Some nights ago while
I was celebrating the Mercy of God for mankind in prayer, I saw a short picture
of a well-dressed young man sitting in a slightly lit room with a beer bottle
in his right hand. He was crying and carelessly ruffling his hair. I discerned
right away that he was depressed and discouraged. It’s a condition I’ve been in
and I am thankful for the power of God that set me free. Quite a lot of things
about life can put a person in a state of depression, discouragement, trauma,
hopelessness, frustration, fear etc and I
realized that when in such a condition there are 5 principal things that the
souls is longing for at that moment; peace, love, security, hope and joy. You want
to know you’ll be alright despite what has happened and you long for peace. I will
share a little on these five longings of our souls when we’re depressed and I pray
by the Spirit of God this will minister to your need.
Peace: This is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, we can not
generate it by ourselves, it flows from God’s nature (Gal5:22-23). Jesus said
in John 14:27 that ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as
the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid’. Jesus has given us His peace, we have received His very nature
of peace in us which is not dependent on circumstances and situations but rests
in the One in whom we have received life (Ephesians 2:14) Our Eternal Father is
a God of peace, He sanctifies and keeps us whole; spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians
5:23, 2 Thessalonians 3:16). Through our union with the Prince of peace, we
have peace always irrespective of our situations in life. When we’re
overwhelmed by circumstances in life, we should be conscious that we are in
Christ who makes intercession for us at the Right hand of the father.
Love: Love is another longing of the soul in times of
depression and discouragement. We long for someone to reach out to us and tell
us they love us; that despite our frailties, weaknesses and failures, their
opinion of us hasn’t changed a wink. Someone can say that to you but you’ll
still feel empty within. This is because it’s a void only God can fill with his
perfection (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4) What God is persuaded of us has nothing
to do with our works towards Him but His love towards us. He placed us in His
Son Jesus Christ and calls us His own (1 John 3:1) and so nothing can ever
separate us from His love which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 3:18-19). God’s
unconditional acceptance of us is not on the basis of our love for Him but His
love for us; we cannot earn it by our works.
Security: When you’re down, you desire to know that you’ll be
fine; your heart longs for assurance of safety from whatever is hunting you in
your mind. The safest place to be is In Christ. In Him we’re assured of His
protection, preservation and He alone makes us dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).
There is no condemnation to us and Jesus being our faith High Priest is touched
with the feeling of our infirmity and is ever ready to succor us to the
uttermost ( Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:14-16, 7:25). You are not alone and you’re not
forsaken, God is not passive to your plight, he feels what you’re feeling and
fills you with what is lacking. Whatever pains you pains God because you are
one with Him. We have this assurance that in the riches of his goodness, he
will never let harm come to us and Christ in keeping us keeps Himself and
remember he lives forever ( 1 John 5:18-20).
Hope: Because we are in Christ, we know that He will never
leave us. If God did not spared His only begotten Son Jesus Christ but
delivered Him up to be our substitute what can he possibly hold back from us?
(Romans 8:32, 37, 1 John 5:4-5). We are overcomers, more than conquerors in
Christ. His victory from the cross to the Grave and to the Right Hand of the
father where He is presently seated is our victory over depression,
discouragement, frustration, trauma, fear etc. We are in Him who is above all
and in all and He is Jesus Christ. All our sins are forgiven and we are new creation
in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Joy: We badly want
our lives to go back to normal; we want to be happy again. Of course, we can be
happy once again because the joy of the Lord is our strength to boldly move
forward in victory. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit with very tangible effects. As
you let the Holy Spirit celebrate the love of God through you, you’ll rejoice. Paul
and Silas were beaten and locked up in jail and they worshipped God even in
their condition and there was an earthquake and being men of integrity they
stayed and rather ministered the Gospel to the jailer (Acts 16:25, Romans 8:31,
Romans 14:17). If God be for you, who can be against you? God has made provision
for all we have need of and the kingdom of God is not meat and drink
but righteousness, peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.
Brethren in
Christ, we face diverse circumstances and situations on a daily basis and no
matter how tough it gets, we need to be conscious that we have a faithful High Priest Jesus Christ who presents us in Himself blameless and irreproachable.
God has completely dealt with the issue of sin in the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ and we are not under condemnation (Romans 8:1). God is a
good father, He will never let us be disappointed or forsaken because we have
trusted in Him and He has committed himself to keep us safe always. How He
longs for us to know His generosity towards us, how He longs to reveal Himself
to us; we are His offspring, begotten of Him. In Him we live and move and have
our being. He chose us from the foundation of the world to belong to him in
Christ. We are partakers of his Divine nature and are co-heirs with Christ. We
are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; we are sanctified, redeemed, and
justified by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not strangers but bonafide
sons of God and he loves us.
You're Blessed!
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