised to comfort us. And the people without God, trust the doctors and other people, to get comfort, when they become depressed or sick. There even can not be any comparison, of us as Christians being comforted by God, and the unbelievers, without God, and without hope in the world, who get comforted just by prescription drugs, people and some alternative remedies! God knew, from very long time ago, that people in the world, Christians or not, will become depressed, just by everything getting worse in the world, year after year, and decade after decade. Therefore, he has made sure to promise us, who believe in him, that he certainly, will comfort us, in all our troubles! In all, not just some! He has promised to comfort us, in all our troubles! Just read 2 Corinthians, 1:3-7, and see what God has promised his children! And that is not the only passage in the Bible, where God promises to comfort us. I believe there is not degree of depression, even the worst type of depression, called 'Clinical Depression', which God can not heal! Why should he heal only mild cases of depression? No, there is not limit with God, and he can, and will heal all types of depression, only if you believe that he will! That is all that is necessary! To believe! In Isaiah chapter 61, and verses from 1 to 3, God says that he will set the prisoners free, and give comfort and joy, to those who have sank into despair. Do you see that? He is talking about comforting all, not some, but all who mourn, and giving the oil of joy, to those in despair. That is what God promises you, if you are a child of God. But you have to believe it. You have to receive that promise, and apply it to your situation and accept it by faith. Than, and only then, it can work, for you, me, or whomever else. God has provided all we need, in order to be comforted. And it is there, promised in his Word, and is like medicine, ready to be applied. Now, in the natural, you can have all the best medicine in the world, just the best and right medicine, able to release you from your misery, sickness, and depression. But, it is only valid, working and effective, if you take it, and apply it! If you doubt that the medicine will work or help you, even if it could be the most effective medicine in the world, it will not help, you until you apply it. It is similar with the promises of God, for the life of the Christian. You can know all those promises of God, for your situation, for your depression, for your healing, but unless you really believe that they will help you and heal you, and apply them in your life and situation, you will remain just as before, sick, and depressed. It is like a man, drowning in the sea, and somebody comes to help them, and gives them the lifebelt to put on their body, and be saved from drowning. Unless that drowning person takes that lifebelt, and applies it to their body, they will perish. It is similar with the promises of God, for your situation, depression or sickness. You can have the 'lifebelt' from heaven with you all the time, but unless you take it and apply it, you will continue in your suffering. Take what is given you from heaven, be healed, restored and saved from depression, and live. Even our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, although it is provided from God for us, it will not work, unless we believe it, accept and apply it, in our life. 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. 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! 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! Some people say that God does not respond to pain, but only to our faith.
I am not sure about that! How can a merciful, loving, gracious and compassionate God, not care or respond when we are suffering? It just does not go like this! God responds to our faith, but also to our suffering! His great love for us makes him to response when we suffer! How many earthly fathers would not respond, if they see their children suffer! The pain of the child, is the pain of the father too! When we read Psalm 34 verses 6, 17, 18, 19, we can see very clearly that God has promised, that if we live in a way, that pleases him, he will deliver us from our suffering and troubles! We need to grasp that truth, because the Word of God is truth, and what God said, will not change. It is interesting to notice, that God does not say that we will not have trouble, but has said just the opposite, that the righteous man may have many troubles. That is what God says, that we may have many troubles, but also promises us, that God will deliver us from all of them, that includes depression, anxiety, illness, lack of money, job or other things we need. When we are depressed, sick or lack money and other things, that is a problem and a trouble for us. Not some troubles, no, he said in his Word, that he will save us from all our troubles. In fact, he says it three times in Psalm 34, that he will deliver us from all troubles! No matter how big or small, because everything is possible, with God, for the one who believes. Our belief in the Word of God will change our suffering and situation, but the Word of God will not change. Psalm 10:14, 17, Psalm 8:9, Psalm 9:18, Psalm 18:5, 6 |
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