Week 16: Despair

Despair

Romans 8:37

The definition of despair is to lose, give up, or be without hope. Although the emotion of despair profoundly affects all people, for the Christian, it becomes a seemingly hopeless grave of debilitating ineffectiveness, thereby weakening our witness to a lost and dying world and hindering our use of spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ through serving one another.  

The disciples and all of Jesus’ followers witnessed His powerful life and ministry for about three years. Matthew 9:35 (NIV) states, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” As Jesus’ core teachings on salvation and holy living developed and He neared the end of His earthly ministry, He gently began preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The books of Matthew and Mark record Jesus telling His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, where He would be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They would condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, spat on, flogged, and killed. Jesus then tells His disciples that three days after His death, He would rise from the dead. 

Jesus told His disciples about His death and resurrection many times in great detail. So why, as we quickly move past the account immediately after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, do we see the disciples feeling defeated, hopeless, and full of despair? It’s because they, like us, forgot God’s promises and His ultimate plans. We forget that He said He would never leave us or forsake us. We forget that He promised to work all things together for our good and for His glory. We forget that He said we shouldn’t be anxious; instead, we should pray and ask Him, and then He will give us peace. We forget, and as a result, our faith weakens. 

My friends, we must remember that when we are in the throes of despair, regardless of the cause, we serve a living and resurrected God who, through His sacrificial atonement for our sins, has empowered us to be more than conquerors in every situation. We can still rejoice in the spirit even when we are sad in the flesh.