Triumphing Over A Heavy Heart
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. I Corinthians 10:13 (New Living Translation, NLT)
When we go through something, the Bible tells us it is not a new thing, but that others have experienced the same thing. The book of Ecclesiastes says that there is nothing new under the sun. Every person is attacked by the enemy using the same tools, weapons, and strategies. He commonly uses negative thoughts and emotions to strike at us to try to bring us down. And I’ve noticed that he often uses the same weapon simultaneously across the body of Christ. It seems like a number of us go through the same battles at the same time.
One weapon that he utilizes frequently is an oppressive spirit that tries to make us feel down and depressed. Lately, it seems that this has been attacking many in the Body of Christ. Depression, or the feeling of discouragement, weariness, and maybe even hopelessness, is not a unique phenomenon. Like any other attack, it is a well-used strategy of the enemy. One person in the Bible that we know the devil tried this on a number of times was David. David himself tells us this by the psalms he wrote.
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar…. Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Psalm 42:5-6, 11 (New Living Translation, NLT)
We see David’s heaviness of heart in these verses and in many more like them. However, we also see how he overcame it. He made a conscious decision to place his hope and trust in God, then he went a step further and praised the Lord. Depression will rob us not only of joy, but also of strength because Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We can regain our joy, and thus our strength, by praising God.
Praise turns our attention to God rather than our circumstances or our feelings. Although praising God is the last thing we feel like doing when we’re being hit by heaviness, it is the best thing we can do to get out of the dumps. Our praise may be pretty pathetic at first, but even if we begin by just whispering words of praise to God, we will soon gain strength to increase our praise and our volume. Soon, we will find the will and energy to lift our hands in praise, and eventually, we will sense the presence of God chasing the clouds away.
David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. I Samuel 30:6 (Amplified Bible Classic Edition, AMPC)
In many situations, David could not rely on anyone else to bring his spirits up. He had to take the initiative himself to turn to God and draw his encouragement and strength from the Lord. We, too, must encourage ourselves when our hearts feel heavy and we just want to lay down and give up. We have to act contrary to how we feel and turn our eyes and our affections towards God, giving Him praise and adoration. It brings Him on the scene, and our heavy hearts will be heavy no more.
You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11 (New American Standard Bible, NASB)
