Escaping Despondency

A couple of summers ago, I read Pilgrim's Progress...the entire thing...no cliff notes or anything. I'm not gonna lie. It took alot of days laying out at the pool to get it all read (real suffering right?? :). Anyway, it really is something I'm proud of...it's not something people do everyday (at least not me...) I wish, however, that I could say I remember more of it than I do...but after about the 200th page of 8 point print, things start to run together.
There are some parts that will stick out to me forever, though. The whole book is amazing. Reader's Digest version, a man named Christian realizes destruction is about to come to his city (come to find out, they're all a bunch of major sinners...huh, sound familiar :)??). The rest of the book is about his journey to escape the destruction, and enter into eternal life (I know that I just messed that up really bad...but that's not my point).
Here's the part that has stuck with me. Along the way, one of the obstacles Christian has to go through is called the Slough of Despond. It's a nasty place...the only way to be done with it is to go through it, and yet going through it is nearly impossible. The nasty, disgusting stuff doesn't let go...it just drags Christian down farther and farther.
It hit me today that our mindsets are like that. Do you ever have a day that just feels like a Slough of Despond?? Like, no matter what you do, you just can't get above the discouragement, the lack of joy and life, the blah-ness? The kind of day where you look in the mirror at the end of it and wonder, what the heck did I even come close to accomplishing? Today was kinda one of those days for me. I never do well when I feel like I'm behind in my job, or even worse, when I don't feel like I'm doing my job well. I allow myself to get overwhelmed and stressed out far too easily, and besides that, who isn't at least a little tired by the time Thursday rolls around? (Please don't tell me I'm the only one...:/) Sometimes, life just seems to grab hold and drag you down...and not let go.
And yet, the crazy thing is, it doesn't have to be that way. I've been reading in Psalm 119 lately (it's so stinkin' long I can't read it in a day if I try...), and I'm amazed at the attitude of the Psalmist. Several times, he talks about the persecution he's facing...people are after his very life (umm...all of a sudden my day looks a little better...). Over and over, he pleads for God to show mercy, to spare him, to deliver him. But, what sticks out to me most is the way that he clings to the Word and the ways of the Lord: "May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate upon Your precepts (vs. 78)." "My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, 'When will you comfort me?' Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke (basically, I'm dried up, with almost nothing left...again, my day looks brighter), I do not forget Your decress (vs 82-83)." "If Your law had not been my DELIGHT, I would have perished in my affliction (vs. 92)." I don't think I'm doing God's Word any injustice when I say that there is no doubt David placed his entire being, all of his hope, purpose, and expectancy in the Lord and what He has said. Psalm 62:5 says, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken." Without a doubt, this is the heart of David.
Anyway, that's a whole lot of rambling. But, what I'm trying to get at is that it didn't matter what David's circumstances were...it didn't matter who was after his life, who wanted the throne, or what problem had arisen in the kingdom (or his life). His life, his heart, his soul, were centered upon a Rock, a solid place. As I've read through Psalm 119, listened to people with way more wisdom than I'll ever know, and gone through my own experiences, I'm learning (and learning is the key word...it's all about process right?? :) that days stuck in the Slough of Despond don't have to happen. That doesn't mean there won't be times when it's tempting to go down there, and even more tempting to just stay there, but they don't have to be REALITY. Here's what David rested his life upon, and what I want to as well: when I put everything I am: heart, soul, energy, desires, aside and make room for the only One who is worthy of hope, expectation, love, my focus is off of everything that tends to pull me down. The more that I tend to think about how bad those kinds of days are, the worse they become. Instead, I pray that God will open the eyes of my heart, that He will blind me with His presence, and He will so completely overwhelm and overtake all of me that there is no room for that nasty mess. Even in the rough times, we have a choice: we can allow ourselves to slip down into the mess, to the mire and get caught up in "how bad" it all is...OR...we can run to the Rock, to the Lord...we can make Him our center, our Focus, our delight, our passion...and in doing so, suddenly realize that maybe we weren't as far in the muck as we'd thought.
Just a thought (or rather, several of them...:) my dear fellow travellers. I pray that today, no matter what your path may hold, you might find your eyes lifted up, in full exultation and adoration of the One who is completely worthy of our focus and our praise. Oh Lord...thank you that You truly are above it all!
...in Him...