Tired of eating by myself--i think I'll just stay in my room forever. No one will miss me."
"How long, oh Lord, wilt thou forget me?"
The same person posted all three of those statuses, and many more like it. I finally unfriended her because I was tired of her depressed, woe-is-me attitude. You have friends like this. We all do.
I am, by nature, a very hyper, cheerful, smily-type of person. To be honest, I sometimes hide what I'm really feeling behind a smiling mask. Which isn't right either. But, people that are always unhappy, as ironic as it may seem, depress me.
Which brings me to the point of this post (which, I realize has been way to long since the last one--hey! It's been busy). How can one be a Christian and constantly be having a bad day? What happened to "the joy of the Lord is my strength"and "rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice?" I understand having rough days--I have them too (it's called migraines, bad test scores, long work shifts, and massive projects). But a rough day doesn't mean a bad day. Never.
Jesus had rough days too. Having your countrymen mock you, the religious leaders scorn you, and your family reject you? That's not my idea of a good vacation. Just because He had a rough day didn't mean he was depressed. As Marilla says in the movie, Anne of Green Gables, "to despair is to turn your back on God." When we think, "this day can't get any worse", we are not trusting in God. Even when the day is not going the way you planned, you can still choose to praise God. He allowed the circumstances to happen. You know what verse I'm going to use. . .
Romans 8:28--"We KNOW that all things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose>." We were talking about this in Sunday School. That is a really easy verse to quote when someone else is having a bad day or something tough is going on. Not to easy to quote to yourself when your world is falling apart (and believe me--I've been there). When we want a verse of encouragement, we want to hear "I'll never leave or forsake you". In our head, we know that God is working everything together for good. It's harder to believe when something is bad. It doesn't say that everything IS good--but that God will take the bad and make something good come out of it.
I understand! It's hard when everything is falling apart to remember and tell yourself that God is using this in your life to make you better. Keep trusting! He has never broken a promise, and you aren't going to be the first person that God breaks a promise to. That, I can guarantee.
Thanks for posting this, Steph! I needed to hear it, really bad!
ReplyDeleteHey, Stephanie! These are some really good thoughts. Thanks so much for sharing. I know there have been times when I've felt very alone. The problem is, with me, I tend not to cry out. I stay very silent. I've noticed that many other believers do cry out. Some of them wear their heart on their sleeves, and so they cry out -- a lot. I'd encourage you not to give up them; but faithfully encourage them. You're absolutely right about the joy of the Lord. But never forget that Christ's attitude was characterized as "a man of sorrows." I read more about him weeping and bewailing than I do him smiling or laughing. And while Christ's sorrows are far different than our self-centered sorrows, we're nothing more than ordinary saints who need the Spirit and each other to grow. I'm sure next time you get the chance, you'll be able to see past the depression-causing posts and show grace to a friend that may desperately be needing it, but masking it with "drama posts." We all know you have a knack for cheering people up. :-)
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