Showing posts with label Despair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Despair. Show all posts

"All's Well that Ends Well"

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Tuesday, February 05, 2013 3:24 PM

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William Shakespeare wrote a play called “All’s Well that Ends Well.” In other words, if the story ends well then living the story is good too.
After reading the last five chapters of Revelation I couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that everything is going to end well for believers. Those ending chapters not only close out a great prophetic book of the Bible but they are also a divine exclamation point on human history. Yes, for believers it ends very well indeed.
Actually the story of human history has a beautiful beginning as well. Reading the opening chapters of Genesis inspires us to adore a God who intimately constructed the universe. He created a perfect place where the human race would not just survive, but thrive. He places the first couple in an extravagant garden and gives them a great big “YES” – “enjoy it all and honor Me through your enjoyment.” And He only gives them a little “no” – “don’t go there, stay away from that which I know will destroy you.”
It’s neither the beginning nor the ending that causes us trouble, it’s the middle. We quickly discover in Genesis that every thing goes south in paradise for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). No, it didn’t take them long at all. And this is where all of us live – in the middle. We’ve lost our enjoyment of God, we mess up living with others, we’re depressed more than we’re happy, we fight, struggle and just muddle through life hoping to make it to the next fun event. We mark off time hoping retirement will bring us the joy we lost. What a miserable existence.
You see, the problem is that we’ve allowed today’s circumstances to rob us of today’s joy. Bad things dictate our joy when it should be God’s promises found in the Bible that bring us joy. To change the trend we must saturate ourselves with the promises of the gospel we find in God’s Word every day. Yes, every day. The battle for our joy in God is an every day battle, so we must drink deeply of God’s Word every day to refresh our souls.
I’m not worried about the end; remember it ends well for all God’s children. And if it ends well then shouldn’t today be a good day as well? Yes it should. Let’s take our cue from the Psalmist,
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Hope in Despair

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Monday, November 09, 2009 4:48 PM

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David admitted,

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (Psalm 42:5a)

Where does discouragement come from? Why are we in such despair at times? I personally believe there is a process we go through to get us to the point of giving up, and I believe that there is an answer to our discouragement that David gives.

It all starts with a "vision" (call it a "dream" or "idea" or "ideal" or whatever). It can be in one of many different areas of life...relationships, finances, a church, building a house, building a church, building a marriage, building a friendship, building a financial future, building a plan for ministry, etc. We all have these in our lives. We start with an idea of what we want to happen in the future with someone or something.

Soon something goes wrong, not always, but sometimes. The ducks we lined up get knocked down, and what gets really frustrating is when it is out of our control. We've done everything to line up the right people, or programs, or materials, but plans don't pan our the way we envisioned them. This leaves us feeling frustrated, disappointed and discouraged.

Here comes the critical point in our decision making...are we going to quit? Right now we see no way out but to throw in the towel and say, "I'm done!" Or, are we going to move on and see what God wants to teach us and do through us in this situation?

This is the point at which we often feel depressed and can't see a way out of the black hole in which we find ourselves. How many times have we just made it through the day and gone through the motions to collapse at the end of the day thankful at least one more day is gone and we have one less day with which to cope?

We must make a choice: quit or refocus. If we chose to quit then it's over, but if we chose to refocus then it's a new beginning. David also wrote,

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:5b)

If our hope is truly in God, then there is a chance we can make it through times of despair.

Grace & Peace,
Scott
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