), o n q u e n n c j oLJep re& ò ion By Arthur Hedley Dunstable, England
c
C V )
v/i
*“ Jl
*
O FTEN we Christians suffer from moods of depression which make life burdensome and work weari some. At such times all seems to go wrong, and what we do seems futile. We feel that all the powers of evil are con spiring together to bring about our downfall. However, there is some con solation in the fact that the most intel ligent and successful men of all ages have not been exempt from these moods of depression, or worse still, of dark de spair, when they have been ready to abandon even life itself. Elijah, one of the mightiest of the Old Testament prophets, could rise to great heights of faith and cour age, and then sink into the deepest depths of misery. On Mount Carmel, we see him denouncing the evil king of Israel, slaying the false prophets of Baal, and leading the people back to worship of the true God. Then the pagan wife of King Ahab threatened to destroy him, and the fearless prophet lost all his faith and courage, and fled into the wilderness. All of his interest in life and in the cause of the Lord were gone, and he longed for death to put an end to such a useless life. Seated beneath a juniper tree, “he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now 0 Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers” (1 Ki. 19:4). When all seems in vain, remember yours is no isolated case; you belong to a noble company of saints, scholars, statesmen, musicians, artists, writers, of worthy men and women in every walk of life. He who has never had a fit of depression can hardly be reckoned as human. Rabbi Duncan, the greatest Hebrew scholar in Scotland of his time, tells of a red-letter day in his life, when he discovered the reality of God. “When I knew there was a God,” he said, “ I danced upon the Brig O’ Dee with delight!” But we are also told of another occasion, when in a season of black doubt, he descended from his teach er’s platform and, putting his hand on the shoulder of his most ordinary stu dent, besought him to unfold to him the plan of salvation. Page Twenty
But while life’s varying moods are part of our common humanity, this is no reason why Christians should be mastered by them. In this too we are to be “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37). It is gloriously possible to cultivate healthy moods which will completely transform our outlook on life, and have most bene ficial effects on our bodies, minds and spirits. Hopefulness, cheerfulness and trustfulness can be expressed by us all, but they are not the work of a day, and we must be prepared for many disappointments. Our dark moods are often large plants grown from our own small seedlings. A thousand trifles shaken off sunnily or carried gloomily result in a fixedly sunny or gloomy soul. No matter what our age, it is not too late to cultivate a sunnier and healthier outlook on life. A discerning poet wrote: “ My mind to me a kingdom is, such per fect joy therein I find.” He realized the sovereign power given to him by God to choose the effect his circumstances had upon his soul. His mind controlled his outlook, his interpretation of wealth or poverty, so he could say, “ Thus I tri umph like a king, content with what my mind doth bring.” We can all exercise rule over the mind and choose what thoughts, what moods, we shall entertain or reject, nour ish or starve through inattention. We cannot get away from fact—the fact that the day is cold, damp and dismal; the fact that we suffer from some dis abling handicap; the fact that the world is full of trouble and chaos; but we can choose what color to give to those facts. Our interpretation of outward happenings is the all-important thing. We can say, “ What a miserable day!” or “ This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psa. 118:24). That brave, cheery soul, Dan Crawford, who lived and died for his beloved African negroes, wrote in Thinking Black: “ To see the advantage of a disadvantageous situation is worth more than an income of 10,000 pounds.” Yes, that man is indeed rich, who has cultivated the habit of looking on the bright side. When things go wrong with
us, we can either take a pessimistic or hopeful view. We may even be grateful and full of thanskgiving. In trouble, Jacob cried out despairingly “ All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36), but Paul, who had more griefs and cares than any man (2 Cor. 11:23; 12:10), testified with cheerful confidence, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28). Some of the world’s greatest sufferers have amazed the world by their courage, confidence, cheerfulness and by their achievements. Think of the gaiety of that life-long sufferer Robert Louis Ste venson; of the amazing courage of Sir Walter Scott after his bankruptcy; the astounding achievements of Helen Kel ler. Lord Inman tells us that when he became secretary of Charing Cross Hos pital, the tragic cases which came under his notice filled him with dark despair. His Christian faith became a myth, God a ghastly illusion. He ceased to read his Bible, to pray, to attend church or to believe in God. One day, while passing through a ward, he overheard two patients. One re marked, “ It is easy to believe in Jesus Christ in a hospital.” He stood amazed— “ Easy to believe!” Why, it was the place where he had lost his faith! He stopped and asked the man what he meant. “Why,” was the reply, “this is just the kind of thing Jesus did, ‘He went about doing good.’ If there had been no Christ, there would be no hospitals.” Lord In man recovered his faith in the very place where he lost it, and afterwards testi fied, “ I have seen men changed in every cell of their being. In the shadow of death, fear has been banished and a courage found which is sublime. I have seen men skeletonized by tuberculosis who have gone over the top with a song on their lips; I have seen victims of can cer greet the unseen with a cheer.” Many of us allow trivialities to cast us into a dark mood, while sorely handi capped souls who have every reason to be sad are full of faith, cheer and courage. Some Christians think they have the right to be despondent when things go (Continued on Page SO) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Made with FlippingBook HTML5