Temptation to Despair

 

    We all have good days and bad days.  It is when the bad days linger and you stop remembering the good days that despair can set in.  It becomes difficult to believe that it will not always be like this.  It is hard to hold onto hope when you think that the next turn only will bring more pain or discouragement.  

    Add in Satan whispering in your ear that things will never be better.  Or that you don't deserve better to tempt you into despair.  Despair is hard to remove once it settles in.  It turns into chronic or clinical depression.

    Before you enter into despair turn to prayer.  Look around you and search for small things that God is giving you to give you hope and endurance.  He will place special people into your life at key moments.  If you are not looking, then you may miss the opportunity of refreshment in your heart and soul.  These people are a gift to help you endure the hard times.

    Despair is a dark and dismal place mentally and emotionally.  You feel like there is no hope.  It causes worry and sadness.  It is a prime example that if we allow our feelings to control, then our lives spin out of control.

    God may be allowing you to go through this time to learn valuable insight, not to loose yourself.  You have a choice to listen to Satan's lies which are probably more constant in your head than God's gentle truth: you are loved and valuable.      

    God gives us all times in our life where we wonder so that we can work out our salvation.  It is one thing to declare that you have faith and another to live it.  We sometimes have to go through periods of darkness to really see who our adversary is.  Periods of adversity will build character or reveal the truth about your Christianity.

    One way to overcome despair is to remember who is fighting against you.  It is not God.  He is there with you to give you support.  Your enemy of all things good in your life is Satan.  He is actively fighting against you if you are trying to follow God's will.

    Satan is the ruler of lies.  He is the one that introduced them into the world.  He will use them to deplete your personal resources.  However, if you are leaning into God, then He can't take your spiritual resources.  Instead of giving into despair, try realizing how much you need God.  It is not a bad thing.  It is a gift.  Stop fighting the spiritual world on your own.  You are not equipped for it.  You need spiritual help.

    It is when your personal resources are depleted that Satan really comes at you.  He knows you are tired, weary, and vulnerable.  There is a reason why the only time he came to Jesus when Jesus was on earth was when he was finishing his 40 day fast.  It was when Jesus was at his most vulnerable and he was isolated.  Isolation can be dangerous for a Christian.

    Your circumstances in life are real.  The truth should not be down played or ignored.  You have the right to feel however you feel in those circumstances.  Just don't let your feelings (or the feelings of other people who believe that they have a right to have input in your life) to control your mind or spirit.  

    It is your interpretation of the circumstances that can be deceived.  You need to understand the root of your emotions.  You need to try to understand the situation for what it is, so that you are not easily influenced by Satan to react or be blind to the truth of what is actually happening.  You can't be manipulated unless you allow yourself to be.  Don't allow yourself to believe the wrong conclusion.  God is there trying to help you see the truth for what it is.  He is showing you how to endure.

1 Samuel 22, Psalm 142, Matthew 4:1-11, John 8:42-47, & 1 Corinthians 10:12-13