Secret Sorrows
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Psalm 34:18 NLT
Some of the Lord’s most faithful have struggled with their belief.
Men such as Elijah, “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” (1 Kings 19 NLT)
Or the Psalmist Asaph, “Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.“ (Psalm 73:1-2 NLT)
Or King David, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.“ (Psalm 42:5 NIV)
Or the Apostle Paul, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?“ (Romans 7:24 NLT)
Even the most mature believers, who’ve walked with the Good Shepherd for many years, can find times when their souls are in despair and their minds in turmoil.
“You may be surrounded with all the comforts of life and yet be in wretchedness more gloomy than death, if the spirits are depressed. You may have no outward cause whatever for sorrow, and yet if the mind is dejected, the brightest sunshine will not relieve your gloom.” Charles Spurgeon
When we find ourselves caught in the trap of doubt or despair, above anything else, we should be sure that we’re regularly praying and reading our Bible. Passages like Hebrews 12:3 can help us get a clearer perspective, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (NIV)
“…if only we would meet every call, difficulty, and trial, not saying, as we so often do, “I shall never be able to go through it,“ but saying, “I cannot; but Christ is in me, and He can,“ we should find that all trials were intended to reveal and unfold the wealth hidden within us, until Christ was literally formed within us, and His life manifested in our mortal body.“ F.B. Meyer
“Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.“ (2 Corinthians 4:10 NLT)
“A good many Christian people make this mistake: they think the battle is already fought and won. They have an idea that all they have to do is to put the oars down in the bottom of the boat, and the current will drift them into the ocean of God’s eternal love. But we have to cross the current. We have to learn how to watch and fight, and how to overcome. The battle is only just commenced. The Christian life is a conflict and a warfare, and the quicker we find it out the better.” D.L. Moody