Three things that beat us down and keep us down:
1) An overbearing parent who is controlling or very disciplinary. [Amen-Ed.]
2) High levels of shame
This equates to self-hatred and toxic self-talk.
3) A lack of purpose
Feeling empty or hollow is a direct result of a lack of purpose in your life.
I heard this recently on a podcast. I believe it was Jay Stringer that said it. I have all three of these things operating in my life. It’s very helpful to know and start working through, but it reveals a rocky road ahead. Knowledge without application is useless, and we are more educated these days than ever before in the history of mankind, but also more lost than ever. Knowledge only blooms when it’s put into action. I myself have read countless books and studied the Bible a thousand different ways over the last 28 years, yet I still have days where I feel like I know nothing. Lost in my own desires, I walk down a familiar path of temptation that almost always leads to sin and momentary separation from God. I know God can bring about purpose in sin. Hence, it keeps me constantly looking toward him for help. But I also know God desires better for me.
Every time I fall down, the enemy reminds me of how I’ve been "resourced" to death. Resourced to not fall. He uses that to try and convince me that I am far too broken to ever believe I can be loved. If he can rob us of hope, and convince us God doesn’t care about our suffering, our goose is cooked. It’s these thoughts that lead to emotional and psychological death. He tempts, we fall, and then he accuses us of our own brokenness until we have no hope or faith in God's goodness. That’s when he moves in for the kill. That’s when we may very well start entertaining death as our only relief from the suffering of this world. I’ve found there to be suicidal thoughts in my life for years. I think that if I kill myself, the pain will stop and the stress of being lovable or successful will just fade away. And truth is that is correct. The enemy always sprinkles truth over his deception like a creepy candy coating. But what these thoughts blind us from is the mountains of beauty God wants to show us. The healing that can and will take place in our lives if we just stop listening to the enemy’s lies.
Yes, this world sucks! BUT, it doesn’t have to suck all the time. A season of uncomfortable growth does not define our entire lives. I have to stop isolating before refocusing my thought life on truth in order to step away from the hopeless suicidal mindset. It’s a lie, and whenever I feel that stuff, I know I’m staring straight into the eyes of evil itself. I’ve been through this so much that at present, it ignites a knee jerk reaction to start counting my blessings and readjust my focus on heavenly principles. Depression can be a deep dark hole if we choose to live there, but we have a choice and there’s always a way of escape. We just have to apply some of the Biblical truth and trust God. Sin will always bear witness with our flesh and the enemy’s lies will mostly feel true. But this is why God's word directly tells us to not trust our feelings but to only trust his word. The enemy may be very good at showing us the truth about our weaknesses and struggles, but God’s word tells us the truth about Christ’s redeeming blood! Whose report are you going to believe?
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