Trading Gloom for Gladness

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither My ways are your ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My word that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55: 8-11


I am so glad that God's thoughts are not my thoughts. I am so glad that He altogether knows me, and still finds a way to love me. I was just thinking that this morning, how great is His patience and mercy and grace toward me to lift my head above the gloom on this earth.

The dark days of winter affect  me and it's easy for me to get overwhelmed with all the bad things that are happening in the world. I just finished a long book about Stalin's daughter and read a fictional book about a man with Alzheimer's. It was downright depressing to learn about the crimes of Stalin and his poor daughter who never seemed to be able to escape from his shadow, no matter how far she ran. The man with the Alzheimer's ended up killing himself by the end of the book.

Suddenly I realized that if I choose to dwell on sadness, there is always plenty of it to go around. Misery sure loves company. Though it felt like the furthest thing from what I wanted to do,  I began to pray yesterday, and I started to praise and thank God for everything, even the so called bad things in my life, and the things I do not understand.  The heavy burden on my back suddenly lifted.

I may not realize why God allowed certain hurtful situations in my life to go on for such a long time. That is OK. He does know the reason, and all I need to do is to keep on trusting Him day by day, minute by minute. One day life in this vale of tears will be over, and I will see Him face to face. My questions will be gone in an instant.

Out of many exhortations in the Word, yesterday I stumbled upon Jude 1:21 which says to "keep yourselves in the love of God." Now what an encouragement that is to a melancholic personality, to always remind myself that God absolutely loves me and proved it by dying  on the cross.  I realized that I had let myself slip further and further from that very thing. It was easy to read about others' misfortunes and get caught up in a kind of morbid curiosity about it all. It is kind of like getting hooked into soap operas, caught up with imaginary characters with no basis in reality.

The end result is sadness. On the other hand, if I dwell on the fact that the devil has been defeated once and for all, I begin to share in the results of Christ's victory over sin and hell and death. I keep telling myself that it really is true, no matter how bad things look, we have read the back of the book and we win if we are in Christ.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." I Corinthians 15:26

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on the things above, not on the things on earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3: 1-3.

It is not boring to think about Christ, if  someone thinks that. Christ is the most interesting and the happiest Person who ever walked the face of this earth, even though He bore all our sorrows. If I dwell on His patience with others, His giving of Himself, His focus on God's will rather than His own, it will eventually rub off on me so that I might have the great privilege of extending a tiny portion of His grace to  weary and battered souls who are desperate in the gloom. It is about letting others see Christ somehow through this body of flesh. It might be just a small glimpse, but that is what I want others to see. And on my final day on this side, I want to say what David said:

"As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake, with Thy likeness." Psalm 17:15

Proclaim Forth His Victory

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

I read in Revelation 11:15 today: "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever."

If God is dwelling in eternity future already, He sees this verse as a done deal. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ already. We are just waiting to see the outward fulfillment of this in time.

Therefore, we can have boldness as we approach the Throne of grace in prayer. We can come to God proclaiming forth His victory over principalities and powers, and the enemy. We don't just have to give him a laundry list of what we want Him to do for us, but praise Him for what is already done.

One of the greatest things I like to thank Him for is wiping out all the transgressions I have committed, that proclaimed me guilty as charged. Colossians 2:13-15 declares:

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

The confession part is for my sake, for He has, according to this verse, forgiven all my sins already. The confession is for relieving my guilty conscience. He hasn't just forgiven mine, but those of the whole world! The only thing that stands between an unbeliever and God is their refusal to believe. But their sin, it has already been paid for. I John 2:2 says:

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

The victory is accomplished! I can praise God for what He has done, knowing it is perfect and complete, and according to the Word, I am also complete in Him.

Colossians 2:9-10 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."

When we face problems, we can approach them with confidence, knowing that Jesus won that day on the cross 2,000 years ago.

John 19:30 "When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And he bowed His head, and gave up His spirit."

The word for finished is #5055 in the Greek Lexicon, teleo. It means: end, goal. To make an end or accomplishment, to complete anything, not merely to end it, but bring it to perfection or its destined goal, to carry it through. (definition from Lexical Aids to the New Testament compiled by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D)

Isn't that great news? When we approach God with our problems, first we can thank Him for the great victory He has wrought through His Son, Jesus Christ. This victory can never be taken away from us.We always have hope as a believer, no matter how great our problems. When we start our prayer with this thought, somehow it takes our mind off the smallness of our problem and onto the greatness of God.

Psalm 111:1-2

"Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in Him."


Let us delight in Him today. Amen.