When You Feel Down and Out

Lately, I have been going through a time of feeling down and out. It frustrates me, but I know it is perfectly normal. I know God is working in my heart but sometimes that just doesn't help. I find myself fighting the fact that I need to go to God's word and rest in Him.

 

This is going to be a two part series. Part one's verses is from James 4, which is one of my favorite chapters I go to, that helps me to relate to God when distractions or sins make me feel down and out.

James 4:7-10 says

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

I always go to these verses because of verse eight. It is the promise God has given to me in times like these when I feel distant from Him but know that He is still working in me. But sometimes I think I forget that there are other things I need to remember when I approach God.

Looking at these verses there are things we need to think about and ask ourselves when we feel down and out and longing be near to God in His word.

~ How is your heart? ~

The second half of verse eight and verse nine answers that. Do you have any sin in your heart or mind? When we feel distant from God and draw near God in prayer and to read His word, we need to confess any sins or distractions in our lives. We need to be sorrowful about them and turn our hearts away from them. I like how the NLT version states verse nine

   "Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy."

The things that we do that is not honoring to God should bring sorrow and deep grief. In order to read God's word and be satisfied in Him, there can't not be anything preventing us.

~ Are you humble? ~ 

To submit yourself to God is to humble yourself. When we submit ourselves to God, we are humbly saying yes to Him and that we need His help. In times of feeling distant from God, we might be relying on our own strength to pull ourselves up again. But we can't. We need to acknowledge that self reliance is being prideful and that we need to humbly approach God and realize our need for Him. We are voluntary letting go and submitting to His will.

~ Are you giving into the devil? ~  

 There are also many times when we feel down and out that we are giving leeway to the devil. We are not resisting him. We kinda unintentionally play around with him. When we are not wholeheartedly seeking after God, it makes us weak and vulnerable to the devil or even to the things of this world. Sometimes when I am not giving God my all, I allow things like Facebook or even videos on YouTube waste my time instead of resisting them and resting in God.

It is important to reevaluate our lives when we feel down and out and distant from God. He has never left us. It is us who have distant ourselves from Him. I am just so thankful that we have a God that just continues to draw us near to Him even when we feel this way.