Surge Ahead or Draw Back

In the Christian life it is difficult to stay in one spot. If we are not going forward, then we are losing ground. The best defense against losing ground is to form a good offense.

So how do you form a good offense? How does that work?

One of the strategies of good coaching in the NFL is to keep your offense on the field. As long as the offense is on the field, the opposing team’s offense is sitting on the bench. An offense that is sitting on the bench can’t score. Here is where time of possession comes into play. Usually the team that possesses the ball for the majority of the game, wins.

So, we must have an attitude of offense. What does God want me to do today, or this week, this month or this year? It has been said that the Apostle Paul’s success came because he was always asking God, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” It’s a good practice. I highly recommend it. As long as you are asking God what He wants you to do, you are proactive, you are moving ahead. Moving ahead is a good thing!

In his inaugural address to the nation Joshua told the people to “Be strong and very courageous.” “Hey, we are going into the promised land and there are many enemies to conquer. Be ready for war. Be ready to fight (Joshua 1).”

The flip side of the coin is that the writer of Hebrews says, “My soul shall take no pleasure in those who draw back (10:38).” In the Christian life, it is usually one or the other. To try to stay in one place and “maintain,” is usually to lose ground.

Maybe you are one of those who is right now battling depression. You seem to have no strength to lift yourself up by your bootstraps and move ahead. Depression can be a debilitating thing. As a young boy growing up on the farm in northern Minnesota, I battled with depression a lot. So did my Dad. I can remember times on the farm that the sun didn’t shine for a month. For 30 days heavy clouds lingered, with drizzle on and off, and the sun never broke through.

Depression is no sin. It is said that Winston Churchill battled depression every day. The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, sometimes fell into dark, black depression. Obviously, these men still accomplished amazing things.

Let me paint you a picture of what may be happening if you have fell into depression. Let’s start with the physical. If you are not eating well, or not eating at all, you will lose your energy, your mind will stall out and it may be difficult to think. The obvious thing in that situation is to eat, force yourself to eat three squares, and to eat healthy. Such a simple thing as not getting enough natural sunlight can leave you depressed. Vitamin D comes to us through sunlight, and the lack of it can cause depression. Another very simple thing is to drink lots of water. Dehydration will pull you into lethargy and depression.

Now, let’s go on to the spiritual. Just as not eating physically can cause depression, not eating spiritually can also give you depression. In the first case, you must feed your body to give yourself strength, in the latter case you must feed your spirit to give yourself strength. A depleted spirit will short circuit the strength of your body.

“So George,” you ask. “How do I feed my spirit?”

There are two essentials to feeding your spirit:

1) Large doses of the Word of God.

2) Prayer.

If you were hoping for something that maybe you never heard before, something new and mystical, I’m sorry to disappoint you.

Bill Hybels, the great founder of the Seeker movement, after some years in the practice, wrote a public letter of apology to the church world. In effect, he was saying that making everything easy for the “seeker” does not produce healthy growth. He said he had discovered that the only things that produces growth in the Christian is prayer and Bible reading.

One time at work in downtown Minneapolis as a Creative Director, I was at the end of my rope. I called my pastor and complained and moaned to him of my terrible situation, one in which I couldn’t seem to get anything done.

“Have you been reading your Bible?” he asked. Well, you know, I thought about it and I hadn’t been reading my Bible.

As I have said before in an article somewhere, the Bible is not like any other book . . . because it is “living.” The first chapter of John says the Word and Jesus are one and the same. How can that be? Well, I can’t adequately explain it. Some things are of eternal nature and we are not able to understand them. You don’t have to understand this principle, you just have to believe that it is true. Taking large doses of the Bible is like taking large doses of Jesus, Himself.

In the early stages of the ministry I got very discouraged and descended into depression . . . deep, black depression. So while the house was empty in the day time, my family being gone, I began to pace the living room, reading the Word out loud. Reading the Word out loud has a much greater effect than reading it silently to yourself. If you read it out loud, your heart hears the spoken Word and your heart listens to what you say. (See the article on our website georgeandlorraine.com entitled Teach Your Heart for a more complete treatment of this subject.)

So, I paced my living room and read the Word out loud. A good place to start is Psalm 91 and the last half of Romans 8. I did this every day until little by little I got myself out of depression and was actually feeling quite good again.

If you want to take this practice to the next level, start praising God out loud. If you can find a place that is quiet and private, praise him at the top of your lungs and don’t stop until you feel better. You will be amazed what this exercise can do for your disposition. When you discover the amazing benefits of praise, you might make a habit of it.

Develop a good offense. Be proactive. Read the Word out loud, pray, and praise God at the top our your lungs . . . and don’t forget to ask Him what He wants you to do.

If you do these things you will be one step ahead in your Christian walk.

Photos taken by Lorraine