Much of our modern life is instant, isn’t it? Instant messaging, instant gratification, instant information. So many of the triggers for spiritual depression can be avoided if, contrary to our modern natures, we take a long-term view.
Lloyd-Jones writes of another contributing factor today: trials. He writes that there is nothing shameful at all in the Christian who is feeling the weight of a fallen world, the stresses and strains of their true citizenship being elsewhere, and the notion that “all the problems have gone and now ‘I am happy all the day'” is simply not true. The danger he says, is that we simply moan and groan our way through it instead of trying to see why these things are taking place. If that can be seen we can still experience, as Peter writes, great joy through trials (1.6) because we are able to put them in their proper place; temporary, transient, and tertiary compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaits us.
Of course, there are times when we simply cannot see where our trials are coming from. These times are much, much harder to navigate. This is where a long-term view of life really comes in. We accept that our current less-than-excellent situation is not permanent. We don’t minimise and pretend it’s not all that bad. We accept that whilst difficult, it is light compared to the eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison that awaits us (2 Corinthians 4.17). Lloyd-Jones writes:
“We may be in heaviness through many temptations and trials at this present time, and we may be weeping as we go along. It does not matter. We are promised that the day will come when ‘the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne…shall lead us unto living fountains of water’ and that God Himself ‘shall wipe away all tears from our eyes’, and we shall be with Him in glory everlasting”.
If we cannot immediately see where our trials are coming from, rather than spiral into spiritual depression let us look further ahead, past our present point, to a point where only good remains, where the current trial is but a dim and distant memory in our rear-view mirror. Let us instead focus on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12.2): what He has done, what He is doing in your life now, and what He ultimately promises to do.
James Travis 