In David’s dark song of depression, recorded as Psalm 142, the king confesses his deepest feelings of isolation and despair. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. (142:3) David feels enveloped or wrapped up in his depression, so much so his spirit feels faint and feeble.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Crisis
A Tactical Advantage
Having predicted your success in battle against the attacks of the devil (Psalm 91:5–10), this Psalm continues with several commitments from the Lord. He has promised to give you a tactical advantage, which the songwriter enumerates in the final verses. Assistance against Evil. God has promised to send angelic assistance when we face attacks from supernatural realms.
Read MoreUltimate Rejection
A number of years ago, on Valentine’s Day, a couple was enjoying a romantic drive along a wooded section near Belle Chasse, Louisiana. Something white, shimmering in the trees, caught their eyes. Their investigation led them to a dead teenager hanging from a limb, a white bedsheet knotted tightly around his neck. A farewell note, laced with despair, was near the trunk of the tree. It was addressed simply to “Mom and Dad.”
Read MoreAfter the Avalanche, Part One
Job could write about wounds. His words were more than patronizing platitudes and armchair proverbs. He’d been there and back again. He could describe intense inner suffering in the first person because of his own sea of pain. Step into the time tunnel with me and let’s travel together back to Uz (not like the wizard of ___, but like the land of __).
Read MoreTears
When words fail, tears flow. Tears have a language all their own, a tongue that needs no interpreter. In some mysterious way, our complex inner-communication system knows when to admit its verbal limitations . . . and the tears come. Eyes that flashed and sparkled only moments before are flooded from a secret reservoir. We try in vain to restrain the flow, but even strong men falter.
Read MoreFeeling Apprehensive
THE SCENE IS FAMILIAR: a hospital lobby with all the expected surroundings . . . soft sofas and folded newspapers . . . matching carpets and drapes illumined by eerie lighting . . . a uniformed lady at the desk, weary from answering the same questions . . . strange smells . . . and lots of people. Everywhere there are people. A steady stream pours in and out, the faces marked by hurry and worry.
Read MoreAfter the Avalanche
JOB UNDERSTOOD WOUNDS. The words he used to describe them were more than patronizing platitudes and theoretical proverbs. He’d been there and back again. He could write about intense inner suffering in the first person because of his own massive ocean of pain. No one would deny that the man called Job was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3, KJV).
Read MoreGod’s Control
DAWSON TROTMAN, founder of the Navigators, an organization discipling and mentoring ministry leaders around the world, drowned while saving a swimmer from certain death. Eyewitnesses tell of the tears and helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked out across the deep blue water of Schroon Lake. Everyone’s face except one—Lila Trotman.
Read MoreGod’s Aware of Your Tears
TEARS HAVE A LANGUAGE ALL THEIR OWN, needing no interpreter. In some mysterious way, our inner-communication system knows its verbal limitations, and the tears come. Eyes that flashed and sparkled moments before are flooded. Tears are not self-conscious. They can spring upon us when we are in public or standing beside others who look to us for strength.
Read MoreFinding Courage
I RECALL THE FIRST TIME I watched the children’s classic movie The Wizard of Oz. I was spellbound by the music and the enchanting way in which the simple themes of family, valuing home, and celebrating individual differences were on display. But perhaps the most hilarious character of all was the lion—the bumbling, wimp of a cat, who cowered in fear at the smallest threat. What he needed was courage!
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