Again ?
hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
From the wicked that oppress me, from
my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psalm 17:8,9
I can very clearly remember so many times that I, too, allowed Satan to intimidate me and bully me in my own life. Instead of my having leaned on "The Everlasting Arms" of Jesus and relied on HIS strength to carry me through, I had leaned on self, which allowed Satan (and SELF) to wreak all manner of havoc in my life!
Yes, the forces of evil exert a powerful influence in this world, but we, as "professing" Christians are [supposed to be] overcomers through Christ Jesus! We look to our own understanding. We think we can "handle it" when it comes to the trials and tests of life. We hold back certain areas of our lives instead of committing them wholly and completely to Christ. THEN we wonder why we are so buffeted about and often find ourselves down in the dumps, AGAIN.
Nearly all of us will either personally experience (or in the lives of those close to us) times of great trial or stress. However, I want us to think about those "little winds" that come along and blow us off track. You see, if we could just learn to remain "on course" during the little winds, we wouldn't have nearly as much trouble with the "big blows". We allow too many trifling things to get us down in the dumps: all morose and melancholy, declaring how pitiful we are! "Oh woe is me, woe is me! Just look at how awful my case is! Why I'm much worse off than you've ever been! You should feel sorry for me!" We will have moments of disappointment or discouragement, but they don't have to be a lifestyle! Too many of us get hung in the mire of our misery and apparently we are comfortable--we've been there for years and years!
I ask you: you ever saw anyone feeling sorry for themselves and thought, "I want to be just like them"? Too many of us want testimonies without the test, yet when test is removed from testimonies, all that's left is the "I moanies". It is through the trials and tests of life that our faith is (should be) made stronger and we [should] learn more about our God!
I wonder how many are like I used to be? When something happened to "upset me", the more I thought about it, the more I talked about it. The more I talked about it, the madder I got. Before long, something that had started out as a pebble was a great big HUGE BOULDER! I just kept making it bigger: think about it, talk about it. Talk about it, think about it. And I tried to get everyone around in on the act! If I was angry, I wanted them angry, too! Did you realize we can work our own SELVES up into a frothing RAGE? Don't blame Satan for that! That is NOBODY BUT old S-E-L-F throwing his/her weight around!
One day I realized, it didn't matter (apparently) how many times the Lord had brought me through something, the very next thing that came up, there I went, off in my own direction and soon wound up in the same old ditch: DOWN IN THE DUMPS, again! Just a thinkin' and a talkin' and building that mole hill into a mountain! The slightest (and I mean tiny) little thing just sent "my world" into a downward spiral, and I always wound up a blubbering blob of protoplasm, of no benefit to myself or anyone around me!
In the city of Thyatira, as Paul and Silas went to pray, a young woman possessed with a spirit of divination began to follow them, crying out, "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." And this did she many days. (You or me would have enjoyed being the "center of attention", wouldn't we?) But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, "I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out the same hour. See, the devil always recognizes God and M-U-S-T submit to God's Power. I said, God's Power! Paul wasn't operating under his own power: he said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ..." WE get "beat up" when we try to take things on by our own authority! (See also Who Are Ye? for a powerful lesson about that!)
When those who made their money with the "spirit of divination" in this young woman saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they took Paul and Silas to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city. The Bible tells us the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten. And when they had laid MANY stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely. He put them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
There they were, not only beaten with MANY stripes (those stripes were NOT applied with feather dusters!!), not only in the inner prison, but with their feet in stocks. If ever anybody should have been moaning and groaning their "fate", those two ole' boys had a case for it, eh? NOT SO, according to what was in their heart and minds:
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Think about it, think about it, think about it! They were NOT all slunk down in their painful state, whining "Woe is me"! At MIDNIGHT they prayed and did what? Sang praises unto God! Why? Because they were serving God, NOT some circumstance that had come their way! See, that's where you and I get into trouble: we cave in to our circumstances! Instead of you and me snuggling deeper into those everlasting arms, we slink around, sucking our thumbs and drumming up all the pity and sympathy we can from everybody around us! Not only did they pray and sing praises unto God, but the rest of the prisoners heard them. Even in the sad state they were in, they were singing praises, NOT "the blues"! What a powerful witness of total commitment and being sold out to God! Don't serve "circumstance": SERVE GOD!
Beaten with MANY stripes, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God smack dab in the MIDDLE of their adversity! They didn't know God was going to send an earthquake to set them free, but they DID KNOW He was going to see them through it all! They WERE living by faith, NOT by sight! If they had relied on what they saw, it would have been dismal indeed! You and I are NOT willing to praise God in the middle of our adversity: we've got to see the answer BEFORE we believe there is going to be one. (Even then, we complain that it's not what/when/how/where we wanted!)
Today, all it takes is a word or a look to mess us up! We wouldn't last long enough to get to the "beating stage". (We'd have turned tail and run long before then!) You and I get all defeated and dejected if the pastor doesn't shake our hand. We get messed up in our spirit if somebody doesn't smile back at us! We sink into despair if we can't afford a new boat or living room suit, or can't go where we wanted to on vacation. We go about with our bottom lip poked out so far we could roll out biscuit dough on it--all pouting and snarling, blaming our sad state on God: "God, why did YOU do this to me?" The truth is: our own attitude, Old SELF, did it to us!
Verse 26 tells us: And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. Even then, they didn't make a break for it! Their keeper was awakened out of his sleep and when he saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword to kill himself.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with ALL his house. Acts 16:28-34.Would we have gotten the same results, or lost by default? "Well, you just don't know what I'm facing..." God does! "You just don't know what I've been through!" That's why Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died--so that He would know what we feel! So that He could complete the plan of salvation for us. So that we could be overcomers through Him! We get our eyes off Jesus and on our circumstances and we get overwhelmed! Then we want to moan and groan in our misery! What say you? I think it's about time we learn to
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12. What about the "spiritual serpents" that we allow to get a hold of us? Instead of us standing on the Word of God and shaking them off, we let them get their poison in our "system" and there we are, down in the dumps, again! Instead of us praying and praising God while we are going through trials, we let that poison spread until it takes us over! You might think, "Well, I can't praise God that I just lost my job!" We can praise God that He IS God and that we trust Him to meet our EVERY need! We can praise God For ALL the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. II Corinthians 1:20.
Jesus said, They hated me without a cause. John 15:25. Not everyone in this world is going to love us. Not everybody is going to pat us on the back. We'd better get past the "kudos" and "atta boys" of this world! We aren't into "following Jesus" for our own gain (are we??): we're in it because WE LOVE HIM and we want to be a witness of Him to the world! Down in the dumps is NOT a witness of Jesus Christ! The next time someone or something "jerks your chain", "rattles your cage" or "knocks you down",
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms... Deuteronomy 33:27. The next time adversity sends you reeling, make a dive for those everlasting arms!
"Down In The Dumps, Again?" Copyright © 2001 by Patricia Sikes.
All Rights Reserved.
by Elisha A. Hoffman (1839-1929)
What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms.
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how bright the path grows from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms!
Leaning (on Jesus), leaning (on Jesus); safe and secure from all alarms.
Leaning (on Jesus), leaning (on Jesus), leaning on the everlasting arms.
If you have been blessed, give God the Glory!
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