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You realize you will never know what kind of grandparent you would have been, what kind of birthday parties you would have hosted, special outings you would have planned, spoiling you would have done and dreams you’d have helped fund. But you think you would have been a good one.
Understanding these truths can guide sufferers back to their hope in Christ when they need it most. In Sarah’s case, a gradual and careful walk through Scripture with compassionate church leaders was life-giving. As she wrestled to see the realities of her depression through a biblical lens, Sarah learned to trust God’s sovereignty and mercy, to express her despair through lament, and to lean on the church for support.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
Optimism and pessimism are sometimes portrayed as two ends of a one-dimensional spectrum, with “realism” as the rational, sensible midpoint. A good Christian alternative to optimism and pessimism is to ditch the spectrum entirely and focus on hope.
We all have tendencies toward and moments of optimism and pessimism, and I suspect this is due to our personalities and experiences. What I’m critiquing below is the extreme versions of optimists and pessimists.
The Optimist
An optimist will always “expect the most favorable outcome.” They see good things around every corner and are quick to point out the silver lining to the storm cloud.
When combined with Christianity, this sort of optimist can be hard to talk to. They know God has a purpose behind every difficult turn of events; they urge others to think about the ultimate good God has in store, even when the suffering is great.
While well-intentioned, this optimistic approach leaves little room for lament and grief in the face of sadness and suffering. An optimist is so uncomfortable with pain that they rush themselves and their friends through it. But God may have holy intentions in that pain.
Taken to its extreme, optimism blunts the effects of sin and the curse, and this leaves little need for Jesus. If everything is going to turn out well, why did the Son of God become a man? Why did he suffer and die?
Counsel for the optimist
Christians can affirm some of the optimist’s instincts: for those who trust in the Lord, there certainly is good ahead! However, God has not promised good at every turn. Because sin really exists and the world is not yet made new, there may be prolonged seasons of sadness, frustration, confusion, and failure. When a Christian experiences these seasons, it does not mean they are far from God; God often uses these dark times to remind his children who he is and what he has promised.
The Pessimist
In stark contrast, the pessimist will expect the least favorable outcome in any situation. They are always braced for catastrophe and see a cloud behind every silver lining.
A pessimist sees an inevitability to disaster and distress, and when it comes, they wear I-knew-it like a badge of honor.
Within the church, a pessimist can be difficult to befriend. As they focus on the bad and dismiss the good, it is hard to enjoy the gifts of God with them.
Pessimists may have hope in heaven, but they are convinced there will be little to smile about until then. They are frequently bitter and cynical in their approach to life, and they may begin to question God’s goodness and his love.
Counsel for the pessimist
I would affirm this part of the pessimist’s beliefs: there really are terrible things that happen in life. However, we should not expect everything to be bad! The Lord God is sovereign; he has given us good to look forward to but he also brings good into our lives now.
Hope is a Christian Alternative
Both optimism and pessimism describe ways of looking at the future, and both are unhealthy in some respects. I’ll offer the lens of Biblical hope as a robust alternative.
Hope is the eager expectation that God will keep his promises. This means that if we are to be hope-filled people, we need to know what God has promised, not just what we think or wish he had promised. This is one of many reasons Christians are to be people of the Bible—the Scriptures are where we learn about God’s promises.
Growing in Hope
While hope should characterize Christians (Romans 15:12-13), this is something God grows within us. We are not born again brimming with a tank full of hope.
As we get to know God by his Spirit and through his word, we see how trustworthy he is. Faithfulness is an essential part of his character. And when we repeatedly read the promises he has made to us, we learn to trust him. We begin to see with eyes of faith just how good it will be when those promises are realized.
This doesn’t settle every question or make every outcome sure, but when we trust in the God who governs all things and when we know he is undeniably in our corner, we can face the future with great hope.
If I hadn’t grown up in a community that loved hospitality, I wouldn’t naturally think of having people over for a meal. I can cook, but most of what I make is not that exciting. I love beingwith others, but too much social interaction exhausts me.
Despite those excusesand the uncertainties children add to the picture, we’ve chosen to prioritize hospitality. This is in part because of the joy it’s brought to our lives but also because Scripture commands us to.
In the end, we should thank God when he doesn’t give us the desires of our heart or the thing that we prayed for. We should trust that he knows best. He knows what work for his kingdom we are best suited to and what blessings would be more a snare to our hearts than for our ultimate good. Let us give thanks for those things God keeps us from and let us pay attention, if and when we get them and they prove to be hard, that the thing itself may be a judgement upon us.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
But what about the Jews? Isn’t it the case that the Bible repeatedly affirms that the Jews as a people were responsible—perhaps uniquely responsible—for killing Jesus? After all, the crowd in Jerusalem, in clamoring for Jesus to be crucified and for Barabbas to go free, exclaimed, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matt. 27:25). Even if the statement is unpopular, aren’t we obliged to say with the Bible that the Jews killed Jesus?
The short answer is: It depends.
Cling to the Light: How to Cope When Suffering with Depression
This article may be helpful for some in our church family, and it may be helpful for others who have friends and family members in this situation. Kathryn Butler offers counsel for Christians suffering with depression.
Dear friend, if you’re among those who cry out to God and yearn for his comfort, know you’re not alone. Your walk in the darkness cannot hide you from the Light of the World (John 8:12). Even when you can’t feel his presence, Jesus remains with you until the end of the age (Matt. 28:20), and nothing—not your shame, your despair, or the agony of depression—can separate you from his love (Rom. 8:38–39).
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
Fad diets exist because healthy diets are boring. We don’t like to hear about vegetables and exercise; we’d rather lose ten pounds in a week by taking some radical step.
But fad diets don’t work. The most reliable path to a healthier body is the one doctors have been recommending for decades.
Ordinary Means
So it is with our spiritual lives. We think mountaintop experiences will provide the jolt we need to grow closer to God.
But the truth is both more mundane and more wonderful. We don’t need to climb the mountain; God has come down! By his Son and by his Spirit, he dwells with his people. As a consequence, God uses ordinary means to make us grow.
Four Ingredients
My recent Bible reading has shown me four ingredients of Christian growth. (This list isn’t comprehensive.)
The Word
God’s word gives us growth.
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. (1 Peter 2:1–3, NASB)
We need the Bible like newborn babies need milk: desperately!! Surely you’ve seen a hungry baby. We should long for God’s word with the same urgency. Without the Bible, we simply won’t grow.
Community
God has created a healthy interdependence within the church.
God gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:11–12). God gives people to equip the saints, and the purpose is the body’s growth.
The goal of this building up is “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Paul wants us to aim for “mature manhood” and “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). In the growth of the body, we will find maturity, fullness, and unity. Notice that Paul mentions “knowledge” specifically, so community is not just about emotional support. We are to help each other grow in understanding as well.
We are to grow past the adolescent stage, where we are “tossed to and fro by the waves.” Instead, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph 4:14–15). Much has been written about the phrase speaking the truth in love, but in context it must involve steadying, correcting help that leads to growth. By definition, this cannot be done in isolation.
The “whole body” is “joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped.” Every single part of the body is necessary to join and hold it together, and “when each part is working properly,” the body grows and “builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:16). Every part of the body is necessary for the body’s growth, and no part grows without the body.
Repentance
Christians are not to walk as the Gentiles walk. Instead, they have been taught
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22–24)
This is the process of repentance. Note the three distinct parts: put off, be renewed, put on. We identify and turn away from our sin, we remember our new God-given identity, and we adopt the godly behavior or thought that replaces sin. To help us, Paul lists five examples of this repentance in Eph 4:25–32.
Beholding the Lord
There is a glory present in the new covenant that was veiled in the old. The veil keeping people from God is removed for those who turn to Christ.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17–18)
As we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed from glory to glory. Though “beholding” sounds mysterious, it must include a few actions.
We cannot behold the Lord without delighting in the Bible, the unique place where we hear of Christ’s glorious work. We meditate on God’s glory—thinking about his character and work, thanking him for his love and grace, anticipating the excellencies of his presence. The word leads to our meditation which leads to prayer.
Powerful Means of Growth
It may not be flashy, but God faithfully causes growth from the most ordinary of means: regular Bible intake, membership in a local church, repentance of sin, and beholding the glory of the Lord in meditation and prayer.
God takes weak and ordinary people and uses them in extraordinary ways. He does the same with the ordinary ingredients of Christian growth. They may not be radical, but they are powerful.
The message is consistent throughout all of these passages. God is not working to deliver to you your personal definition of happiness. If you’re on that agenda page, you are going to be disappointed with God and you are going to wonder if he loves you. God is after something better—your holiness, that is, the final completion of his redemptive work in you. The difficulties you face are not in the way of God’s plan, they do not show the failure of God’s plan, and they are not signs he has turned his back on you. No, those tough moments are a sure sign of the zeal of his redemptive love.
Social Media (and Overprotective Parents) Changed Childhood
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
He’s an artisan baker who crafts fresh loaves each day, not a mere delivery truck driver. Our Father knows what we need better than we do. He gives us better provision than a stockpile. He gives it daily so we’ll keep coming back to him. After all, he’s the best gift.
Warblers and the Question of Gratuitous Beauty
This is an especially appropriate link for the springtime. Kevin Burrell is a birder and he writes about how the “gratuitous beauty” of the warbler points to God as an extravagant Creator.
If God reveals himself in both Word and world, shouldn’t we expect to encounter instances of lavishly prodigal beauty in creation as well as redemption? Look up. There are warblers in the trees, each adorned with prodigal artistry. As artist and writer Makoto Fujimura says, “Beauty is a gratuitous gift of the creator God; it finds its source and its purpose in God’s character. God, out of his gratuitous love, created a world he did not need because he is an artist.”
This week on the blog we published an article written by Charissa Rychcik called Immanuel: God with Us. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
I recently read the book Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel. The book is helpful in outlining a strategy to journal intimately with God. Although I enjoyed reading about the strategy and have practiced it a few times, the bigger take away from the book for me was a deep dive into Exodus 3:7-8a (emphasis mine).
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
God not only saw and heard his people. He cared for them and ensured he was with them. He also showed compassion towards them by doing something for them.
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Therefore, this same God sees us, hears us, knows us, is with us, and will do something for us in our times of struggle!
God sees
God sees us without judgment. He sees our smiles and our tears. He sees our stomachs in knots, our pacing, our nail biting, and kind gestures towards others. As Genesis 16:13 reminds us, God sees all of us. “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
God hears
God not only hears our verbal utterances, but he hears our thoughts and words unspoken. He hears our sighs and grumbles, and he hears our thanks and praises. While listening, he does not condemn us and continues to love us. Isaiah 6:24 reiterates the promise that God hears us. “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
God knows and understands
God understands how big and hard our challenges are. He does not minimize our struggles and continues to care for us. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
God is with us
One of God’s names is Immanuel, which means God with us. He met the Israelites in their time of struggle, and he does the same for us. He is glad to be with us and treats our weaknesses tenderly. Psalm 139:1 gives us reason to rejoice in this promise. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”
God cares for us tangibly
God moved the people out of Egypt; he tangibly met their needs. We can lean on the many Scriptural promises that God cares for us and will meet our needs. Romans 8:31 is one example of many promises. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Immanuel
I’m grateful to serve a God who takes the time to intimately know me. He could be a God who only rules perfectly from heaven, and yet he makes himself known to me through Christ and the Holy Spirit by knowing the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:31), knowing me before I was created in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), and being a God who is true to his Scripture promise in Exodus 3. He is a God who sees me, hears me, knows and understands me, is with me, and cares for me. Alleluia!
