On The Brink of Depression, But He Brought Me Up Out of the Pit

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.

He put a new song in my mouth –
Praise yo our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:1-3

As I look back on my life, I can remember certain events (a car wreck, a tumor, a kidney stone) that were extremely challenging for me, but no period of time can compare with what I have gone through in the last year (and even the last 18 months, really). But beginning in March, things began to slowly get better for me.

The darkness began to disipate and things began looking up.

Some things that really helped this happen included:

• Reawakening some friendships that I had allowed to become dormant, through Twitter/Facebook as well as in real life
• A determination to seek God through fasting and prayer
• Spending more time reading and listening to the Word of God and sermons/podcasts/blogs about Christian topics

Now these may seem pretty basic to all of us (myself included), but it gets so easy to drift away. We get this sense that the little things may not matter so much, or what we aren’t really all that useful or necessary in the kingdom of God.

The thing is, no amount of excuses or justifications or whatever suffice. On the flip side, no amount of determinations to do the right thing suffice either.

But it’s not about doing any one thing or another. It’s about passionately pursuing our Lord. The thing that I have been lacking for the last few years has really been a clearly defined goal.

You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said that I would keep Your words.

I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.

I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.

I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have no forgotten Your law.

At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.

I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.

The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:57-64

Look at verse 60 again. “I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments.” Though I have been keeping God’s commandments lately, I can’t say that I have made haste in doing so. Just because we don’t seem to be living a victorious life doesn’t mean that we are out of the will of God. Through this whole year, that one truth has stuck with me, despite other people telling me otherwise.

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry,
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

1 Samuel 15:22,23

Obedience ushers in the blessings of God
My pastor likes to say that “Obedience ushers in the blessings of God.” I often hear that, but it gets so familiar that I overlook it at times. Something else to draw from the above verses: delayed obedience is the same as blatent disobedience.

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seatr of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

Day and night…

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither,
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalm 1:1-3

Whatever he does shall prosper. Who has this guaranteed prosperity? The person who delight to meditate on the law of the LORD day and night.

Brothers and sisters, that is the real prosperity gospel! None of this name-it-claim-it, blab-it-grab-it, bossing God around like a genie in a Bible business. That stuff isn’t scriptural.

It’s exactly the same as what God told Joshua when Israel finally entered the land:

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:7-9

All this to say that I read a couple of blog posts today that really jumped out at me.

• How Can Pain Be Good? (The Blazing Center)
• You Are What Your Tweet (The Blazing Center)

Words of the Pure

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD,
But the words of the pure are pleasant.
Proverbs 15:26

Some translations say “pure words” are pleasant. Regardless of your view on that, the question that remains is how do we become pure and speak pure words? In Philippians 4:8, Paul urges us to meditate (NKJV), dwell (NASB), take into account and fix our eyes on (Amp.) these things. Clearly that’s a good start.

How do attain purity?
First Peter gives us some keys. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22,23). Malachi foretold that God would purify his people as a refiner does silver and gold (Malachi 3:3).

Sometimes this refining process isn’t easy to handle. Asaph wrote Psalm 79 while Israel was undergoing such a refining process. Attaining purity isn’t always going to be easy, but it will always be beneficial. Going back to the Proverb, I know that I don’t want God to detest what I say, but I want Him to be pleased by me! When I finally meet Him, I want to hear Him say “well done.” Do I slip? Of course I do! Am I tempted? Absolutely. But I look to the words James wrote in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” James also gives us some insight a few verses later as to how to avoid temptation. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15)

Jesus told His disciples the same thing the night before His death. “Watch and pray,” He said, “lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Romans 8:1-4 underscores this entire idea. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ our Lord, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” In verse 9, he continues by clarifying that we are in the Spirit and not the flesh if the Spirit of the Lord dwells within us. We live in the flesh but we are free from the flesh. We have been set from the law of sin and death through the law of the Spirit of life. As a result of living in the flesh and in a fallen world, we are still tempted when we lose our focus (Hebrews 12:3).

How do we please God?
By being pure. To be pure, we must be refined. In that refining process, we may lose focus and be tempted, but God is faithful and will never leave us or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5) To avoid temptation, we need to crawl back into His love and continue seeking Him more and more. By doing that, we begin to walk in the Spirit, which leads to a changed life and the purification and righteousness that is found only in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 9:22; Romans 5:17)