When it Rains, It Pours

Flood Zone Recap
May 20, 2007 (Happy 7th Anniversery Christie!)

Despair. There are so many things that can bring despair into our lives. How do we deal with despair when the hits come one after another?

This has been a tough week. We've all had to deal with some difficult situations. Everybody faces different struggles everyday, some big, and some small. We've all had to deal with the recent death of Steve, but maybe you've had to deal with the ending of a friendship, or bad grades, or dissapointment, or some sort of abuse. Like I said, there are a number of different things that we might deal with that could cause despair, hopelessness, and an upheaval of our spirit and emotions.

How does Satan want us to respond to these struggles?

How does God want us to respond to these struggles?

Is it Ok to feel sadness, grief, and emotional pain in the midst of our struggles?

In John 14:27, Jesus tells us to "not let your hearts be troubled," but in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he faced his last hours, the Bible tells us that Jesus' heart was troubled. Jesus was sinless, so we have to come to the conclusion that an emotional response to tough situations is not sinful in and of itself. So, what did Jesus mean when he told his discples to not be troubled.

I think he means that they shouldn't give in to the emotional response. He wants us to keep figting. As John Piper says in his book Future Grace, the sin of despair and despondency comes when we aren't "turning on the air-raid siren, and not heading for the bomb shelters, and not deploying the antiaircraft weapons. If Satan drops a bomb on your peace, and yo udon't make ready for war, people are going to wonder whose side you're on."

We have to prepare for the attack of despair and despondency (hopelessness). We have to be ready to fight it. If we don't fight it, then we will end up feeling completely hopeless, and that is not a place that God wants us to be.

So, how do we fight? Who do we look to as an example of what to do when Satan is dropping that bomb? Well, why not Jesus? He came face to face with utter despair in the Garden that night. How did he respond?

Read Matthew 26:36-39

Six Strategic Tactics Jesus Used in his Struggle Against Despondency (from Future Grace by John Piper)

1. Jesus chose close friends to be with Him. (v37) Notice that these friends are close BELIEVERS! This took some pre-planning. He had to surround himself with believers to begin with. He didn't just seek out those who believed when he got into trouble, he spent his life with them, making them his closest friends! Don't expect your non-Christians friends to be able to help you in the battle against despair and despondency. You have to surround yourself with Christian friends!

2. Jesus opened up to His friends and let them know his heart. (v38) He was honest with them about how he was feeling. That way, they knew how they could pray for and encourage him.

3. Jesus asked his friends for prayer and partnership in the battle. (v39) Again, this could not have been done if his friends were not believers.

4. He poured out His heart to God in prayer. (v39) God knows your heart, but he wants to hear you surrender that troubled heart and deep emotion to him.

5. He rested his soul in the perfect wisdom of God. (v39) He was accepting of the fact that God knows best and that God has our best interests in mind. There is no room for depsair if you believe that!

6. He fixed His eyes on the glorious future grace of God that was on the other side of the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 promises us that we are going to face tough times, but it also promises us that we can stand firm in the midst of that.

Christ has given us the perfect example of how to deal with life when the bomb drops. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. In the midst of the downpour of trials, the grace of God is waiting to shine through in an awesome way.

So, you have a choice: either stay in the rain, or step into the light of God's grace!

"When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The real danger is yielding to them. Giving in. Putting up no spiritual fight. And the root of that surrender is unbelief--a failure to fight for faith in future grace. A failure to cherish all that God promises to be for us in Jesus."

"Jesus shows us another way. Not painless, and not passive. Follow him. Find your trusted spiritual friends. Open your soul to them. Ask them to watch with you and pray. Pour out your soul to the Father. Rest in the sovereign wisdom of God. And fix your eyes on teh joy set before yo in the precious and magnificent promises of God." John Piper (Future Grace, Page 307)