Luke 18:1-8
I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up!
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
March 5, 2006
Introduction
You may not remember what Life Alert sold or who little old Mrs. Fletcher was, but you’ll never be able to forget her famous line, “Help! I’ve fallen and I…” All the late night guys used the line. It showed up in just about every great sitcom during the ‘90s and was even used by Scooby Doo and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Some of you today feel like you’ve fallen and can’t get up. In fact, you’ve probably been feeling that way for some time. Our subject today is very real to me and to many of you. For too many it is an unwelcome, but familiar friend. Others of you share your lives with this guest on a daily basis. This is no new message: in fact, I have preached it before, but I believe it is time I preach it again and remind you of some things the Bible has to say about discouragement, desperation and perhaps even depression.
Did you know that you don’t just wake up one day in desperation and depression? They have a very subtle beginning, and we call it discouragement. When I am discouraged my old friends drop by. They come along and say all the words they think I need to hear: “I don’t care…” “I don’t feel like it…” “What difference does it make?” and one of my personal favorites, “whatever!” These are the kinds of friends that don’t call before they drop by; they stay too long, and talk way too much. There are some other things that might bring about those old friends, but I believe the most common instigator of them both is discouragement.
Has anyone seen these old friends of mine lately? Have they been staying at your home too? I don’t know how old they are, but I know they’re old. In fact, they visited a man in the Bible by the name of Elijah. He was a spiritual giant of a man to us, but he was just a man. He experienced the highest of spiritual highs on the top of Mt. Carmel and left that mountain for the wilderness of Beersheba. The Bible says,
“And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
Henry David Thoreau said that the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Elijah got discouraged. He was desperate, scared, tired, down and out and wanted to give up. The apostle Paul himself said in Romans 9:2 “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” Moses could teach us a thing or two about it. Other men like Jonah, David, Noah, Abraham, Peter and John knew what it was to experience discouragement.
You may feel like old Job. In Job 3:1 and following, we find that righteous and God-loving man saying,
“Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived. Let that day be turned to darkness…Why didn’t I die at birth as I came from the womb? Why did my mother let me live?...Oh, why should light be given to the weary, and life to those in misery?...Why is life given to those with no future?...I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water. What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come to be. I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest; instead, only trouble comes.”
Discouragement is no respecter of persons. It comes at the most inconvenient of times. It visits the poor and the rich. It drops in on the single and the married and it spreads like wildfire. It comes when you are already down, and it shows up when you feel on top of the world. It is in this state that we find ourselves when we feel like giving up, when nothing matters and it seems that nothing could get worse.
William Ward said that discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the presence of beauty, unconcern for the needs of our fellowman, and unbelief in the promises of old.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be discouraged, but when I get discouraged I feel the same way Job did, the same way Elijah did and the same way you do: like giving up. Discouragement can come from many places. It may come from bad relationships, financial strains, work, church, bad moods, poor health, constant struggles with sin, or any other number of places. The fact is that you and I do get discouraged, and when we do, we need help.
Let me give you the tough part right up front. When we are down and out, we don’t want to be around those we need the most; including God. We don’t want to talk to God, we don’t enjoy the preaching of God’s Word, coming to church, or much of anything else. We get spiritually dry, emotionally drained, and physically worn. What makes it even worse is that we know that the things we want the least are what we really need the most.
Some of you today are discouraged. You may even feel desperate about your situation. Some of you are bordering on or maybe even already in depression. Don’t let it fool you – you’ve got to deal with them all, but how? What is a person to do? You may feel like the man in 1835 who went to visit his doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn’t eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to have a good time, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. "You must go and see him," the doctor advised. "Grimaldi is the world’s funniest clown. He’ll make you laugh and cure your sadness." "No," replied the despairing man, "he can’t help me. You see, I am Grimaldi!"
In Luke 18:1-8, the Bible says,
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
Jesus told this parable so He might teach us to pray and not faint. That word faint means to lose courage, to lose heart or hope. It means that you want to give up, and it speaks aptly of discouragement. What was the Lord’s answer for discouragement? Did He say anything about binge eating or to stop eating? Go shopping? Go for a walk or work out? Did He say to escape in a hobby like golf, fishing, reading or any other number of escapes? Did He say to throw a pity party? To make everyone else miserable? Get drunk or high or sexed? No! He said that the answer to discouragement was to pray!
The ways we’ve devised to deal with our problem are endless, but according to Christ prayer is the only effective method for dealing with it. Is discouragement a sin? Was Christ ever discouraged? I think He was. But remember, discouragement is not a sin any more than sorrow or hurt is a sin. You see, it is how we deal with our emotions that determines whether we sin or not.
Think about the context of Jesus’ discussion for a moment. Look back at Luke 17:25. These were a bunch of discouraged people to whom Jesus was speaking. They were living in hard times and things in their lives were certainly not favorable. The times were wicked just like ours are. You take a man or woman who wants to and tries to live a God-honoring, God-pleasing life of love and service and integrity, yet suffers for it, all the while seeing ungodliness prevail and even be rewarded.
What happens in your life when you get down and things aren’t what you think they ought to be – when you think life’s not fair? You start looking back. You start rethinking your values and convictions and begin contemplating trading off some of that integrity so you might get by a little easier. But according to Jesus, when discouragement sets in and you begin entertaining thoughts of checking out and doing what you want rather than keeping on for the Lord, it is a matter of life and death. He said that rather than giving up and losing heart, men ought always to pray.
What does the word “ought” imply? It means that more often than not we give in to those feelings rather than pray. But pray we must! Now, notice with me some things about prayer from our passage.
Pray With Faith
This woman had faith that the judge could take care of her problem. She didn’t bother going to her friends. She didn’t bother trying to avenge herself. What she did do was exercise her faith in the judge by going straight to him with her problem as she sought his help.
Jesus taught His followers on another occasion that the size of your faith is not nearly so important as the object of your faith. Do you have faith that God hears your prayers and that He will answer them? Really? This is serious business. Do you really believe that God can deliver you? Do you really believe God can heal you? Do you really believe God can help you? Do you have faith?
In verse 8 Jesus implies that when He returns He is not going to find much faith on the earth. He is not talking about saved people –but rather people living by faith, exercising faith in Him alone for their needs. Some of you are really discouraged, but let me tell you something: your doctor doesn’t have the answer. The bank doesn’t have the answer. Getting your income tax check isn’t going to fix it. No amount of good health, wealth or friends is going to do the job.
What did James say about this? He said when you have a need, whether it be wisdom in that case, or any other legitimate need – help overcoming despondency – ask God. James said, "If any man lack wisdom, if any man lack spiritual tenacity, let him ask God, who gives to all men liberally and who upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering…" Jesus said, "When you pray, believe…"
Pray With Persistence
Not only did the woman have faith the judge would take care of her problem, she proved to him that the matter was important to her. I understand that we teach that we can take our problems to God and leave them there, but there are issues in our lives where the Bible seems to say to us that God wants to see how important these things are to us.
There are many things like this. Abraham made repeated intercessions for the deliverance of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jacob wrestled with the angel all night. Moses prayed for 40 days and 40 nights. Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days. On more than one occasion the Lord Himself went into some deserted place and spent the entire night praying. How seriously are you seeking God’s help in your time of need? Do you really want God’s deliverance? Are you willing to beg for it? Are you willing to come day after day after day in prayer, communicating to God your own insufficiency to meet your needs, recognizing at the same time God’s complete sufficiency with those same needs?
Pray With Confidence
What was the woman’s confidence? Verse 7 says that her confidence was that the judge would avenge her injustice. If God is the object of our faith, if our prayers communicate to God persistence on our part, we can be confident that He will bring us through the times of difficulty we face. Discouragement is no fun. As a matter of fact, if it is not dealt with quickly, it can become a hellish prison that drains our very will to live.
But do you know something? God never intended for you to live that way. Sure problems and trials come. Things are going to happen that you don’t enjoy, but I want you to look at what Paul said about this in 2 Corinthians 4:8-18.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
You see, when we are apt to be discouraged and down and ready to give up, remember this: don’t give up! It is just for a little while, and one day, whether things ever work out in this life like we’d like for them to, one day it will be worth it all.
Where do you find the strength and the grace to have that kind of outlook on life and trouble in times of discouragement? Through prayer: trusting, confident, persistent prayer.
Today some of you are at the end of your rope so to speak. You are ready to throw in the towel. Like bad company, discouragement, desperation and depression made themselves at home in your life weeks ago, but it’s time they were sent packing. You’ve been listening to the words of “I don’t care…” “I don’t feel like it…” “What difference does it make?” and maybe even “whatever!” with God. Those old friends of yours dropped by; they’ve been around too long, and talk way too much.
Read Isaiah 40:28ff in closing. Make comments and offer invitation.
