From Despair to Joy

The view when an elephant is on your chest.
It's hard to see a way around it.

There are times when despair grabs me by the throat and threatens to strangle me. Even loose clothing feels too tight, an elephant takes up residence on my chest and what is that stabbing me between my shoulder blades? Most of the time I can pinpoint what has brought on the anxiety or despair, but there are times when it strikes out of nowhere. I can feel like I am about to lose my mind. That at any moment, my marbles are all going to go skittering across the floor and I won’t be able to gather them back together. Ever felt that way?

 I recently had one of these episodes complete with a one-person pity party, crying and Kleenex. I was talking with God, pleading my case, begging Him to do something. All was quiet. Too quiet. The next day was busy, with despair lurking and threatening, but half hidden under to-do tasks.  By afternoon; however, it came out of hiding dragging the elephant with it. I grabbed my Bible and retreated to the porch. It was time to do serious battle and I needed the sword of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:16-18a

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Even though I was reading the Bible every day, the “evil one” was shooting flaming darts that were starting to break through and sting. My shield of faith needed reinforcing. My mind needed to stop focusing on the things that were bothering me and focus on the Lord and His word and promises. The thief desires to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). God desires to give peace.

Isaiah 26:3

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

After my time in the Word of God, I felt somewhat better, but keep in mind that feelings are fickle things. We must believe His Word to be true and act on that truth. It takes determination to set our minds on the things of God, instead of feelings, in order to persevere on the path He has placed us on. A path that may not be one we would voluntarily have chosen, yet a path that has surprising joys along the way. Joys that cannot be explained apart from God’s Holy Spirit giving them to us for no apparent reason except that He wants to bring us joy.

That is what I experienced the day after wielding His sword. No circumstances had changed, in fact, a tense situation occurred. Yet, in my inner being there was a true sense of calmness and peace plus a joy that kept bubbling up in my chest and spreading across my face. There was lightness in my step and no elephants or despair in sight. God’s word changed my despair to joy. 

(BTW - Elephants are my favorite animal, but they are mighty heavy!)

If you find yourself in despair with crushing weights holding you down and taking your breath away, turn to Jesus. Grab your Bible or use a Bible app on your phone and crawl out from under the load by the Word of God. He alone can give you perfect peace and joy that worldly cares and struggles can never take away.

Tip:  Start your day with a good dose of God’s Word.

        Take extra doses as needed.

Photos courtesy of pixabay.