How does one overcome life's most devastating disease? Let's look at verse six of Psalm 42. Here the servant of the Lord is saying, “Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remem ber thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." Whenever we find ourselves depressed and discour aged, we need to tell the Lord exactly how we feel. The more plain the confession the better and the longer lasting the results. Sup posing you have some malady that requires seeing a physician for medical help. You are not going to tell him your feelings simply in generalities. You should want to be just as specific as possible. That is the only way that he can give you the help that is necessary for your particular situation. The problem with discourage ment is that we become occupied so completely with self. The secret of getting over it is a need we have to be vitally concerned for others. When you stop to think about it there are multitudes of people who are lonely all about us. And yet, for some reason, so many Christians seem to lack em pathy and hesitate to show any sympathy I am not sure who first said it, but this exhortive commen tary really applies here, “Do all of the good you can, to all of the people you can, in all of the ways that you can, just as long as you can!" There is no room for apathy, but rather for action. Take one small step at a time and then two steps the next day, and God will give you the strength that is neces sary, just as He has promised. Let me just suggest that there are ten good rules which have
been passed along to me and which are sure cures for getting rid of the blues: Number one, go out and do something for some one else. And then, repeat that nine times! That is it. Just try it and see how effective activity to help someone else really is. Do you know, many people, those whom we meet every single day, although it may not show on the outside, yet if you could only really know them you would see that they are experiencing inner floods and disasters far more dev astating than any physical storm of the natural atmosphere. It was Francis Ridley Havergal who sug gested these beautiful lines: Seldom can a heart be lonely Then the next thing is to keep a proper perspective. You know, it's easy to get discouraged when we only see everything in a bad light. Right at the top of the list should be our purpose to ask the Holy Spirit to give us some insight into our problems. After all, He is the one who dwells within us. And certainly scripture avows, greater is He that is in us, than he (Satan) who is in the world. And finally, let us make certain that our physical condition has a proper framework; that we are in as good health as possible. Here is this passage the Psalmist says, “ I remember Thee from the land of Jordan." That is really an unusual or strange place to re member the song, “ I Will Not Have to Cross Jordan Alone." The Page 43 If it seeks a lonlier still; Self forgetting, seeking, Only emptier cups to fill. The primary watchword to help us get over discouragement is “acf/oq."
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