Hopeful Reminder

Introduction

C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia series, once said, “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say, ‘My tooth is aching,’ than to say, ‘My heart is broken.’”

He wrote these words in 1940, but today, 80 years later, “mental pain” is still a burden many people carry, and “broken hearts” are still difficult to talk about. In fact, did you know that more teenagers struggle with depression today than ever before in the history of our country? This is alarming! And because of that, many people are afraid to talk about the issues of depression and anxiety. Sadly, this includes many churches.

But the Bible isn’t afraid to go there. It may not use the same language we do today. The book of Ecclesiastes doesn’t say, “Solomon was depressed,” but he says multiple times, “Everything is meaningless,” so you can sort of connect the dots. The Bible doesn’t say, “Elijah was suicidal,” but it does tell us that in a moment of fatigue and fear, he asked God to take his life. The Psalms don’t outright say that David could have benefited from professional counseling, but when you see his blood, sweat, and tears spilt out in his poetry, I think you can rightly make that claim. We even see Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane distraught and calling out to God.

The fact is, the Bible is filled with people who went through similar struggles. That’s because God understands our struggles, and He even has tools in His Word to help those of us who are struggling.

Let’s have a little fun before we dive in. Let’s take a poll of the room. This poll is focused on something that most of us would rather keep secret, and that is, “What type of crier are you?” Everyone has to participate, okay? Let’s start with type 1.

1. The Beaver-Dam Crier – This crier does everything he or she can to hold back the flow of tears. They think about happy things, such as ice cream, Disney World, and puppies to cope with the swelling emotion.

Now for the honest part. Raise your hand if you fall in this category.

2. The Hiccup Crier – This crier is trademarked by the strange noises they make as they cry. In fact, they sound a little like a car with a bad muffler or a child with a bad case of the hiccups.

If that’s you, raise that hand with pride!

3. The “Broken AC” Crier – This person employs drama to help them release their emotions. Expect rapidly flailing hands as if they are sure to pass out at any moment due to heat stroke.

You know the drill by now. Raise your hand if this is you!

Now, for the last one.

4. The Ugly Crier – Need I say more?

This is your last chance; raise your hand if you are an ugly crier. Don’t be ashamed, hold those hands up!

Alright, thanks for being honest. Everyone cries. Everyone gets sad. It happens to everybody. Like we said earlier, it even happened to Jesus. Though, what does the Bible actually say about sadness?

Main Points

It is okay to not be okay

Countless times we read in psalms poems and songs that were written because the author was not okay. They were sad and downcast.

Psalm 25:16-18

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.

Psalm 42:1-3

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Psalm 143:7

Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hid your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

Psalm 22:1-2

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

These are just some examples of times that King David was sad. King David had a lot to be sad about. Think about it. He was hunted by the king, his best friend’s dad. His son started an uprising and ended up being killed by King David’s own army. He sinned by taking a man’s wife from him and then having the man murdered. David had a lot to be sad about.

We find in these sections of psalms this sadness. David calling out to God and telling God, “Man, things are not going well for me right now.” He wasn’t trying to hide his feelings and ignore them. Instead he was facing his feelings and bringing them to God.

I am telling you this because we need to understand that: It is okay to not be okay

Often we think that we have to put on a strong face and that we can’t let people see how we are feeling. Part of its fear. Fear of judgement. “What will people think of me if I cry?” I don’t know about girls but I know that for guys crying can sometimes be viewed as a negative thing. Though, sometimes you just need to get the feelings out!

(Jesus cried so hard he cried blood in Luke 22)

It is okay to feel sad. It is okay to not be okay. However, sadness can become a problem. Not a sin but it can quickly overcome us. If we let sadness fester we can be consumed by the sadness and begin to get stuck in it.

We should not wallow in our sadness

Remember those psalms we read moments ago? They were telling God about their sorrow. They were telling God, “God I am really sad right now.” However, their psalms don’t end there.

Psalm 25:20-21

Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you

Psalm 42:5

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 143:8-10

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Psalm 22:3-5

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust’ they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

David never left his sadness in his psalms to just be sadness. He wasn’t just going to God to let him know that he was sad. Instead, he was asking God to help with his sadness. He was asking to God to be with him in his sadness.

Now, as we can see since these psalms were not written one after the other that David sadness didn’t just disappear. He still struggled, he had difficulty. Yet that did not stop him from going back to God and giving it to Him.

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night that He was going to get arrested He did this: Matthew 26:39-42

Going a little farther, He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if is is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.

He trusted that God would be with Him even in the sadness. This doesn’t mean that God took away what was making Jesus sorrowful. Jesus still went on to suffer and die for our sins. However, Jesus chose not to wallow in His sadness but instead to trust in God and his process.

I think a big part of sadness is hopelessness. When we are saddest it is when we are the most hopeless. Feeling that nothing could improve our situation. Feeling that everything is awful

That is where we find David. That is where we find Jesus. Yet both of them still went to God. Both of them still cast their sadness to God. Both of them pray to Him. Both of them in their most hopeless moments call out to God and the obvious question that we have to ask is, why?

Why would both of these men pray to God in their most hopeless moments?

God gives us hope

We find countless verses about the hope that we are given by God.

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Micah 7:7

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who are wary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in hear, and you will fidn rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

We have hope in God. We have hope that God is there with us and hasn’t just left us out to figure out our sadness ourselves. We have hope that God is taking care of us. We have hope in the love of God.

That doesn’t mean that God just stops the bad situations from happening and that He makes our lives perfect. That just isn’t the case. Christians still struggle. They still have hard times. However, we have somewhere we can turn to. We can turn to God.

We can ask God for help. We can ask God to be with us in our darkest moments and He will always be there. God gives us hope.

Most importantly, He gives us hope that we will be with Him one day. We can have this hope because of Jesus. Because of what Jesus did on the cross we can have hope that we have been saved. It was through Jesus Christ coming on Earth and living a perfect life, dying on the cross and resurrecting that we are saved. It is through that sacrifice that we can remember God’s hope. Remember what He has already done for you. That He gives us salvation through Jesus.

When we are sad. When we are going through the rough times. Remembering what God has already done in our lives and for this world should remind us of the hope we need.

Conclusion

It is okay to not be okay. God helps us when we are having hard times.

Ways that He helps:

- His word and His previous actions

o Reading His word and spending time is a great step to overcome sadness. Not through our strength but through the strength of God.

- The good in our lives

o That can be broad. Make a list of the blessings in your life.

- The people that He has placed in our lives.

o God has given you people to talk to when you are struggling. I know that every single one of you has someone in your life that you can talk to when you need it the most. How do I know that? Because you are here. I am always available to you guys. Joanna is always here to help and listen. You guys to each other.

Its hard. Its hard to be open and vulnerable with people. Just know that this is a safe space here. That anything you say to me is confidential as long as it is not something that is physically unsafe for you or someone else. But if you are just going through a hard time use the things that God has given you. Use His word. Remember the things He has given you. Talk to the people He has places in your life.