 Given today’s daily events, we can often feel as if we are walking through a field of land mines. These feelings may stir up chronic depression or fear. On top of these unwanted annoyances, a crisis may be swirling around us that causes great physical and emotional pain. For example, ill-treatment, shame, sickness, unstable finances, a recent loss of a loved one or friend, a long-term mental condition like PTSD, or a hereditary mental disorder. Over a prolonged period, any one of these lethal gremlins may lead to depression, drugs, or even suicide. Depending upon the severity, they might be expressed as suffering. There are multiple definitions of suffering, but among the most easily recognizable descriptions are: sad, tormented, miserable, and in pain. If you experience suffering, your major focus becomes ridding yourself of the pain associated with its arrival. Will addictive drugs, alcohol, psychologist prescribed drugs or sex be the answer? It’s unlikely. They only function in the way a room freshener would temporarily cover an odor that will eventually drift to the surface. Throughout biblical history, there have been numerous stories of suffering. People endured hatred, bigotry, persecution, crucifixion, jealousy, poverty, financial ruin, hunger, lies, imprisonment, and incurable illness. However, the good news was the outcome of victory within each account. No one wants to experience chronic pain of any kind. When we experience emotional pain, depression is always waiting in the wings to make its entrance into our souls. It is a dark and unkind enemy to faith. For this reason, the principle of suffering is one of the most difficult to accept as part of our life journey. Choosing a different view of suffering will equip us with a powerful weapon to expel depression. When negative circumstances arise, accept them as God’s way of changing our inward character, thinking, attitude, and our hearts. By now, some of you are cynically thinking that’s just “religious mush.” I get that--I really do! Just remember that God loves us unconditionally. He wants us to have an “abundant life.” (John 10:10) There are no rewards for Him in allowing us to suffer needlessly. He does not need us to supply anything to Him, but He does desire that we recognize Him as our source for every need. If you are a parent, you want to train and discipline your children. Would you buy them ice cream and chocolate bars every time they were unruly? No! You want to support them in learning the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. They must be able to experience an uncomfortable consequence from you for their behavior. They will gain wisdom from your chastening. God’s discipline always protects and restores.
God has provided a one-of-a-kind antidote against depression. Suffering allows God to develop character, creativity, wisdom, patience, and faith within us. While waiting on Him to eliminate the negative circumstance or situation, we are not Humpty Dumpty wall sitters. Instead, we focus on noteworthy and admiral things that cause a change in our thoughts and companions. Avoid ceaseless negative thinking that becomes permanent interference with God’s purpose and plans for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) Let the grace and love of God sustain you in all things. Thank Him for shaping and molding you; thank Him for strengthening and disciplining you and, most of all, rejoice in the magnificent creation you will become! 
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 For many, the economic trend of the country has become quite challenging. According to recent reports, the cost of living for the average family has increased an extra $276. Recently, I heard a metaphorical remark that someone had to sell one of their children to buy gas. Although this might sound humorous, feeding your family and avoiding homelessness is no laughing matter. One of the most common phrases “living from paycheck to paycheck” should only be spoken during a scene from an afternoon soap opera. Instead, it has taken a lead role in today’s economic drama. Anxiety and fear have swept in like a cold winter wind, and doubt in the faithfulness and promises of God looms in our minds like an endless video. Some of us may have faced this situation or similar ones in the past. For others, this may be a new experience. But really, it does not matter. There is no breach in the covenant God made with mankind. God’s covenant was sworn to by none greater than Himself. (Hebrews 6:13) He would be a liar if He broke His own Word. That would be a conundrum since it is impossible for Him to lie. (Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18) God’s promises are guaranteed through His covenant. God would never leave the care of His creations and the fulfillment of His promises in the hands of mankind. He is the only one who is able and who will fill every need. (Philippians 4:19) Contracts made by His creations contain buckets of clauses and loopholes, making them debatable and subject to change. Even our great Constitution is frequently subject to the decision of a nine-judge panel. Quite often when we speak of His promises, our minds quickly create images of a “get out of debt” windfall, a line of credit, or an entitlement based on notions of deserving. We have been conditioned to believe that economic success is based on wealth, ownership, fame, and pleasure. Flash!!! It is time to alter this view. Although His promises are secure, they come with certain accessories of responsibility:
There is nothing in this three-dimensional world that can compete with, or rival God’s promises—health, prosperity, peace, love, success, healing, forgiveness, and eternal life. (3 John 2; John 3:16; Joshua 1:7). However, the fruit of His covenant is only released when we bypass the shaky road and choose the narrow road where we are guaranteed a bumper harvest. Our daily endurance and our eternal existence depend upon our choice!  Prisons are places of confinement for people convicted of serious crimes. All who are incarcerated are presumed to be guilty of some misconduct. Have you ever imagined how you would feel living in prison? Such a thought clearly falls in the category of a nightmare. Prison conditions vary depending upon the state or country in which they are located. In Biblical times the treatment of prisoners varied according to the character of the offense. Hard labor and physical mutilation were not uncommon. Such practices still exist in certain countries of the world. Prisons in many parts of the world are more humane and, in some cases, resemble mini residences. Nevertheless, among others, there remain complaints of prisoner abuse, unsafe conditions, severe overcrowding, and dirty conditions. Prison sentences often carry extended verdicts—fifteen years, twenty years, and even life imprisonment. Specific offenses define lesser sentences. Except for breathing, every aspect of life inside the prison walls (eating, sleeping, dressing, free or “yard” time), is a decision controlled by the “keepers” of the prison. There is no freedom for prisoners. They are condemned. As we approach two of our most sacred celebrations, we become mindful that they both represent freedom. Passover (Pesach) is the Jewish celebration of freedom from Egyptian bondage and slavery by the hand of God. Forced to serve Pharoah without pay and under inhumane conditions, the Israelites feared the domination of Pharoah’s cruel taskmasters who heaped upon them unimaginable tasks of work until they dropped from exhaustion. They were condemned to a life of imprisonment. God’s extraordinary intervention caused the “Angel of Death” to “pass over” every Jewish household. They escaped death. Through a series of miracles performed by God through Moses, God’s chosen leader, the Israelites were miraculously freed from Egyptian bondage. During Nisan, the beginning month of the Jewish calendar, the Jewish people remember and celebrate how God delivered their people from the bondage of the Egyptian slave master, Pharoah. Christians, throughout the world, will also celebrate this April their freedom from condemnation and bondage caused by guilt, shame, and a polluted mind and spirit. As they celebrate the events leading to the resurrection of their risen Savior (His death and burial), it symbolizes for them a future filled with freedom, rescue, and redemption. God provided a Mediator who stands between flawed man and Himself. Unlike human prison keepers who control every inch of prison existence, the Holy Keeper wraps everyone, without interruption, in eternal love and provides the breath of life and freedom for all His creations. There is no need to despair or be depressed—“If the son has set you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Forever Resurrected Elevated Evermore Divine Oversight Mediator |
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