There
often comes a time in a believer’s life when they succumb to the wiles of the
enemy and sin. This is to be a battle
that we will constantly face, we see this in the Apostle Paul’s discourse on
this in Romans 7:5-25. This was nothing new to the Apostle, he was
well aware that troublesome times lie ahead of all men. Though we all do try to live a godly life, we
soon find that we all fail because of our sinful nature, we find ourselves in
agreement with Job who said, “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly
upward.” Job 5:7 NASB). We soon
begin to understand the craftiness of the enemy and how he can so easily lure
us down a one-way street of his false promises of easy-isms. Man, in his own strengths soon believes that
he can defeat the enemy on his own but it is not long before his false sense of
security overcomes him and he falls. The
once rosy path that he was promised soon turns into a miry pit of despondency. It is not long before the believer finds
himself wrapped up in sins deception and soon he is caught in the middle
between depression and anxiety. It is
here that the enemy violently shakes us back and forth, shaking you much like a
dog shakes a rag-doll. It is not long
before he has the believer in such a daze, that they do not know if they should
wallow in depression or fret in a state of anxiety. Once the believer is fully ensnared we find
that the enemy drops them in their own self-pity much like the dog drops the
rag-doll once he is finished shaking it.
They find themselves in such a state of despair, they are trapped,
caught without even the strength to reach out to God for help. They even feel as though they lack even the
breath to cry out to God and lack the assurance the He would hear them even if
they cried out. Much like the rag-doll once
the dog is finished shaking and dropped the believers finds himself lying on
the floor in a heap, lacking strength, no will of its own left to move or help
itself. Lying as it were without hope in
a pool of its own self-pity, wallowing in despair, believing that there is no
help.
Once
sin takes place and you try to deal with it on our own, you soon find that we
lack much in ourselves, we lack the power to overcome the onslaught of the
enemy. Without strength and without hope
we finally turn to the Word of God and we do find that which we need. We find that through confession and repentance
that forgiveness does come from God according to 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness”. The sad truth
is that so often, so many believers have little understanding the depth of
God’s forgiveness to the point that they dwell in the remanence of the guilt of
the sin. It is here that the enemy so
often steps back in to once again steal the believers joy by replacing it with
doubt, and once doubt has been established he swings into play and ensnares
them again. Then once in his grasp he is
much again like the dog with a rag doll, grasping it firmly challenging all on
comers to take his prey from him. He
swings them to one side and Anxiety has its hand on the believer
and is leading them, haunting them, taunting them to wonder... What’s going to happened me? What if I get caught? What if I get found out? How could God still love me? Why would God want to love someone like me? Once they start to gain momentum on the
anxiety the enemy throws them a curve. He
then swings the believer back the other way and Depression grips their
soul and they in turn begin to wonder...
How could I have sinned this bad?
How could I have committed this embarrassment to my family? How could I have ever done so to our loving
and sovereign God? How could God ever
have loved me?
You go
back and forth violently never resting on one side or the other, not staying on
either side long enough to even begin to deal with the sin. Your focus continues to withdrawal inwardly
and your thought life become more and more dark because of the absence of hope. It is not long before you embrace the despair
as you begin to accept the ride on this downward spiral. Self-pity has replaced God on the throne of
your heart. You begin to bow down to it
as it constantly massages the low esteem that you have. You are in for the ride of your life as he continues
his onslaught keeping you in bondage of sin, riddled with both depression and
anxiety. You do not know which way to
turn and soon end up in a heap without even the strength to reach out or even
call out to God, resembling the ragdoll that the dog drops once it is finished. We soon resemble that ragdoll, weak and worn
out without the strength to cry out for help.
The
truth is, there is good news, there is hope and that hope as always resides in
Jesus Christ. Let me draw you a picture
to explain, picture Moses in the Old Testament when he led Israel out of the
Egyptian bondage. The climax of their
withdrawal, the epitome if you will is when they were encamped at the Red Sea. To the thoughts of many, and the enemy
included, Moses had led the people of Israel into to a great place of
ambushment. It is here where we find Pharaohs
army on one side, the Red sea on the other and stone walls on the other two
sides; there was no humanly way out, it is here in this place the enemy had an “Ah-ha”
moment as he believed the he had won. But
God stepped in, which we see in Exodus 14.
We need to follow Moses’ lead, we need to climb up on the rock between
depression’s army and the sea of anxiety, lift up your hands to an Almighty and
Sovereign God and open your eyes and “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the
salvation of the Lord.” The Rock
that we are to climb up upon Christ, He is the solid ground, He is our firm
foundation, He is the one that we are to rest upon at all times, in all
circumstances and in all situations. He
is the one who saves us, He alone keeps us.
Jesus calls to us to cry out to Him, He alone has the strength and
ability to deliver us from the jaws of despair, from the bondage of either
anxiety or depression. He alone is our
Only hope and strength as the scriptures says, “God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1
To be continued…
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