Another way to keep the black dog at bay is to be encouraged by the testimony of other Christians as they go through serious trials.
Martin Downes pastors a church in North Wales, blogs at ‘Against Heresies’ and seeks to promote sound teaching in the life of the wider church.
A couple of weeks ago he put up a post seeking prayer because an MRI scan had revealed his nine-year old daughter had a large brain tumor.
A subsequent post provided detail of the surgery she would undergo.
It includes, among others, a quote from Robert Murray M’Cheyne: You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation,–a rock rising above the storm.
A further post includes Isaiah 25:6-8
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
And hymn words by John Ryland which begin:
Sovereign Ruler of the skies
Ever gracious, ever wise
All my times are in Thy hand
All events at thy command.
Downes’ most recent post</strong> quotes the thirteenth chapter of the Belgic Confession, which reads, in part:
Truly, whatsoever He does, having exceeded human constraints, we do not wish to inquire about these things pryingly and beyond our constraints. In fact, on the contrary, we nevertheless humbly and reverently adore the hidden and just judgments of God. For it is enough for us, as disciples of Christ, to learn no more than that which He Himself teaches us in His Word, without transgressing the limits that we regard as lawful.
Truly, this doctrine brings immeasurable comfort to us. For from it we know that nothing happens to us by fortune, but only all things by the will of our heavenly Father, Who truly keeps watch for us with fatherly care, having subjugated all things unto Himself so that not even a hair our head (which have all been numbered down to the individual one) can be plucked out, nor can the smallest chick fall to the ground, apart from the will of our Father.
It is a privilege to share the testimony of those who are trusting God through dark and painful seasons.
Doing so provides perspective on our own situations, encouragement to move from introspection to consideration of the needs of others, and wonderful examples of faith.
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