Despair or Rejoice — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Back in 1983 in the United States, a company called United Technologies decided to do something to lift the morale of their employees.

There was something wrong, and they decided, the management decided to send a letter to each employee to affirm them and to restate, uh, look, you are very valued, much valued members of our company, and that each of you have a part to play.

Some of the staff felt that they, they didn’t amount to much and were irrelevant actually. So here’s what the boss said to them. How important are you? More than you think. A rooster minus a hen equals no baby chicks. Kellogg’s minus a farmer equals no cornflakes. If a nail factory closes, what good is the hammer factory?

The most skilful surgeon needs the ambulance driver who delivers the patient, and just as Rogers need Hammerstein, you need someone, and someone needs you. Interesting, wasn’t it? And it was a message, I think, that they needed to hear and we need to hear from time to time simply because life has a habit of getting us down. We forget to count our blessings, and we forget the good things of life that we enjoy day by day. We take them for granted.

And I want to think for a moment about overcoming despair, and that’s basically all about the way we think. We can overcome the feelings of despair with God’s help. Now of course there are many issues that are outside our own control, but the way we choose to think is entirely up to us.

The apostle Paul, when in prison, wrote some very encouraging words, and I’m looking at Philippians 4:4 from the New Testament.

And he said, May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. And I say it again, he said, rejoice.

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Now Paul was writing to a church to thank them for a gift that he received, and he turned it into an opportunity to lift their spirits, to give them a morale booster, to give them a new way to think, and that verse gives us a new way to think. Now it doesn’t always work, but often how we think certainly influences the outcome of our lives. And that’s why Paul said, rejoice in the Lord. Now it seems strange when you think about it to rejoice when life’s going very badly.

But we’re told to rejoice in the Lord, and uh this is an excellent piece of advice.

In Psalm 139 we meet up with David, who asks what life’s all about, and he said, Lord, you’re all around me on every side. You protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep. It’s beyond my understanding. That’s in Psalm 139. And when we picture the majesty and power of God, it does lift us up out of our despair. We picture Jesus, who came into our world. Here was Jesus, the living God who was clothed in flesh and blood, just like us. So, we can imagine a person.

And there are lots of reasons why we can rejoice. So we need to pray. We need to take God for real. And as Paul suggested in that letter, “don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always thanking Him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

We can believe that God answers our prayers. Now. He said he would, and even though the answers don’t come in the way we envisage, the important thing here is that God gives us what we need instead of what we want, and there’s a big difference here. I’m saying that we have a, a mighty God who listens to us, who shares our moments, and that’s a tremendous comfort, especially when life is hard or you feel overwhelmed with some problem.

We all face troubles of some kind, and in that moment of difficulty it’s easy to despair. But Paul says, fill your minds with the things that are good and that deserve praise, things that are true and noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. So that’s a good piece of advice to set our minds on those things, and in so doing we’re able to guard our soul.

Let’s Pray

Eternal God and merciful Father, today we submit ourselves to You because we find as we walk with you that there’s evidence that You care for us. We realize that You love us deeply, and we know that Your truth will guide us today and Your grace will sustain us.

We praise you and thank you that you are the answer to our despair, and this is a prayer I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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