A Spring of Joy

“How do we get through them? The times that knock the breath out; when even our strongest and bravest must confess with desolate eyes, ‘I do not know what to pray’ (to paraphrase what Paul expresses in Romans 8:26). How do we get through such times when silences trump sentences? It is as if our words have no life jackets. They must stay, tread water in the shallows, and watch us from a distance. Words have no strength to venture with us into the heaving deeps that swallow us…Sometimes our minds want to break because life stomped on us and God didn’t stop it.”

“Perhaps it will comfort you to learn that for a while ‘the very sight of the Bible ‘ made Charles cry. Many of us know what this feels like. But this Scripture passage, Philippians 2:9-11 ‘had such a power upon [his] distressed spirit.

And being found in human form, He [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. (Philippians 2:8-9)

From this Scripture, Charles set the larger story of his hope before us. The same Heavenly Father Who picked up His Son out of the muck, misery and mistreatment can do the same for us.”

(~Zach Eswine, Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Suffer from Depression)

I cannot recommend this book enough, not just for those suffering from depression, but for those who want a picture of what depression is like so they can understand the struggle better. I know I am quiet here lately as I struggle through the new chaos of our life in this cancer battle. I am steeping myself in truth, in words that offer hope and life when my words are gone. He is the larger story of hope. We cling to this.