ARISE, AND GO ON

                                                            ARISE, AND GO ON

 

If we were never depressed, we would not be alive; It is the nature of rocks never to be depressed.  On the other, a human being is capable of depression; otherwise, we would have no capacity for exaltation.  There are things that depress you in life, and in taking an estimate of yourself, always consider the capacity for depression.

Christ’s disciples fell asleep when they should have stayed awake, and when they realized what they had done, it produced despair and a sense of failure.  But Jesus said to them, “Arise, and let us go on to the next thing.”

 

When we realize that we have not done what we think we should have done or when circumstances threaten to crush in on us, we are apt to think, “This is it; there is no use trying anymore.”  If we imagine this kind of despair is exceptional, we are mistaken; it is a very ordinary human experience. 

 

Even David, whom God called ‘A man after God’s own Heart,’ experienced his time of despair.  He cries out in Psalm 43:5, “Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why are you disturbed within me?   Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God.”   That same man David sings in Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you, O GOD.”

 

There are experiences like this in each of our lives.  We are in despair over the realities of life, and we cannot lift ourselves out of it.  How can we, as Jesus said, “Arise, and go on to the next thing”?  By trusting Him completely and looking ahead to what He has for us.  Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new actions.

 

                                                      Taken in part and paraphrased in part

                                                      From MY Utmost for His Highest by 

                                                      Oswald Chambers