When we are depressed, anxious, or even disillusioned with the circumstances we are in and someone comes and encourages us with a few words and tells us we are doing a great job and we must not give up, we walk away feeling better. But as the situation in which we find ourselves continues, we once again become discouraged. But if you receive a Word from the Lord and you know it is from God, then when you are going through difficult times, you can keep going back to that Word you were given and stand on it.
Of course, if your relationship with God is not strong, you may not believe that Word, but if you have a strong relationship, you know that that Word is from God. You stand on it regardless, and that Word will get you through. Jesus knew that the Word He gave to John the Baptist would get him through and that, if he had told John what a great person he was, the warm feeling would have only lasted a little while before he became depressed again.
I want to highlight two points, and the first is that John lived for God. He had baptized Jesus. He had seen the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove. He had heard the voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son.
So John had a very strong relationship with God, yet he became depressed. I was reading an article about Oral Roberts, who was being interviewed on television after his wife had gone to be with the Lord.
At the end, the person interviewing him turned to Oral Roberts and said that he would be glad to have him on the show in a years time. Oral answered and said he would not be available, and the interviewee presumed that Oral Roberts had a prior engagement.
But a dear old friend of Orals happened to be watching the program, and she knew what he meant. He was saying that he wanted to go home to the Lord. She called him and told him that God was not finished with him and that he still had work to do, and he admitted that he wanted to give up, as he was depressed and missed his wife.
If a man like John the Baptist or Oral Roberts can become so depressed that they want to give up, then how easy would slipping into depression be for us? So sometimes in your life, you will be depressed; sometimes you will question God. But the only way to get through those feelings is to find out what the Word says and stand on the Word, regardless of your circumstances.
Post published in: Opinions