Hope for the gray days

Do you struggle sometimes, often, or always with darkness and discouragement?  Me too. There is no shame in feeling darkness and discouragement. It is so common, even among people of deep faith. But it would be a great shame if you were to accept this darkness and stay in it, because there is no need to. There is help. There is hope. There is healing. There is rescue. Because there is a God who is in love with you! And the God who loves you is not about leaving you the same. He’s all about changing you and healing you

The thing we need to realize and remember is: We must take intentional and internal action to defeat the grey days. We may not be in control of what is happening, but we are in control of how we let it affect us. And that is true whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not.  

We often think when a grey day comes, that we need to change something on the outside: Do something like buy a new outfit, go work out or run (what I obviously do), eat or drink something that makes us feel better.  Change something on the outside. That won’t work in the long run. Outside fixes are simply anesthesia. When they’re over, you come back down to grey. You have to change your insides. It's an inside job. Here are five steps that I have found incredibly effective in defeating the grey days. 

I found these five steps to victory from the lyrics of a song. It’s a song written by a guy who was appointed by King David to be a worship leader in the great temple. And this worship leader is having the greyest of grey days! So, if you battle grey days, you can stop condemning yourself, because a guy who got a song published in the Bible did too! These lyrics are in Psalm 42: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil (unrest, confusion, disorder) within me?”  (This guy has the weight of the world pressing down on him.  Maybe you know how that feels.  He says, put your) “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God (Ps. 42:5-6a).” He gives us five steps: 

Step 1. Don’t listen to yourself.  The writer could have listened to all the voices in his head of condemnation, doubt, and self-pity. But instead, he didn’t listen to himself. He confronted Himself! He asked, “Why so downcast, O my soul? Why are you in turmoil within me?” Why should you not listen to yourself during the grey days? Two reasons:  1. Because no one has been harder and meaner and more critical of you than you.  And 2. Because chances are good that if you listen to yourself, you may be listening to lies like this: “No one loves me or cares about me.” “I am an ugly, stupid, worthless failure.” “My life has no meaning.” “I’m not good enough to be loved.” “I would be better off dead.” “Stopping the pain will stop the suffering.” I have heard many of these when I listened to myself. 

Pastor Ray Johnston says, “The most depressing, debilitating, hope-killing acronym is TWNC: Things Will Never Change.”  So stop listening to yourself.  Stop listening to the lies.  That’s step 1.  And Step 2 is related:

Step 2. Talk to yourself. The writer said, “put your Hope in God!”  If you are like me, you have gone through life thinking that the people who are the most mentally unhinged are the people who talk to themselves. This passage of the Bible tells us the opposite! Talk to yourself!  It’s when you only listen to yourself that your thoughts will be the sickest! Talk to yourself.  He said, “Look here, you. Stop this stinkin thinkin! Put your hope in God!” What else might that sound like? “I belong to Jesus who gave His life for me, so it doesn't matter: what the medical report says; what the bank account says; how my marriage/relationship is hanging by a thread; how confused and exhausted I am; how threatening this trial looks; that I can’t see how things could possibly turn around – I will put my hope in God!  Because with God all things are possible!” Talk to yourself and speak God’s truth when you do. 

Step 3: Let Jesus lift your face. I don’t remember there being anything in the lyrics about lifting one’s face. Take another look: “…for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” The Hebrew word used for “my salvation” means that Jesus not only takes all my darkness and sins on the cross, and kills them there, and forgives me completely when I receive Him -- but Jesus, the King of Glory, also lifts my face! Lifts my hopes!  Lifts my spirits! This is how another passage puts it: “But you, O Lord, are…the lifter of my head” (Ps. 3:3).  That’s what Jesus does. He is the lifter of your head, your face! Jesus will lift your face to bring you face to face with Him! And see all the love, forgiveness, hope, encouragement, and grace in His eyes. That’s a face-lift we can all afford! And when Jesus lifts your face, the clouds part, your hope is kindled, your burdens are lightened, and your heart is encouraged.

Step 4: Get Your Praise On! “I shall again praise Him!” Praise is one of the most powerful tools God uses to chase the grey away. To be clear, He also uses doctors and counsellors as His tools, and you may seek them too. In your darkest days, that’s when you’re least likely to have a song of praise in your heart and on your lips, and yet, it is when you most need it! Make a praise mix. If you need help, call a friend who loves praise/worship music.  If you don’t have one, call me! How many times do I have to sing these songs of praise? As long as it takes! Make them the soundtrack of your life.

Step 5:  Let Jesus be your God.  “I will yet praise Him, my savior and my God!” Jesus is the God of the universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But that doesn’t mean that you have given Him that place in your life, that you recognize Him as your God. Some people think that Jesus is their God because they grew up in church, or believe that Jesus existed, or was a great teacher. But, in fact, your God is the one who owns you, sustains you, saves, forgives, and rescues you…who loves you most…whom you most love…whom you live for and serve…in whom you find your hope and deepest joy…whom you trust with everything in your life…in whom you rest securely…in whom you get your identity and worth. If that’s Jesus, great!  If not, ask Him to do and be all those things for you. He will!  

The five steps don’t rescue you. Jesus does. And Jesus will. And He will use these steps to walk you into His light. I am living proof. Grey days are common and serious. But there is light that is stronger than the darkness; there is hope, and there is healing.  There is Jesus, and He is for you.