“Are you tired? Are you weary? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting from you. Keep company with me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:29 (The Message)
There is a certain allure in the dark embrace of sadness, a kind of elegance in the enveloping gray of the essential loneliness that often characterize our existence, and the call is sometimes irresistible. Whatever the reason might be- discouragement, disappointment, and fatigue - all these leave us in poignant despair. The heart-broken, the sad, the depressed, and even the most jovial of all will sometimes have a season cast in the color of storms, and when the rain pours, although we know that it will end, we could not imagine, we could not perceive that it will stop anytime soon. And our rain-soaked souls feel a tiredness that goes bone-deep, leaving us cold; our drained hearts echo our sobs we have kept at bay for so long. And yet, when it calls, when this melancholic stranger calls we succumb. We hear it and we descend into its mysterious and yet overpowering summon. We are defenseless when we take notice of the elegy of its black music.
Sadness has always been part of who we are. Depression seems to mark our days when indeed there are things about which we are disheartened. And basic to this is our sense of loss, our sense of separation from Someone who longs too to be united with us. Will sunshine ever warm our world-weary frames? Will the simple joy of being alive, and the sheer exuberance of our mere existence color the days of our lives? Or shall we forever be banished, punished into this mundane, lackluster subsistence, our spirits shackled, our eyes unable to look beyond the macabre mask of our heartrending visions?
Know this, for this is true: The joy of the Lord is our strength. Our downcast souls can rejoice. Our aching bones and fevered frames will find a reason to celebrate, for we may dance yet in the uproarious music, and in the giddy exhilaration in the throng of the godly and the grateful. Quiet the voices that beckon us into their somber chambers. Fling back the curtains of apathy and gloom. Sweep up the layers of murkiness that has once covered every corner of our lives. For His hands of kindness reaches for us even from the deepest gloom, His embrace quiets us. He is a Father who welcomes us. He is a Friend that comforts. He is our joy. We have a reason to be glad.
“Why so downcast, o my soul? Put your trust on Him!” Psalm42
There is a certain allure in the dark embrace of sadness, a kind of elegance in the enveloping gray of the essential loneliness that often characterize our existence, and the call is sometimes irresistible. Whatever the reason might be- discouragement, disappointment, and fatigue - all these leave us in poignant despair. The heart-broken, the sad, the depressed, and even the most jovial of all will sometimes have a season cast in the color of storms, and when the rain pours, although we know that it will end, we could not imagine, we could not perceive that it will stop anytime soon. And our rain-soaked souls feel a tiredness that goes bone-deep, leaving us cold; our drained hearts echo our sobs we have kept at bay for so long. And yet, when it calls, when this melancholic stranger calls we succumb. We hear it and we descend into its mysterious and yet overpowering summon. We are defenseless when we take notice of the elegy of its black music.
Sadness has always been part of who we are. Depression seems to mark our days when indeed there are things about which we are disheartened. And basic to this is our sense of loss, our sense of separation from Someone who longs too to be united with us. Will sunshine ever warm our world-weary frames? Will the simple joy of being alive, and the sheer exuberance of our mere existence color the days of our lives? Or shall we forever be banished, punished into this mundane, lackluster subsistence, our spirits shackled, our eyes unable to look beyond the macabre mask of our heartrending visions?
Know this, for this is true: The joy of the Lord is our strength. Our downcast souls can rejoice. Our aching bones and fevered frames will find a reason to celebrate, for we may dance yet in the uproarious music, and in the giddy exhilaration in the throng of the godly and the grateful. Quiet the voices that beckon us into their somber chambers. Fling back the curtains of apathy and gloom. Sweep up the layers of murkiness that has once covered every corner of our lives. For His hands of kindness reaches for us even from the deepest gloom, His embrace quiets us. He is a Father who welcomes us. He is a Friend that comforts. He is our joy. We have a reason to be glad.
“Why so downcast, o my soul? Put your trust on Him!” Psalm42
Comments
Your entry is apt to describe how I feel these days. Remnants of my past keep on bugging me but I have so much faith in the Lord that He will cleanse my mind, my heart and my soul.
Your entry is apt to describe how I feel these days. Remnants of my past keep on bugging me but I have so much faith in the Lord that He will cleanse my mind, my heart and my soul.