www.bible.com/1713/isa.26.3.csb
Can you have peace of mind? In many parts of the world, they struggle to have clean water, nutritious meals, clean clothes, a job, even being free from slavery. We call them “third world problems” like they happen to someone else, since our society in America has “eliminated” through government support and charity all those kinds of problems. We have “first world problems” like, where are we going to eat? What kind of cell phone am I going to buy this month? Is my car new enough? Should I get a vacation house? Really?
One of our first world problems is killing us. It’s called depression. America is on the top of the list when it comes to this mind-killing malady. Though I’ve written about this before, just let me add here that if we could cure depression, there would be no stopping us.
I think depression has some physical causes to be sure, but I also believe it has spiritual causes, among them guilt and shame. We cannot did ourselves of the natural guilt we experience when we sin against the law of our heart which our Father put there. We may ignore it and try to forget it, but it never goes away. It plagued us in our dark and quiet moments. When we are alone with our thoughts, it comes around again.
This is not to say that all depression comes from guilt and shame for sin, but we are lying to ourselves if we say it doesn’t. Some of it does. And that part we can deal with spiritually. Hence the verse above.
Peace of mind comes from trust in the Lord. If we have faithfully confessed our sins to Him, He is faithful to cleanse us from our guilt and grant us peace of mind. We need to seize it, because a mind long held in depression will not give up self-hate easily. It is the sense of justice we carry that condemns us. We know we don’t deserve grace but judgment. That’s why trust is so hard. But it is necessary. How can you have peace without it?
God’s bless you today.
Meritt Musings 