Gloom, Despair, And Agony, On Me Series

Gloom, Despair, And Agony, On Me

By: C. Mason Davis

A doctor comes in and asks his patient, "where does it hurt?" The Man says, "everywhere, absolutely everywhere, I'm at my wits end, whenever I touch any part of my body it hurts a lot!" The doctor asks the man to point out the places the pain radiates from. So, the man pokes his knee, screaming as he does, and does the same thing on multiple points on his body, with each poke screaming in pain, Finally, the doctor gives him an examination, writes down a few notes and said "sir, you are almost completely fine" The man looks at the doctor in disbelief, poking his chest and arm and holding back agonized screams "how can you say this is fine? I'm in pain all over! I want a second opinion!" The doctor sighs and explains "I said you are almost fine, the problem isn't your body, it's just that you keep poking yourself with a broken finger!" You see, sometimes we remain in agony because we are so busy in our pain that we don’t stop to see what the root cause of that agony is, and meaning we continue to agonize.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Psalm 40:1-3, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

How do you deal with gloom? How do you deal with despair? And how do you deal with agony? The truth is everybody here today is probably suffering in some way. What is this sudden elation after a pessimistic statement? It is the elation that comes when we recognize something we all share has been stated boldly. Our pent-up tension can be released in laughter if you allow it.

How many of you remember the “Hee-Haw” Show in the 70’s-80’s? Do you remember the quartet of men who sang about gloom, despair, and agony on me? Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Deep, dark depression, excessive misery

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all

Gloom, despair, and agony on me

I still laugh when I hear this painful expression of despair and I am so grateful that laughter can cohabitate with deep gloom. Some of us have those kinds of days. So, what do you do when you have one of those days?

Ask yourself, “What is gloom?” Gloom is like partial or total darkness, a dark or shadowy place, a lowness of spirits, and dejection. It’s like an atmosphere of despondency that looms over your life. James 4:9-10 states: “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” So, you have less fun in normal daily activities. You are not in the mood to go to work, to study, to exercise, or meeting with friends, and nothing can cheer you up. Do you currently live in a state of gloom? 2 Samuel 22:29 says, “For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.” Have you ever been in a state of gloom? Now that I’ve already got everybody thinking and/or feeling gloomy, let’s delve into the world of despair.

Despair is like a depression that can come in many forms. When life seems to become dark and depressing and you seem to be “in low spirits,” it tends to cause overall sadness by spreading your feelings and moods unto others. It can become worse as those around you tire of your negativity, so they start avoiding any contact with you.

What is despair? Despair is the utter loss of hope and faith. Is despair a sin in the Bible? Unlike other sins, despair is by tradition the sole sin that cannot be forgiven because it is the conviction that one is damned absolutely, thus a repudiation of the Christian Savior, and a challenge to God's infinite capacity for forgiveness. What does the Bible say about despair? The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Why is despair a sin against the Holy Spirit? To despair consists in thinking that one's own malice is greater than Divine Goodness. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 states “There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In other words, God won’t put more on you than you can handle. You just have to put your trust God and believe that He won’t and not let any issues or problems distract you from your faith in Him. Psalm 28:7 demonstrates that the warrior David draws both his strength and his physical protection from God. Knowing that God is with him allows David to face each challenge with courage and confidence. Why can’t each of us live like this? Are we just faint of faith? The Bible's cure for this is “justification by faith.” Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”