Faith

Faith

Decision making is hard. Sometimes it is such a hard decision; you don’t want to make that decision. Maybe you are afraid of the answer. Maybe you are scared about what a person will say. Maybe you are just afraid that you have bugger in your nose. Whatever is going on in your head, you just can’t make that decision.

The reason you are scared is because you don’t know the future. It is uncertain, and there is no way you can be sure of it. But Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Is says that we know for a fact that something will happen even though we it is uncertain, it might not happen, or because you can’t even see past your front two feet. Here is an example.

Luke 8:43-48

43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, ⁴⁴ came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me." ⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

Now this lady pushed through the crowd just to touch Jesus and be healed. Know she didn’t truly know if this would actually happen. Maybe she heard a rumor from someone and that this would happen and that’s why she believed. No matter what was going on in her head one thing is for sure, she believed that Jesus would heal her and he did. It was her faith that healed her. Her belief in Jesus healing her was so great that it actually happened.

Probably most of you are not facing this right now. I don’t think any of you have a deadly illness where you need to be healed, but some of you do need step up in faith. Maybe its really believing that God will bless you. Maybe its believing in God when no else is. Sometimes you just need to put all that stuff behind you and go for it. Believe that God is bigger than your problem. Believe that God is the almighty God who can change your situation, sadness, stress, or troubles. That is faith. Push through the crowd. I know that if you just touch Jesus, you will be healed of whatever is going on.

Being Depressed

State of Depression:

            Depressive mood, cheerlessness

            Loss of interest, fatigue, loss, of energy

            Psychomotoric retardation/ agitation

            Inability to think clearly, concentration difficulties, indecisiveness

            Feelings of guilt, worthlessness

            Sleeping disorders

            Appetite & weight loss

Thoughts of death/ suicide, suicidal attempts

1Kings 19:1 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel what Elijah had done and that he had slaughtered the prophets of Baal. ² So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods also kill me if by this time tomorrow I have failed to take your life like those whom you killed.”

³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ Then he went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”

⁵ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.”

⁸ So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

            This is depression at its finest in the Bible. Elijah had just killed hundreds of Baal’s prophets. He proved that God is thee god of the world by lighting a wet Bull on by just praying. He has just done something great. But now he is running for his life in fear. He is so scared that he gets depressed. In verse 4 he has suicide thoughts. He hates his life. In verses 6-7 it shows that he has lost his appetite and has not eaten enough for his journey.

            I know some of you have faced situations like this. You feel like you have ran into a dead end and you don’t know how to escape. Maybe you have every symptom of depression, but you think it is too late.

            If you know Elijah you know that he is one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. This army went to him and said, “hey Man of God, come down.” He replied, “if I am a Man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume you.” That happened like 3 times. He killed like 153 people in all. If Elijah decided that his life was not worth it any more that would not have happened. Israel would have continued to rebel against God, and we would probably not be here right now.

Don’t allow situations to overcome you.  

            You have control over your life. Yeah mistakes happen and trouble comes, but you still have today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life to have fun. If John Elway dropped his head every time it seemed like life sucked, he would not have won three Super Bowl rings, gone into the hall of fame, and be nicked name the come back kid. You guys are great. Don’t let anyone ever tell you anything less. For God created you to be the best you. Me, I think I have made the best of opportunity given to me. I can play a lot sports, have a lot of knowledge on guy things, and have that confidence that not a lot people can take from me. The same goes with you guys. What are you good at? What do you want to be good at? What do want out of this world? There are so many things that the world offers. There are things to see, things to do, and things to have. But how can you ever experience any of that if you give up?

Understand the situation, with a good attitude

2 Samuel 12:13  Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. ¹⁴ But you have given the enemies of the Lord great opportunity to despise and blaspheme him, so your child will die.”

¹⁵ After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord made Bathsheba’s baby deathly ill. ¹⁶ David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. ¹⁷ The leaders of the nation pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. ¹⁸ Then on the seventh day the baby died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He was so broken up about the baby being sick,” they said. “What will he do to himself when we tell him the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the baby dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied. ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and ate. ²¹ His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the baby was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the baby is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”

²² David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet that his name should be Jedidiah—“beloved of the Lord”—because the Lord loved him.

            David was sad. He was borderline depressed. But he cried to God hoping that God would change the situation. Then when he couldn’t change anything anymore, he went back and did his thing. Did he give up? No. He understood that he was being punished and that he couldn’t do anything anymore. He couldn’t bring the child back to life.

            In your life and in the situations you face, there is a difference between giving up, and knowing when you can’t do anything anymore. Think through every situation with a clear mind and move on when you need to.

Pray and give that hurt to God

Psalm 102

            Praying and telling God how you feel is allows good too. Reading the Psalms is also good. I can’t explain what it is, but knowing that someone else feels the way I do, makes me feel better. The Psalms do that. Giving it to God is reaching for that help as well. 

“A God who overcomes you with love, not a God of rules & prohibitions. This was a God who, if you ask, forgives you no matter how far down in the well you are. If I didn’t believe that I couldn’t live.” Kenyon.