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Deep Pits and Other
Traps of the Dark Side |
| <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of
David.>> How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long
wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over
me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and
those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
(Psalms 13:1-6 AV)
I doubt there are many people who have not found themselves standing at
the refrigerator, or a cabinet perhaps, and there asking themselves,
"why am I here, what did I come for? " Most people joke about
losing their mind, and how they can't remember anything anymore. Some of
us never could remember much for very long. A standing joke around our
house for sometime is to look at the other person and ask, "Do I know
you?"
For many suffering under a heavy burden from the storms of life it
isn't a joke. They find themselves along with the Psalmist crying out to
God, thinking God has forgotten who they are. For the less oppressed it is
hard to imagine the circumstance whereby they would ever doubt God,
especially that God exists and is there all the time. Nonetheless, many
Christians do face doubt and find they are heavily
burdened to the very depths of their soul, and life itself is no longer
worth the effort. God is a vague identity somewhere in a faded past.
Imagine if you can that you wake up in a dark room, the only light
coming from the clock on the bedside table that indicates its 3:00 AM. As
you stir further into what should be the realm of conscious thought, you
suddenly realize you don't know where you are, or who this person sleeping
so contentedly in the dark is. Then, you realize you not only don't know
who is in bed with you, and where you are, you don't
know who you are. The episode may last only a moment, or perhaps several
moments, then the conscious mind assumes control again, and you seriously
consider that maybe indeed you are losing your mind. With whom would you
share this doubt, this additional burden to add to the load you already
carry?
Imagine you are an elder or perhaps even the pastor of a church and are
going through such trials, to whom do you turn? The obvious answer is God,
but as the days have passed and the skies have remained dark and silent,
you have reached the point you are not sure there even is a God. Who do
you tell that you have such a profound and deep doubt in your heart? For
the vast majority in either of these situations, the answer is no one! You
struggle to get through each day, avoiding people as much as possible. The
"friendly " voice of a friend or loved one can trigger violent
emotions within, that are hard to control. It really doesn't matter what
they say, from this pit of hell there is no consolation and you lash out.
Now the family will be ready to have you committed, and you will begin to
doubt your own sanity, at least to yourself, but such is a defense
mechanism of the creature we are.
The Psalm chosen this week ends rather abruptly in my opinion. The
right answer, but it leaves behind and now out of sight how to move from
the pit of oppression (depression) to the mountain top where you can sing
in true joy to the Lord. Last week we
discussed the use of the means of grace to overcome adversity. The answer
is the same here in the pit. But I want to be a bit more pragmatic this
week. I find there is a spiritual side to all things, but there is also a
fleshly or pragmatic side too.
As a refresher from last week and the means of grace: Hearing the Word
of God; go to church. The sacraments: faithfully attend the Table of the
Lord, He will not condemn because of the doubts racing though your mind.
Discipline: Practice the golden rule, paying particular attention to it
now, for the natural tendency will be to lash out, not be a meek creature
of love. Now some
practical things you can do to put this season of darkness behind and move
into the full light of God's Son and revealed Word. We find a great part
of the answer lies in the first grace mentioned, hearing the Word. Don't
turn on the radio or TV, go to church. You are taking advantage
of the means of grace given, but you are also applying the first rule for
not sinking further into the pit; refuse to allow Satan to isolate you
from your brothers and sisters in Christ. The desire is to be alone, you
do have the control over your emotions to deny this and being in church is
one way to do this. So while you are applying the means of grace to the
situation, the where and how aids in the physical and
mental process of moving back to the fullness of life in Christ.
You reach a point you don't have anything to say, and your head is
already full, you don't want anyone or anything to interrupt the
non-thoughts of your dark world, leave me to my misery. Refuse this offer
of the devil also; find a Christian friend whom you trust and as David did
in this Psalm, cry out to God with them. Talk with them, pray with them as
often as you can. You need the human contact, we were created to touch and
be touched, to love and be loved. God from all eternity has existed in
community and we are created in His image. Look around, there is such a
person you can share your heart with. It should be any sister or brother
in Christ (male/male and female/female, no mixed gender sharing) you know.
Another area altogether, but any person who violates the trust of a sister
or brother in such a situation, even under the "pretense" of
prayer should be most severely disciplined by the church.
The next two paragraphs are conditioned by this statement: except for
the most rare case, and where there has been physical damage to the head
should external means to gain control be used. I have personally dealt
with those who had been in this pit so long, that short of outside
intervention they could not rise up far enough to understand, much less
accept the help offered. Like all rules then we find there can be an
exception here. However we need to pray long and faithfully before we
readily accept the crutch of being the exception.
No chemical intervention allowed for Christians in this situation. Now
I know that is not going to sit well, but from my heart and I believe
God's Word, such worldly tinkering with the mind is sin. Sin will slow the
process of recovery, not help it. There is no pill on the market that will
end depression, it merely suppresses the natural response of the body to
life, attempting to cover the symptom and doing nothing for the cause.
Only the blood of Christ can truly "cover" or heal the ills of
mankind. A drug that can so dull the natural senses is absolutely no
different than being high on drugs or alcohol, which is sin! Don't take my
word for it, search out what God thinks about being drunk on anything
other than the Holy Spirit.
Moving to herbs is no answer either. Even if there is a proven chemical
imbalance, there is nothing that the body needs that cannot be found in
the "normal" good dietary habits all should have anyway.
Complete health may be some time in the future, but it will be real health
both physically and spiritually. Can we define a biblical season? I think
not, it is all in God's timing. The trails will come, the pressures will
mount, but we can handle all things in Christ Jesus and apart from Him do
nothing. The apparent shortening of the healing process with chemical
intervention or herbs which is but the use of more natural
"chemicals" in abnormal form and dose rate is just that,
apparent only. True healing means you don't need the crutch anymore. Find
the herb proponent that wouldn't have you taking hands full of various
herbs the rest of your life. Find the mental therapist who is trying to
work himself out of a client.
We are wonderfully wrought by the hand of God. It is from God then we
will find spiritual, mental, and physical health. He is God of the whole
person. The Christian bookstores all have a booklet called Bible promises
in which the various topical headings for the problems found in life on
earth are listed with several verses in the Bible that deal with these
areas. These are God's promises to us. In faith claim them. Concentrate
your Bible study on these verses for a time. God will see you through. You
will sing the praises of God.
One last exercise from the pragmatic in me, begin a prayer journal.
Each day record the time, length and notes from your prayers. Keep record
as the day progresses of the things you have to praise and thank God for,
as well as that which you consider a burden. You will be surprised at how
really blessed your life is. Always remembering, it is tribulation that
teaches us we must wait upon the Lord alone, and this learned patience
will bring to life the hope within the heart of the redeemed, and the love
of God in the Holy Spirit given to each of us will bring to remembrance
the perfect cure of all things, even Jesus Christ.
Thus with the Psalmist David, from the depths of the pit we can raise
our voices not in tears, but praise and rejoicing in Christ.
By: Dr. Chuck Baynard
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