Handling pessimism!
Verse for Today: Sunday, January 19, 2014
Psalms 116:7 - Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the
Lord has been good to you.
The society we live in looks at
the future with pessimism. Prophets of doom are everywhere. They paint our
horizon with dark colors to make our outlook cloudy and bleak. We seek in vain for
rays of reassurances and hope through the bleak horizon. Our dearest and
nearest will only convince us how hopeless our situation is. We seek for
comforters, but fail to find anyone. It is then that we look for other avenues
to cling on to or escape. When everything else fails, there is a place of quiet
rest near to the heart of God from where true comfort and encouragement will
come. When there is no one around to talk to or give reassurance, the Spirit of
God speaks to us through our spirit to encourage us. It then works as great
spiritual therapy to our souls. It appears as if we talk to ourselves, but it
is the voice of the Spirit talking to us from within. When we are tossed around
and brutally dealt with by the world and its allies, there is always help and
support coming from God. When the world tries to take away our rest, peace and
tranquility by manipulating situations and employing evil tactics, the still
small voice of comfort from our Lord is echoed in our hearts. His promises are
made to come alive to strengthen us and to give us confidence and courage in
the wake of most hopeless situations. The power of the Spirit of God will take
away all doubt, confusion and discouragement from our hearts. He will remove
all the defeatist tendencies from us. The Psalmists often found relief when the
Spirit spoke to them from their souls to reassure them. It is as if the mirror
image of our souls talking to us as a real person. Our past experiences with
the Lord also come alive to remind us to count our blessings. He takes our
sleeplessness away from us and gives us sound rest and peace that passes all
understanding. We need not fall into the trap of losing our rest and peace
because our Lord understands our situations and has poured out His goodness
upon us.
Dear friend, are you in distress
and finding it difficult to get comfort and encouragement? Is there an air of
pessimism around which discourages you? Are you being isolated by your dark
situations to believe that there is no hope for you? But today you will be
surprised to see how God has already done wonderful things for you which are
all working for you. He wants to remind all His weary and despondent children
not to look at the bleak circumstances, but to look at Him and His promises to
get encouragement. There is every reason for you to be optimistic about your
future because your Lord is working for you to help you meet all challenges in
life. He will not allow you to be hurt and painful, but to have the Lord’s joy
which will give you strength to keep going. He will protect you from slander
and snares of the tongues, traps through words, lies, gossip, distortions and falsehood
that is around. The world slandered our Lord, told every possible lies about
Him, misinterpreted all His utterances and even sang filthy songs about Him in
the pubs of Palestine. David, Joseph, Daniel and Paul went through similar experience.
But today we rest in the Lord, in His promises and in all our experiences in
the past to believe that the Lord will sustain us in perfect peace. When He is
working for our good, we do not need to lose our sleep and rest, but trust in all
that He has done for us. May this be our way to find peace and rest today!
Matthew 11:29 - Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Thought for Today
Appropriating the goodness of God is the secret of
happiness.
Prayer for Today
Dear Lord Jesus: Guard my heart from pessimism and help me to see
rays of hope in Your promises. Amen!
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