1 Samuel 16:1
And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
God’s advice for dealing with adversity, disappointment, and hurt is found in three stories. The first is when Saul had been rejected as king, Samuel was highly disappointed, not with God, but with Saul. Samuel nearly got depressed about Saul, but God told Samuel to fill thine horn with oil, and go.
The next story is found in the book of Ezekiel. God warned Ezekiel that his wife was going to die with a stroke. God’s advice to Ezekiel when his wife died was to put thy shoes upon thy feet. When his wife died in the evening, Ezekiel woke up the next morning and did as he was commanded.
The next story shows a man who found himself depressed, but God still showed him how to get out of his depression. This man was Elijah. Elijah heard that Jezebel had put a contract on his life to have him killed. The great prophet who prayed fire down from Heaven was now sitting under a juniper tree asking God to take his life. God’s response to snapping Elijah out of his depression was not to take medication, but to go and anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his place once he was gone. When Elijah obeyed God, his depression miraculously was gone and his boldness for God returned.
The common theme among all these situations about dealing with unwelcome circumstances was to go. God told Samuel to anoint his horn with oil and go. God told Ezekiel to get up the next morning and go. God told Elijah to go and anoint people. Each of these situations show that you don't deal with adversity by sitting and sulking, but by reaching the lost and in building the lives of others.
I have learned that the best way to deal with difficulties is not by running or hiding, nor by sitting and sulking, but by going soul winning and investing my life in others. You never overcome difficulties by sitting and waiting for them to pass, but you overcome them by going soul winning and investing your life in others. The only thing that happens when you run or sit is the adversity becomes greater and depression sets in. The reason it becomes greater is because you are self-focused instead of faith-focused. When pressure seems almost too much to handle, I have made it a practice to get some church tracts and go soul winning. I have made it a practice when Satan seems to have gotten a point in the battle to go reach someone for Christ. When I hear bad news and my heart is broken, I don't focus on the bad news, but I go soul winning and do my best to reach someone for Christ.
The answer to dealing with your life problems is not to sit and sulk, but to go and reach someone for Christ. Every person who has followed my advice to go soul winning and invest their life in others has always pulled out of their depression immediately. However, every person who has ignored my counsel in their time of heartache and depression to go soul winning and invest their lives in others has always gone deeper into depression. The way to deal with life’s adversities is to go soul winning. When you have to deal with life, go soul winning and let God deal with your life problems; you will find that depression will flee and God will handle your problems if you just go.
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