“The ultimate cause of all spiritual depression is unbelief. It is because we listen to the devil instead of listening to God that we go down before him and fall before his attacks.”
–D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965/2002), 20.
i feel a bit compelled to write on this as it seems to be a common occurrence in my home whether it be myself, my spouse or my children. i think we all experience spiritual depression to varying degrees. just today, my husband was turned down for a job that he felt he was well qualified for and believed he would enjoy and excel at. but it was not to be. instead, he is to keep his current job (praise God we are both employed with good jobs)...a job he is not too thrilled with but which meets our needs. he tends to believe lies when things like this happen...he isn't good enough or he will never get a job he loves because he (fill in the blank). both my husband and i tend to let ourselves listen to the discouragement of the devil rather than the peace that comes with salvation in the Holy Spirit.
for myself, i know that discouragement is easier to believe. my unbelief causes me to view myself in an unfavorable light. i am flawed, sinful, selfish, impatient. i hold grudges, bicker with my husband, yell at my children. i am human. i lie, occasionally cheat at solitaire and covet my neighbor's huge house. i speed. but is this how God sees me?
my faith assures me that God sees me through the looking glass, if you will, of Jesus Christ. thank you, Lord. because God cannot look upon sin. He is Perfection and cannot be in the presence of sin. I can commune with my God only because of the great price that Jesus paid for me on the Cross. and yet, despite this wonderful (amazing! joyous! words cannot describe!) news, i have this problem as explained in the quote above. i have yet to train my heart and mind to listen for God first, not the devil. i think it is because the devil's voice has been so prominent in my life and he is a very good liar. he is very, very good at deceiving our weak minds (yes, i said weak). we are so easily swayed away from the God who loves us.
i don't have any great closing statement. i just want to mull over the fact that i desire to have enough faith and belief in God that i start to recognize His voice first.
