Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man becomes despondent in various ways by the things he confronts. This despondency affects his life and activities. He fails to achieve excellence or success in his job and in what he does. This multiplies his woes. It also brings about failures and defeats and promotes bitterness. In this state, some submit themselves to certain evil habits which enslave them. They lose their peace of mind and joy. They begin to question the life they lead and harmful thoughts arise. Despondency cripples a man in his body, soul and spirit.
1. Weakness in the Body
“He gives power to the weak ...” (Isaiah 40:29)
The body of a person gets affected in the form of exhaustion when it is put to hard use. There is depletion of energy or strength in the body. Some get exhausted due to hard labour. Some are affected by extreme changes in climatic conditions. In the Bible, we read how Jonah put up a tent to rest outside the city Nineveh to see what happened to it. The Lord ordered a plant to sprout and grow so fast as to give him shade over his head. This was for Jonah to enjoy its shade. He was happy about it. But the very next day, early in the morning the Lord commanded a worm to come upon the plant and eat it. The tree withered and got dried up. As the Sun rose, the Lord ordered a hot eastern wind to blow. Now there was the Sunlight scathingly attacking him. As a result, Jonah was annoyed and yearned for death in exhaustion. Thus, natural changes cause despondency.
Bodily exhaustion makes a person impotent to do his daily routine. He is not able to carryout his daily obligations. It transforms them to be lazy-boned. At the time of eating, they think of something seriously and begin to eat the breakfast very slowly. In the lives of some persons, they are not able to eat even that which they like. They throw it away. This drain in the body affects all that they do; they cannot complete anything they intended. They err knowing what they do. This is a pitiable state.
2. Spiritual Doldrum
“For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me,and the souls which I have made.” (Isaiah 57:16).
When it affects the spirit of a man, his mental state is affected. When one is not healthy in the spirit, he is mentally disturbed. They are frustrated, and there is no calmness at heart. They fret, foam and fumble. They hurt others, speaking ill of them. They themselves imagine things and take them to be true and act on it. They have stable spirit and do things without any regard to time or place.
I know a family of three young girls. They were educated. Because of bitterness in several aspects of the family, they were in doldrum and wasted time without doing anything during the day. But at night they would take bath and dress themselves so well as if they were going to their workplace or going out. Spiritual instability affects the heart, makes the sorrows abound, and multiplies problems. As mentally disturbed persons, they would not be able to sleep and are distressed.
3. Soul Faints
“So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:28).
In certain persons, their soul is stirred and agitated. There is fear that affects the soul. Sin and its consequence work upon them causing fear and trepidation. They realize their misdeeds of the past and are sore oppressed. Their life is full of tears and hopelessness. They grudge against the Lord God and indulge in blasphemy.
The oppression in the spirit, soul and body makes the life bitter, terrible, sorrowful and full of tears.
1. The Devil’s Convulsions
“And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid...” (Mark 9:18)
Sometimes it is the crafty work of the devil who spoils the life of a man created by God. He blinds the minds of persons, not allowing them to live in intimacy with the Lord spiritually. They cannot grow spiritually. They slip back and read the Bible mechanically and waste all their time reading, viewing and knowing unwanted worldly things. They are entrapped and enslaved in spending time in YouTube eagerly on hideous websites. They do not want to study or do anything worthwhile. They have no time for reading the Bible. They view repulsive sight fervently. Their thoughts roam around it. In the end, they are dissipated, and drifted away from the Lord God.
Thus, in this state of struggles, loss and hardship, one cannot delight in the Word of the Lord and cannot meditate on it. In the life of Job, the devil thought that he would curse God in the midst of his loss of children and wealth. But Job did not sin with his lips, but attributed everything to the Lord’s glory saying, “. . . The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Thus, he overcame the devil. Then Satan touched the body of Job and struck it with boils from head to foot. He was terribly assaulted in the body. Satan put him into sore trouble. The Bible encourages us: “. . . Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). He was also thus oppressed with bodily suffering. But he came out triumphant.
Thus, in our lives too, the devil works against us and brings about spiritual breakdown. When one is oppressed and affected mentally, he spends all he has in medicines for life. Some are affected in their souls and submit themselves to the devil which inflicts several harms on them. When such a thing happens, it takes time for the situation to change. When the evil spirit leaves a person after convulsing, he suffers pain in the body and sleeps for a long time.
2. Evils Surrounding
“For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.” (Psalm 40:12)
Today we are surrounded by evils. The wickedness of man keeps increasing day by day. The society is filled with untold sufferings to a large extent. One family went to Chennai to purchase a plot. They showed one place. They went to the Registration office and registered it. The seller was known to them. Then they went to see the plot. There was no such plot there. They lost several lakh rupees. They were cheated. We are thus put to severe troubles by the evil works of people around us and by our own sins. We get agitated. Thus, evil engulfs us and causes serious repercussions in us and in the family. Despondency overwhelms our boundary.
Once one such family came to us for prayer. She said that she had three children but her husband set her aside and chose to live with another lady. She had to leave the house along with her children. After his death, that lady with whom he lived and her children took over the property and all the money in his name. Though they filed a case, the litigation was unending. They were put to a lot of troubles. Thus, there are people overwhelmed with problems causing soreness in them.
3. Thirst
“In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst.” (Amos 8:13)
As one is not satisfied in the thirst he has, he is sorely oppressed and depressed. Thirst is of different types. Abraham sent Hagar and her son Ishmael early in the morning with water in a leather container. She went through the desert of Beersheba and when all the water was consumed, she went searching for water. The boy began to cry for want of water. She laid him on the ground and went a little distance saying that she could not see her son dying. The Lord heard the cry of the child and opened the eye of Hagar to see a fountain there. She went there and had her thirst quenched by the new grace of the Lord.
Thus, there would arise a time when the Word of the Lord would become scarce and people will search in thirst for the Word. They will roam around for the Word. Lack of it would create in them lack of peace and health. In these days, people are tossed about not knowing the truth in the midst of varied weird teachings. They do not know what to do and what not to do.
Once we were ministering in a region. The man who had arranged and organised the meetings invited us to his house for prayer. When we went to his house after a meeting at night, we found a child, nearly 15 years old, wrapped in a blanket. All over the body there were abscesses. They had taken several treatments with no effect. She could not wear any dress. When I prayed for her, an evil spirit from her claimed that it had a relationship with that house as flowers from that house went for worship of that spirit. Ending the prayer, I enquired the sister about flower plants in their house. She enthusiastically answered that she had great love for flowering plants and that for fence she had flowering plants. When I asked them what she did with those flowers, she answered that some people pluck them before they could worship in a nearby temple. I told them that they should have nothing to do with the temple. I asked them either to sell those flowers or to see that no one else plucks them. If that was not possible, I told them to cut off the plant. They immediately cut off the plant. On the third day, she became all right and was completely healed. Many enquired them about the healing of the child. Some even wrote about the healing in certain magazines. As they lacked such counselling, they had to waste several lakh rupees. They were till then thirsty to be healed. Similarly, there are several people who remain unquenched in their thirst for solutions to their problems, not knowing the truth.
4. The Lord’s Hand on the Enemies
“So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.” (Joshua 5:1)
The Lord God revealed His power by the mighty act of Joshua dividing the flowing Jordan river enabling the Israelites to walk on dry land. This occurrence was heard by the kings of Amorites and Canaanites and they were utterly shattered and disturbed by it. When people who oppose the Lord hear and see the mighty acts of the Lord, they will be shaken and lose their strength. Those Jews who saw Jesus Christ rising Lazarus from death believed on Him and followed Him. Those who opposed Him hearing His mighty deeds wanted to do away with Him.
Dearly beloved in Christ, when the Lord works wonders through you, it is likely that others, ministers as well as unbelievers, will be upset. Today let us be blessed like Joshua with the gifts of the Lord.
1. Wait for the Lord
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
In the days of danger when we get discouraged, we lose our strength. But when we wait at the feet of the Lord, our strength is renewed. Dearly beloved in Christ, waiting in the presence of the Lord helps us to grow in spiritual life and all the weaknesses to disappear. Psalm 27:14 tells us, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” In this world there is a tendency to obtain everything in an instant. We see the fast-food agencies thriving everywhere because we have no patience to wait for anything. You find that people are not ready to wait for the green signal at junctions. We are not ready to wait for coconut trees that yield only after 7 years; we go in for 3-year breeds. In this way we are after a fast-moving life. Even our prayers have become short and sweet. But waiting before the presence of the Lord with patience in prayer is rightly rewarded by our Lord who hears prayers. We will be blessed.
2. Look unto Jesus Christ
“...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
These days our hearts are after vain things in which the Lord is not pleased. Satan is given way to work in our lives and thwart our plans. He diverts us into wrong paths. We do what we should not do. Our hearts are after devious and wicked things. As a result, we are put to various troubles, tribulations and losses. Look unto Jesus Christ! Consider His ways! He has done everything for us on the cross. Let us turn to Him and consider why He, though Almighty and authoritative, should submit Himself to suffer on the cursed cross. He was put to shame and made fun of. On his head was placed a thorny crown piercing Him. You will realize that it is the love He had for us all that made Him bear everything with patience. Can you understand it? He was in His youth. Why should He shed His blood? He shed it for me and you. Think of Christ’s love for sinners. You will be cleansed by Him and you would have a good life in Him. Think of Him. He will make your path righteous. Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” The reason for defeats and struggles in life is that we look at others and their ways and do not concentrate on Jesus Christ. The man who thinks of Jesus Christ and His suffering on the cross is saved.
3. Be Filled with the Spirit of Faith
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
Paul here states his conviction and triumph in life in spite of the afflictions. This is the life in Christ. All the old things are gone; we are renewed in Christ with strength and commitment. We put on the new attire of Christ in all aspects of our lives. Christ is reflected in all our behaviour and deeds. The life of a Christian begins with baptism. Baptism is “not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God”, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). It is “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:21-24). Paul says in Galatians 3:26-27, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
This transformation in a person and infilling of the Spirit renews the inner man day by day. The filling of the Spirit makes our life blossom into one of good strength and healthy life with no strains.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.
