Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:4
Sadly, it seems most would rather strap on the heavy shackles and ride
the topsy-turvy of the highest roller coaster with its frightful dives than to trust the Lord.
We do this whenver we look at the horoscopes first or we
allow the economic forecasts ruin our day.
If they have a bible, it probably off on the highest shelve somewhere
collecting dust until guests come into their home when they grab it and place it on prominent display.
Over again in scripture, God uses the illustration of slaves to remind us that when we have Jesus Christ we are free and we can take off those shackles and trust Jesus that he truly knows what to do with our lives.
We no longer have to worry.
We no longer have to be afraid.
We no longer have to fret about our health or our life's ambition.
Like the potter's clay, Jesus will mold us into a beautiful work
He will place a permanent smile on your face
He will give you a purpose to wake up every morning.
He will present you as a pleasing fragrance that will draw people to you
He will give you the desire to worship.
As we practice these things you may notice
you are calmer,
you are nicer to be around
your pleasant demeanor will be noticed from afar
and the next time you see your doctor you may notice
healthier vital signs with a smile on his face
Now wouldn't you want to become unshackled and know what its like to be filled with the hope and joy of the Lord?
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become restless and disturbed within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. Psalm 42:5
Recently, I read this headline: 'World Health Organization identifies depression as humanities greatest problem.' As I read more about this problem, I came across some key facts of this global epidemic that helped me to see the problem more clearly.
Depression is a common mental disorder. Globally, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression.
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.
This same site offered up some contributing factors of depression:
Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors. People who have gone through adverse life events (unemployment, bereavement, psychological trauma) are more likely to develop depression. Depression can, in turn, lead to more stress and dysfunction and worsen the affected person’s life situation and depression itself.
My mind started reflecting on people all across this globe filled sadness with some on the brink of suicide grasping for anything that will make them whole again. Every single day their symptoms return with seemingly little hope in sight.
Hope.
All of the humanity is searching for hope. A hope that all things will be better the way they were before their bereavement and or psychological trauma.
Hope.
I reflected on my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as the one who helped me heal from my bereavement journey. I reflected on the empathetic, caring people who listened to my pain and thought this is what all humanity is looking for in their lives.No, we may never be the same after our loss, but in time we will be able to see a 'new normal' on the horizon.
Hope. Not money, not monetary treasure, not inheritance, but the hope is what drives humanity.
Oh, where oh where are the inspiring people who can guide people to hope? People like Winston Churchill who inspired millions at a time of national and world crisis? People like Franklin Delano Roosevelt who inspired American's and even those abroad with his Fireside chats during the great depression. People like Mother Theresa who washed the feet of the poorest of the poor and fed them when they were hungry or gave them the gift of touch they were starving for?
Hope.
We need people who lead us to inspire us just as the likes of Churchill, FDR did in the former time.
Hope, that illusory hope.
I again reflected on my faith and it occurred to me that Jesus Christ is the hope that humanity needs at such a time as this. When you really think about it, the moment that Jesus Christ rose from the grave, returned to speak to many witnesses before returning to our father in heaven, it occurred to me that unlike the long dead god's that Jesus Christ continues to be a living Savior who wants to breathe life into humanity just as he breathe life into our lives the moment we opened up the door to our hearts and invited Jesus in.
Hope will help us recover from bereavement. Hope will help us recover from adverse life events. Hope will help us and hope will help us to recover from that sad journey of bereavement.
Now that you know that depression is a worldwide epidemic I think this will give you a new perspective on how to respond to the people you encounter on a daily basis. A simple smile, a simple kind and encouraging word or simple eye contact or the willingness to walk with them on their journey may be all they need to find a little hope for their lives.
" The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:11 NIV
This is the season of goodbyes as parents rush around organizing high school open houses for their soon to be graduates, their graduates anticipating with both happiness and sadness what lies ahead. It is also the season of college graduations as many watch their adult child begin to test their wings of flight and soar into the hitherto wonder of life's next chapter.
Like a mighty crescendo, the child becomes an adult living on their own for the first time, away from the comfort of mom and dad's watchful eye, making their decisions for the first time on their own. Dad, especially, worries about those decisions their adult child makes and tries to occasionally put in his many years of wisdom into the situations without realizing that unwanted wisdom isn't well received.
Being a parent is never easy. Choices have to be made each day of a child's life to give them increasing independence and freedom.
When a child is born, we convince ourselves that our time with them will last forever, not realizing that each year of their life will be different in many respects. Parents who have lost a child way before their time, learn quickly the pain that is often associated with 'letting go'.\ as they struggle with the many regrets and what if's after that loss.
We desperately try to overcompensate for the deceased child by over protecting the rest of them. In a sense, we become the helicopter parents we were hoping never to be.
While we jokingly search for that button that forever keeps them small, most see the value of letting their kids grow up.
Families from small towns realize the importance of letting go so much sooner than in larger metropolitan areas simply because they know that if there are fewer opportunities for their child if they stayed.
So often, it seems, we try to live our lives through our children. Like the fans in the stands, we cheer them on with every success. Taken to the extreme, we try to get our kids to be successful where we never were. We enroll them in after-school sports programs thinking if we only gave them a head start they will gain that all important sports scholarship at the college of their choice.
We think about all of the 'what if's' when we were younger as if we can help our children avoid the same mistakes we made at their age. We want to quite literally remove the pain of growing up from their shoulders and place it on our own.
While there is the pain in parenting, we have a mighty Savior who is has taken the pain of mankind and placed it on His shoulders. Each time you feel sad about the prospects of missing your child, cry out to God because he will meet you where you're at.
In Isaiah, I'm reminded of this passage, "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."
You can be assured as your child's parents that our Lord loves your child as much and more than you did. He has promised that when the time comes where you must 'let go' that he will give you the strength to do so.
