HOPE WHEN YOU ARE DEPRESSED . . . by the Greatness of Your Problems

What hope is there for your future? What situation in your life seems impossible?

If your hope is in this world, there is none. But to those who are depressed God gives hope for the future through the vision of His glory.

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When you read your Bible, do you read to familiarize yourself with the facts? Do you read to grow in your knowledge of the truth? Do you read it so you can live by and obey it, that you might be blessed? Despite these good intentions, could it be you are stopping short of the ultimate purpose of God’s Word, which is to reveal God so you can know Him personally?

Sometimes, when faced with great problems, our tendency is to focus on the hands of God—what He has not done for us and what we want Him to do for us—instead of focusing on the face of God—simply who He is. Our depression can deepen through this kind of self-preoccupation.

Often, in the midst of great problems, we stop short of the real blessing God has for us, which is a fresh vision of who He is. When we stop focusing on our problems and on ourselves and focus instead on our almighty and omnipresent God, our problems, as the old hymn promises, “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Patient endurance helps us overcome the depression caused by the greatness of our problems because it gives us the opportunity to grow in our knowledge and personal relationship with the One who is our hope.

Have you grown so impatient, wanting your problems solved now, that you are missing the vision of His glory God has for you? Stop the pity party, stop the complaining, stop the destructive self-analysis and the impatient struggle with God’s will. Get your eyes off yourself, your problems, your circumstances, and look to the face of Christ!

Would you even in the midst of the greatness of your problems, praise Jesus Christ for who He really is. Make a list of His attributes to help you focus as you worship the One who is more than wonderful!