“Despair can come in a multitude of situations,” said Senior Pastor Randy Thornton, 52, during a recent sermon at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., “but for believers in Jesus Christ, God has given us hope.”
The word “despair” means “sunk down,” and the word “encourage” in Greek means “putting wind in your sails to move you forward,” Thornton said, adding that despair involves a sense of hopelessness and can connect to past wounds.
“Despair slices your sails and leaves you dead in the water,” he said.
King David wrote, “O my God, my soul (one’s “soul” involves one’s mind, will and emotions) is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan…” (Psalm 42:6).
Thornton referred to the Old Testament account of Nehemiah the Cupbearer:
According to writer John C. Westervelt, the Hebrews of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of divided Israel, were exiled to Babylon before Nehemiah’s time. The Persians under King Cyrus overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C. The new king let foreigners return home. Cyrus decreed that Hebrews could return to Judah and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Fifty thousand Jews accepted the offer to go home. Nehemiah had risen through the ranks to become cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. Besides certifying wine served to the king was safe, Nehemiah was a counselor to the king. When Nehemiah asked men who returned from Judah about the Jewish homeland, they said, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah fasted and prayed. He had never shown sorrow in the king’s presence, but the king saw his sad countenance and inquired. Nehemiah said, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" (Nehemiah 2:3).
The king sponsored Nehemiah’s return and his project to rebuild Jerusalem. The prophesied 70 years of Jewish captivity were fulfilled when the new Temple was completed in 516 B.C., but Nehemiah faced danger and despair while rebuilding the Temple.
“Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall’” (Nehemiah 4:10).
Fatigue may cause despair by draining energy and making a person feel as though he “can’t take another step,” Thornton said.
Despair often comes when we are in the middle of building. Jerusalem’s walls were erected halfway when discouragement came (Nehemiah 4:6).
“You may say, ‘I thought I was a good Christian until I got married,’” Thornton noted. “In life, God doesn’t put two perfect people together. We walk into relationships wounded and hurt. And what do wounded people do? They wound people.”
There is a good plan God has for you, but we often have to go through “dark timber,” he said.
Thornton, who grew up in Colorado, described his love of hunting and hiking in that state’s rugged mountains. He told of encountering forests with foliage that darkened the sun and of growing weary of “one more log to cross.”
“‘Dark timber’ is so thick you lose direction, lose perspective,” he said. “In life, we’re all going to have patches of ‘dark timber.’”
Failure can generate despair that dominates our feelings, but we must trust God. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“Emotions don’t tell you the truth all the time,” Thornton said. “There is a ‘clearing’ on the other side.”
Fear may cause despair.
“There is a spirit of Sanballet and Tobiah that wants to kill you,” Thornton said, referring to Nehemiah 4, which tells of conspirators against the Jew rebuilding Jerusalem. “But we are more than conquerors. We cannot let fear dominate us. Despair is not the expression of faith.”
How to get rid of despair:
1. Get rest for your body.
“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for he grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalm 127:2).
Do something that energizes you, Thornton said, adding that God created a time for rest.
“There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:3).
“Our culture has robbed us,” Thornton said. “God created a Sabbath rest. God designed a day to bet built up with the love of God.”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
“Put God in your life,” Thornton said.
2. Reorganize your life.
Get priorities straight.
“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out” (Leviticus 6:13).
“God put us in families,” Thornton said.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work” (Ecclesiastes 4:9).
“Lone rangers always get shot down,” Thornton said.
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
“Reorganize your life,” Thornton said. “You may be here today, and you’re trying to do life alone.”
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:4-5).
3. Remember the Lord.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2).
Three things to remember when feeling despair:
God knows your situation.
God cares about your situation.
God can change you and your situation.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21).
“Despair is a real thing,” Thornton said. “You don’t have to stay there. You have a choice! Believe there’s a clearing at the end, or stay in the dark timber!”
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