by: John Park, June 2nd, 2011
Even the best of saints suffer from what’s known as “spiritual depression.” Now, this is not to say that all forms of depression are “spiritual” in nature, but very often (chemical imbalance-caused depression aside), there is a “spiritual” element that is involved.
And when – not if – but when it does, many Christians’ torments are exacerbated by the fact that they don’t know how to process what’s going on. That is, they are thrown into a deep sense of confusion because this issue is rarely, if ever, discussed in Christian circles because it’s often stigmatized.
But the good folks over at Sovereign Grace Ministries have put out this very interesting post in which they convert John Newton’s letters to a depressed pastor into a Q&A of sorts in order to make it more accessible to readers today. You can read the entire post here, but there is one particular part of it in which John Newton essentially teaches those going through spiritual depression how to process it in their minds. He writes:
First: There is an inseparable connection between causes and effects. Indwelling sin is an active cause; and therefore, while it remains in our nature, it will produce effects according to its strength.
So why should I wonder that I can feel no lively exercise of grace, no power to raise my heart to God, any farther than he is pleased to work in me mightily; any more than wonder that I do not find fire in the bottom of a well, or that it should not be day when the sun is withdrawn from the earth?
Second: Humbled I ought to be to find I am so totally depraved—but not discouraged, since Jesus is appointed to me of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and since I find that, in the midst of all this darkness and deadness, he keeps alive the principle of grace which he has implanted in my heart.
Pray this is of some comfort (though I realize not much) to those who are in a season where, as the hymn goes, darkness is hiding his lovely face.
Here are a few other resources I’ve come across recently on the subject:
- Spiritual Depression: It’s Causes and Cure by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I’m about halfway done with the book and it’s been absolutely helpful so far not only in that Lloyd-Jones stays so close to the text in dealing with the issue, but also because he systematically goes through what it actually means to be a Christian (he believes that much of spiritual depression is caused by having a faulty grasp on what it means to be saved by Jesus Christ).
- Depression: A Stubborn Darkness by Ed Welch of CCEF. Here, Ed Welch (along with the rest of CCEF) deal with this issue in a balanced way. There are some who would deny that clinical psychology is of any help to those who need it. But Welch closely looks at the issue without idolizing either position. He looks at some very practical causes of depression (e.g., fear, anger, dashed hopes, failure and shame, guilt and legalism, and death).
- Christians Get Depressed Too by David Murray. I haven’t even cracked open this one yet, but it’s next on my list. But here’s a helpful summary from Ligonier ministries.
No Comments »
by: John Park, February 9th, 2011
Justin Buzzard:
Most of us live life feeling our way towards an action, rather than acting our way towards a feeling. We have it backwards.
Instead, we ought to act our way towards a feeling, trusting that healthy emotions will follow healthy belief and action.
There is no more important arena for exercising this action-precedes-feelings order than in the talking/preaching you do to yourself and others.
The great John Wesley wrestled with this dynamic at a crucial juncture in his ministry. Wesley had come to believe the biblical gospel, to believe the staggering good news of justification by faith alone. This was the gospel he was preaching to himself and to the crowds. His brain believed this gospel, but he wasn’t feeling it and so he doubted whether it would be authentic of him to continue preaching the gospel while lacking the accompanying emotions of joy and feelings of freedom. Fortunately, John Wesley had a friend who gave him a single sentence of counsel that set him free. Below is their historic conversation.
John Wesley: “I see it clearly with my head but I do not feel it, and I had better stop preaching it until I feel it.”
Peter Bohler: “Do not stop preaching it, but go on preaching it until you do feel it.”
Peter Bohler’s ancient counsel to Wesley is my counsel to you, especially when it comes to the discipline of preaching the gospel to yourself and to others.
DO NOT STOP PREACHING IT, BUT GO ON PREACHING IT UNTIL YOU DO FEEL IT!
Today, don’t feel yourself towards an action, act your way towards a feeling. Don’t wait for the joy in order to act, go get the joy! Preach more gospel to yourself. Speak more gospel to others. Do not stop preaching it, but go on preaching it until you do feel it.
No Comments »
by: John Park, January 29th, 2011
It appears that within the blogosphere, there has been a lot of discussion on the topic of “waiting for God” recently. I really don’t know why that might be the case, but by God’s grace, it has been a real source of help and encouragement for me.
Here’s another one by Mark Altrogge, blogger and pastor of a Sovereign Grace Church in Pennsylvania, in which he lists several reasons why it’s good to wait on God. Here’s a list of them:
Waiting helps us realize that we are dependent creatures. We’re not the captain of our souls or in charge of our own destiny. We’re not self-sufficient, but we live by every mercy dispensed from God’s hand.
- He teaches us to seek him
Waiting on God is not passive. As we wait, we seek. We pray, we beseech God. We cry out “How long, O Lord?” We ask, and knock and submit our requests to God. If we got what we wanted right away, we wouldn’t draw near to God and we’d miss out on the joy of his presence.
- He teaches us to trust him
While we’re waiting for God to save our child or meet our needs we stretch our faith to the limit. We trust, though all our circumstances tell us to despair. As we wait, our trust grows.
- He builds patience and perseverance into us
The only way to get patience is to have to wait for something. Perseverance only comes through enduring trials, failures and persecution.
- He reveals what is in our hearts
What comes out of your heart when you don’t get what you want? Grumbling? Hard thoughts of God? Or praise and trust? When you can wait with a quiet heart, you know God has done a work in you.
- He helps us to treasure him above the things we are waiting for
He teaches us to find our contentment in him. He is our portion, not anything in this world. Only Jesus can truly satisfy us. No person or thing that we wait for can satisfy us like Christ.
- He makes mercy sweeter when it finally arrives
We appreciate blessings more when we’ve prayed and trusted and waited for them. We appreciate health more after sickness. And how much more will we enjoy our eternal weight of glory after our temporary, light afflictions.
Click here to read the whole post.
No Comments »
by: John Park, January 14th, 2011
A few weeks ago, I came across this blogpost on theResurgence by David Dorr. The main idea of the blogpost is the following:
“Patience is the settled reality that we are not in control.“
Patience is the settled reality that we are not in control… The Spirit has been graciously calling this insight to mind frequently since then, especially in the darkest of moments. Patience is the settled reality that we are not in control.
By God’s grace, I am beginning to see – not clearly enough! - how this Scriptural insight, namely, that we are not in control, is good news. It’s good news precisely because I am, by God’s grace, beginning to see how not in control I am. And it is then that verses like Philippians 1:6 and Psalm 40:11 make sense – but not only make sense, but also begins to stir my affections for Christ.
Patience is the settled reality that we are not in control.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
[HT: theResurgence]
No Comments »
by: John Park, November 30th, 2010
John Piper gives a much-needed word to us about the necessity (not just the importance) of daily memorizing the Word to sustain our trust, joy, peace in God and love toward God. Here’s a quick excerpt:
Faith feeds on the word of God. Without a steady diet it gets weaker and weaker. If you are dissatisfied with your Christian courage and joy and purity of heart, check the way you are feeding your faith.
Compare the way you eat. Suppose that you start the day with a glass of orange juice. It’s good, and good for you. It takes you maybe five minutes to drink it, if you read the newspaper at the same time. Then you go off to work or school. You don’t eat anything else until the next morning. And you have another glass of juice. And so you go on drinking one glass of juice a day until you drop.
That’s the way a lot of Christians try to survive as believers. They feed their faith with five minutes of food in the morning, or evening, and then don’t eat again until 24 hours later. Some even skip one or two mornings and don’t give their faith anything to eat for days.
Now the effect of starving your faith is that faith starves. Not hard to understand. And when faith is starving, it is weak and not able to do much. It has a hard time trusting God and worshipping and rejoicing and resisting sin. It is gasping and stumbling.
Click here to read the rest.
No Comments »
