Do you ever discover something in God’s Book and wonder why
you never noticed it before? Does it ever feel like something in God’s word
suddenly stands out so clearly that you realize God has been giving you the
puzzle pieces for years, and now the picture is undeniably obvious?
Just this past while, with a special emphasis on sharing
with God’s people Sunday morning, it has become abundantly clear that there is
a huge and necessary connection between our man-sized problems and God’s
God-sized provisions. One reason the righteous live by faith instead of sight
is that everything we see is man-sized, while the things faith sees are God-sized.
God-sized provisions always trump man-sized problems.
The sentence from God’s Book that has tied together so many
other pieces of the puzzle is this: “that
according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with
power through his Spirit in your inner being…”[1]
It does not matter how we would describe the condition of
our inner being, it is going to be man-sized. Whether it be depression or dissociation,
trauma or trial, fear or frivolity,[2] or
any other thing we could describe, its immensity is never more than man-sized.
No matter how impossible the problem, it is only impossible in the realm of
man.
On the other hand, no matter how we would describe “the riches of his glory”, we are
entering into the realm of, “far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think”.[3] In
other words, the human mind cannot conceive of how much “more abundantly” God is able to work than “all that we ask or think”. His glory is so infinitely and
eternally rich, that there is no comparison between the immensity of his
provisions and the man-sized impossibilities of our problems.
Lately I have been drawn to consider this with a special
emphasis on depression. This is partly because I have met too many Christians
who have struggled with the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that fall under the
depression label. And, it is partly because most of what I read in relation to
depression is… well… depressing!
In other words, so much of what I read about depression is
that it is a lifelong struggle that is somehow outside the scope of the riches
of God’s glory. I heard the same thing way back when I was first introduced to
eating disorders in the church. The message was that all we can do is
sympathize and empathize with such people because they are stuck with this
problem for the rest of their lives.
What I learned then, and what is all the clearer now, is
that the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ is of the “according to the riches of his glory” kind, while depression,
eating disorders, and any other expression of hopelessness, is of the man-sized
impossibility kind.
Which means (drum roll please), that any kind of man-sized
hopelessness that is brought to the riches of God’s glory has more than met its
match. God revealed in his book, “May the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power
of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”[4] By
this, he meant that the joy, peace, and hope that are according to the riches
of his glory, can fill the believer in Jesus Christ through the power of the
Holy Spirit no matter how man-sized-impossible anything may seem inside or
outside our souls.
Which is why Paul told us he prayed, “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…”[5]We do
not focus on what broken people can do for themselves, or what we can do for
them in ministry. We focus on praying to the God who does “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”,[6]
and we tell him all we ask or think about how the riches of his glory would
minister to the true condition of our inner beings through the power of the
Holy Spirit who dwells within us in Christ.
With this in mind, I want to figuratively nail up some
wanted posters. I want to let depressed Christians know they are wanted.
Ministry to depressed children of God is normal ministry in the church, just as
we minister to any other condition of the soul. Jesus called his children to
come to him for rest for their souls,[7]
and he fulfills that promise through the ministries of his body, the church.
Of course, it is characteristic of depressed people to feel
hopeless about anything they hear, so those of us who have some faith in what
God could do in the power of his Spirit must share this around and invite them
to join us as we pray for their joy, peace, and hope in Jesus Christ.
Here’s my wanted poster.
© 2016 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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