Tag: sacrifice

By Pastor Andrew Farland

The Dow Jones goes up and down, sometimes predictably and other times at the whim of whatever the President says or does. If you talk to people who have spent decades investing in different companies, they will tell you that the market is a rollercoaster full of ups and downs, twists and turns.

If you think about it, your battle with depression and anxiety is a lot like the stock market. You spend days climbing upward, believing that you’re close to some sort of breakthrough, only to be thrust into a free fall with no end in sight. Honestly, not knowing if I was improving or getting ready for a downfall was one of the most difficult parts of my struggle. And, now that I have come through my bout with depression and anxiety, I daily wonder if the bottom is going to drop out.

Talk to those same people who have invested in the stock market for years and they will tell you that the rollercoaster doesn’t just go down. It also goes up! They would tell you that, typically, if you keep your money in something like a mutual fund for a long time, you will make money.

Be encouraged today by what I’m about to tell you. Your experience with depression and anxiety is going to be a rollercoaster full of mountains and valleys. But, trust me. If you stay the course and take consistent steps forward, you will look back one day and see that after every time you fell, you got up and moved even closer to healing.

Your stock is going to go up!

Matthew 24:13
“The one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

I’ve never felt more alone than during my depression. And I’ve never felt more cynical. I judged people who were just enjoying their dinner at a restaurant or gray-haired men and women on the playground with their grandkids. I looked at them and believed that they couldn’t actually be happy. They must have been faking it.

The best way to describe me during that time was that I was a shell of myself. I went from being happy, positive, non-judgmental, and extroverted to being negative, judgmental, and introverted. It came on quickly and after a while, I started to forget who I really was.

Let me be candid with you today. I existed in a shell of myself for so long that I began to think I did something wrong. I began to believe that I had no purpose and that, if it’s possible, I had literally lost God. Maybe you feel like that today. The only logical reason to be experiencing such pain is that your God must be punishing you or at the very least, He’s disappeared on you.

I remember those thoughts being very real. What was the one thing that brought me back to reality? Having a friend to talk to who had gone through the same struggles as me.

Hearing the words, “Me too,” was extremely powerful. From the very first time my friend sympathized with my experience, my cynicism faded and I started seeing the world through a clear lens.

Today, start seeking out someone who has gone through depression and is now on the other side. If you have trouble finding that person, go to a professional counselor and ask him or her to point you in the right direction. This is essential for your healing process.

Proverbs 27:17
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Have you ever waited for a long time to see the results of your hard work? Have you ever been anxious for a package or letter to show up at your door? Have you ever longed for someone in your life to make serious changes to his or her behavior? We’ve all been there. We’ve all, at some point, been forced to wait for something to happen.

It’s not easy. And, eventually, if we’ve waited for a long time, we start asking, “Why?”

When I was in Uganda serving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, God allowed me to be struck with depression. It caught me off guard because, I thought to myself, “Why would He let me go through this while I was serving Him so much? Why would He do this to me?”

Time went by and I had to travel back to the U.S. to work on the healing process. After a couple of years, and after I had time to reflect on my time in Uganda, I realized that I was trying to become someone God didn’t create me to be. I was doing mission work because I was trying to be the ideal Christian. In other words, I was driven not by God’s calling on my life, but by a superficial understanding of how Christians are supposed to act.

I needed God to force me out of Uganda and teach me that lesson.

I heard a story once of a farmer’s son who had been helping his family survive a tough harvest season by working for free on the farm. One day, while he was baling hay, the boy fell and broke his leg. Immediately, he questioned God, asking, “Why would you let this happen to me while I was helping my family?!” A week later, a military recruiter showed up at his doorstep to draft the boy into his mandatory military service. However, because of his broken leg, he was unable to serve.

Days later, the plane carrying all of the recruits from his hometown crashed and left no survivors. God let the boy get a broken leg. But, I can guarantee you that he was thankful he didn’t get on that plane.

Sometimes we think all bad things are tragedies, but later on, we can see that God was using them for our good. God is always working in our lives even if we can’t see it.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
“In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

It might not feel like it right now, but the longer you go through your struggle, the less you will ask, “why me?” and the more you’ll start asking, “What for?” There will come a time, maybe years from now, when you will be able to see the bigger picture and trust that God might actually be working in your life.

The truth that you need to hear today is that God is intentional. He specializes in turning messiness into ministry and brokenness into a blessing. In other words, there is not a trial or obstacle that God doesn’t use as a teaching opportunity for his sons and daughters. When we are at our weakest and most broken, God does His best work.

There’s a story in the Old Testament of a man named Gideon, the leader of God’s army, who was preparing for battle against the Midianites. The Midianites had thousands of soldiers and were ready to wipe out Gideon’s people. In the face of the Midianite threat, God asked Gideon to go to battle with only 300 men. “Three-hundred men?! Really, God?! We will be to the week!” Gideon thought. If you know the story, you remember that with 300 men, Gideon and his soldiers defeated an army of thousands because God was with them.

God does His best work when we are at our weakest.

Have you ever seen stained glass in an old cathedral? If so, you know how awesome it can be and how each piece of glass is intricately placed together to make a larger piece of art. On a nice day, the sun shines through it, sending a spectrum of colors into the cathedral.

Here’s what is amazing about stained glass: Artists can’t make it without broken material. Glass has to be shattered into pieces before it can be made into beautiful artwork.

You are like stained glass. You are like Gideon. God will do His best work in you because you are at your weakest. I am living proof of God’s handiwork and you will be, too. Believe that today.

Psalm 51:16-17
“You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.