Despairing

You might think, right off the bat, that despair is not something that readily comes to mind when people think of the spiritual life. And if we had to choose just six or seven seasons or rhythms in our walk with God, why would we possibly look at despair? It seems like there are more important things to discuss. However, it does seem to be a big category within the Psalms – Psalms of Lament. And if this is where God takes us to teach our souls how to pray maybe despair is something we need to explore – NOT that it’s going to be a very pleasant inquiry but maybe…in fact, definitely loss and discouragement and despondency (as in John Bunyan’s Slough of Despond) is something we do face and must learn to face in a particular way.

I think a lot of people would be surprised at how the Gospel would deal with it. So let’s look at: 1) The Bad News About Despair 2) The Good News in This Apparently Dismal Psalm and 3) How to Deal Redemptively With Despair.