Skip to main content

“Despair not only takes us to the wrong place, but it keeps us from going forward.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, (2006-11-14) from his book, Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit (p. 106). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Have you found that to be true?   You have let something rob you of your hope and your joy and you’re not sure if you want to go on.  That is a horrible place to be but it is not a place you need to stay.  There is always hope.

Now if it is something that you can do something about then set out to do it. There is always, always something that can be done.  You must understand that and believe that.  For the most part despair is a focus problem.   We get our eyes on the negatives of life; those circumstances that we think can’t be changed.  But in every negative there is always something that can be changed.   Even if it is just my attitude, change that and your perspective changes. 

The purpose of despair is to keep you from doing anything.  I love the Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible.  I read one every day.  One of the reasons why I read one is to keep me focused on how to keep me from despair.  David is the writer of many of the Psalms and he usually starts with some lament.  He starts in despair but by the end of the Psalm he changes his focus from the problem and starts focusing on who God is and what He has done in the past and what He can do in the future.  He changes his focus his perspective. 

Now as you change your focus to God He will show you some things you need to change and He then will give you the motivation and the strength to make the change.   He gives you hope which comes from faith in Him and His purpose for your life.

So start there.   Just go to Him, ask Him to come into your life, believe that He hears you and confess your sins to Him.  Then specifically ask Him about your despair.  Where is it coming from and what can I do about it?  Matthew 7:7 (NASB) says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be given to you.”   If you accept that as a word directly from God and you do what it says, then your despair will go away and your hope will come. 

“Despair not only takes us to the wrong place, but it keeps us from going forward.”

So are you going to ask Him? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...

“Sometimes we think we’re stuck simply because things are hard.”

A thought by Matt Perman, from his book, How to Get Unstuck (p. 52). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the That is a possible trap for many, isn’t it? Matt says, “But if you’re continuing to make progress and aren’t experiencing huge snags, you’re not stuck. Rather, you’re in a dip. “A dip is a temporary hard slog that you will get through if you keep pushing and don’t give up. And pushing through the hard slog is actually the fastest route to the destination. In these cases, you will be especially tempted to bail. Be discerning and able to identify that you’re in a legitimate dip and you’re not a failure.” Matt says another trap to be careful of, “Some people are stuck and don’t know it.” He goes on, “Everything can be going your way, going smoothly, and going quickly. Everything feels and seems wonderful. Yet... you are still headed toward a dead end, a form of getting stuck, if you are leaving God out of t...