Ahhh...Sweet Refreshment!

I frequently find myself in that "downcast" position. Life gets harder than I would prefer, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away, if it's even on at all. We've all experienced the dry times of life, at some point, in some way. Oh how nice it is to feel the cool refreshment of our thirst being quenched. We feel alive, confident, strong, and joyous. Like the picture which the Psalmist paints for us. Watch as a deer stops by a cool brook to drink and then after being refreshed, bounds away, jumping and running with renewed vigor. That’s the feeling I want to have. But when I am downcast - recessed, as I like to say, - I feel very little like bounding for joy. Joy seems no where to be found. I pant for it, thirst for it, but can’t feel it. It seems so far in the distant past, I wonder if I will ever feel the refreshing coolness of life again. Is God not supposed to see that need and address it? Where is the cool, clear stream of refreshment from which I can drink and be filled? Why has God not brought back those feelings of joy to me? Well, God has just one question for me, and those like me - “Why are you downcast? Put your hope in God” Easier said than done! But, the real problem is not that the path to the water isn’t there, it’s that I’m either on the wrong path or not looking for the path at all! I’m generally sitting, sulking, whining, and panting for help to come to me, or wandering along a path that shows no signs leading toward the refreshing drink.

God has made the path very plain and the signs to water very visible. It’s all in His word. When I read it I remember. When I remember the goodness of God, I search for more. When I search, I see the signs so clear. And those signs lead me to the refreshing, cool stream of security, serenity, and joy. 

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." - Psalm 43