Fix your eyes on Jesus

If you're feeling sad, there's a reason. Perhaps you've recently experienced some kind of loss. Studies indicate that depression -- sadness -- and loss go together. Have you ever lost your wallet? The sudden feeling in the pit of your stomach is depression. Have you lost someone dear to you? Your mourning is a form of depression. Did you recently lose your job, or have you been demoted? Your loss of status will lead to depression. Are you wondering if people around you are thinking less of you? Even an imaginary loss of status will produce depression. Ten years ago did your children make you proud, and now they embarrass you? Your loss of relationship with them, as well as your very real loss of status as a parent, will bring depression. Are you sick? Or are you worried that you might get sick? A loss of health, or a possible projected loss of health, will bring depression. Have you just finished a big project? Has there recently been a lot of excitement in your life? A physical loss, even just a loss of adrenalin, will produce temporary depression until you get filled up again. Maybe you can put your finger on why you're sad, maybe you can't. Either way, consider this: If your depression, your sadness, is longer than brief, it starts to become your very dangerous enemy. Many people don't realize what a threat sadness is -- and any danger which is unrecognized as a danger is all the more dangerous. There is no stigma against sadness. There is no embarrassment, no alarm, no rushing to the Lord to eliminate it. But God's Word says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). And when a Christian is sad -- whether he realizes it or not, his power is diminished and he's vulnerable. A country that has internal unrest is the least able to resist any threatening foreign power. And a believer with sadness inside is the least able to resist any attack of Satan. Depression is a sinister "fifth column" at work within the Christian community. You watch a rejected congregation after a church split: As long as they're sad, there will be little true worship, little evangelism; the people can't focus on anything but themselves. You watch an individual Christian who's sad: He's necessarily self-centered. As long as he's sad he -- or she -- makes a poor marriage partner. When we're sad, we're sick. We don't function well. We don't lift and encourage other believers, and we don't appeal to unbelievers. Our spiritual strength and effectiveness are cut down. No wonder the great George Mueller used to say, "My first business every morning is to make sure that my soul is happy in Jesus!" You're objecting. You're saying, "But, Anne, things happen in our lives. Sometimes you can't put on a Pollyanna grin and chirp 'Praise the Lord' and pretend everything is wonderful." You're absolutely right. There is a time for tears: over sin and its resulting human misery (Matthew 5:4), in the burden of ministering to others (Acts 20:31), in compassion over the plights of others (Nehemiah 1:4; Romans 12:15), and so on . . . In our living, we need to feel the full stretch of human emotions. When you need to cry -- whether you're a man or a woman -- let the tears flow and don't be ashamed. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Nevertheless, Jesus' very coming brought with it a great power to comfort and be comforted -- a great new capacity for deep, overcoming joy! He came . . . To comfort all that mourn . . . To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:2-3, KJV) He has taken away our susceptibility to a debilitating, long-term "spirit of heaviness." "Do not let your hearts be troubled," He said (John 14:27). He wasn't saying, "There, there." He was saying, "Don't allow it! It's bad for you." Paul in prison and facing death was God's mouthpiece for this command: "Rejoice in the Lord!" (Philippians 4:4). It's not God's wish or His suggestion -- it's His command. And it's for our best good. So He has Paul there in jail say it twice: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Personal joy is your strong defense against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Maybe you're saying, "I really am sad these days. What can I do to get joy back in my life?" Let me suggest a daily program for you to work on it. (Above all, don't thrash around. Don't heave, don't pace, don't be overexcited. You can never free tangled thread by jerking and forcing it.) 1. Sit down before the Lord. Settle your mind in repose and calm. 2. Now think, "What are the knots in my tangledness -- the specific situations in my life -- that are giving me sadness?" Ask Him to put them in your mind; then write them in a list. 3. Now study slowly and carefully Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God [one knot -- one item on your list -- at a time]. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [shield] your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 4. In succession, work at each "knot" before the Lord, turning it this way and that, praying, "Lord, help. Lord, give me wisdom and solutions from You. I trust You. And by faith I examine this ugly knot with thanksgiving." When you don't see a solution, let it go and turn to an easier knot. There are small ones God will help you free on the spot; tougher ones may depend on solving those first. 5. Now deliberately, in spite of your tangle, turn your full attention to Jesus; fix your eyes on Him. Sing to Him; maybe sign a praise song. If all you know is "Jesus Loves Me," that's a great one. (Remember what music did for King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:23.) As it says in Psalm 68:3-4, May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing praise to his name. (Remember, "the righteous" aren't perfect people -- in our eyes -- they're the ones who have received Jesus as their Savior and so God sees them as righteous, or perfect! Wonderful! And He says His plan, His will, is for them to be happy and joyful.) Whether you feel like it or not, make a program every day of these three: 1. In a spirit of relaxation, gently working those "knots" one at a time, 2. Bible reading, 3. Praise and singing.... "Let the afflicted . . . rejoice" (Psalm 34:2). We got two letters in the mail today. One says, Our country is at war and our dear son is of prime drafting age, but we have peace in our hearts. Are we submitting to this? More than that, when God is in control we are actually praising Him for it. The second letter is from a wife whose greatly loved husband has been found to have terminal cancer. She writes, God has given us the grace to face this, to speak and share it, and to believe that He is doing what is best. The last thing before surgery that Bill said to me was, "Remember no matter which way it goes it will be RIGHT!" Of course behind the scenes there are tears,, there is pain . . . Moses went through every kind of turmoil, but "he persevered because he saw him who was invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). Fix your eyes on Jesus and His solutions. Maybe you're simply saying, "Anne, I just have too many knots. There's no hope, my life's a mess." Let God speak to you, my dear friend, through His mouth-piece Habakkuk. He was facing international disasters on an overwhelming scale, and here's what he said: Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls... [in other words, when everything all at once is absolutely terrible]. . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights (Habakkuk 3:17-19). God wants you "on the heights" -- to live above it all -- in Him, with Him. "Above the clouds the sun is always shining." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's talk to the Lord about your sadness: Thank You, Lord God, for alerting me to this danger. "Restore to me the joy of your salvation" (Psalm 51:12). I don't see solutions yet, but I see that my sadness is the first part of the problem. Lord, relax me. Help me right now to fix my eyes on Jesus. And then, Lord, discipline me -- to begin this daily program before You to overcome my sadness. "I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches" (Psalm 119:14). In Christ's name of power and authority, amen. * * * * * ... Then a new set of eyes (so to speak) will develop within us, enabling us to be looking at Jesus while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of this passing world . . . --A.W. Tozer