Its CAUSE andCURE
tic. She refused to acknowledge her sin o f rebel lion and continued to prescribe her own cure for “ healing this life-long disease.” She obviously was not aware that she had a far greater problem than her lifelong illness—namely, rebellion—and that God was using her sickness to help her real ize her sin. Instead of repenting o f her sin by the simple method I prescribed and seeking God’s grace to live with her illness (I Cor. 12:9), she persist ed in her rebellion. Today she is confined to a mental institution because her depression has be come so severe she has lost touch with reality. This is a rare case, but it nevertheless illustrates the fact that rebellion leads to depression. Even though this is a severe illustration, minor rebel lion can likewise lead to minor periods of depres sion. P sychological L etdown There is a natural psychological letdown when ever a great project has been completed. A very energetic and creative individual can be happy and contented while working toward a long range goal. But when the goal is completed, it is often followed by a period of depression because the individual has not been able to mount another project to suc ceed the one he has concluded. This could well ex plain why many ministers leave their churches within six months after completing a building pro gram. As I look back at my own life, I find that the only times I have had “ itchy feet” and thought my ministry in a church finished was right after a long building program. Little did I realize that this was the natural reaction to the termination of a long-range project. The feeling o f depression was eliminated when new projects and higher goals were set to replace those completed. Elijah, the great prophet, had a similar experience after call ing down fire from heaven and slaying 450 proph ets of Baal. He sat down under a juniper tree “ . . . and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, 0 Lord, take Continued on page Uh
R ebellion and U nbelief T he 79 th P salm shows the way in which Israel seriously limited God by their rebellious un belief. God’s limitation, because they refused to trust Him in their rebellion, caused them to be depressed with their circumstance. The terms un belief and rebellion are used interchangeably in this instance, for unbelief leads to rebellion and rebellion leads to unbelief. If man really knows God as He is, he will believe Him implicitly. But because his faith is so weak, he has a tendency to rebel against the testings or the leading of the Lord, and rebellion and unbelief lead to depression. Some years ago a very fine Christian worker came to me for counselling. She was already in the deep throes of apathy caused by depression. As I counselled with her, I found she was hostile to ward many people, very bitter, and rebellious to ward God. It seems that some well-meaning but ill-guided friend convinced her that they should have a special healing service for her that she might be “healed” o f a life-long illness. Such a meeting was held and she was declared “ healed.” She immediately discarded her medication and went around telling everyone of the marvelous work of God. For some time she had no ill effects from the cessation of her medication, and then suddenly, without warning, she was gripped in the titanic vise of that life-long disease. She returned to her doctor and resumed her medication, which arrested that problem. Nothing, however, has been invented to arrest the problem of her rebellion (ex cept acknowledging it as an awful sin and asking God to take it away). In the course of our counsel ling, she acknowledged that she was angry at God because He had not healed her the way she wanted Him to. She had not prayed in the will of God; instead, she had prayed in her own will, demand ing that God answer her prayer exactly as she prescribed. Because He did not, she turned in un believing rebellion against Him, and in her frus tration grew progressively depressed and apathe
TH E KING'S BUSINESS
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