The Antidote to Despair

This week, one phone call sent my world spinning.
I didn’t see it coming.

Suddenly, like Peter, who had been walking on top of the waves in faith, I found myself focusing on the waves and struggling not to drown – in fear.

Like Peter, I also cried out, Lord, HELP!!

And a still small voice whispered in my heart.

“Don’t look at the waves; look at Me.”

In 1 Samuel 30:6, David also experienced one of those conversations that send your world spinning, and it makes a statement about his response that I have never forgotten. It says, 

“David encouraged himself in the Lord.”

Yesterday in Psalm 143: 4-5 (GNT) which was written by David, I found his secret, a 3-step antidote to despair:

I am ready to give up.
I am in despair.

I REMEMBER the days gone by;
I THINK about all that you have done.
I LIFT UP MY HANDS to You in prayer.
Like dry ground, my soul is THIRSTY.

And there it is: 3 steps to climb out of the pit of despair.

1. REMEMBER – Grab control of your thoughts. Start remembering all the things God has done for you in the past. (Stop looking at the scary stuff!)
2. THINK or meditate on the things you are remembering. That means stop and stay in those memories for a while.
3. LIFT UP YOUR HANDS – Thinking about what God has done in your past is going to reignite your gratefulness. Start thanking Him again for what He has done previously. Thankfulness elbows fear into the corner and allows faith to start muscling into the current situation.
4. STAY THIRSTY – David tells us how we became vulnerable to despair in the first place. We allowed the soil of our hearts to get a little – or a lot – dry. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, faith tends to keep fear outside the door – or at least very close to the door! David writes, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. (Ps 42:1 NLT) Stay thirsty!

Is this easy to do or even remember in the moment when your world is spinning? 

No.

There is a poem called There’s Hole in My Sidewalk: An Autobiography in 5 Short Chapters by Portia Nelson that I read years ago and has stuck with me. It helps me remember that staying out of the pit of despair (or anything else) is a learned process.

There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: 
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters 

1. 
I walk down the street. 
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 
I fall in. 
I am lost…. I am helpless.
 It isn’t my fault. 
It takes me forever to find a way out. 

2. 
I walk down the same street. 
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 
I pretend I don’t see it. 
I fall in again. 
I can’t believe I am in the same place. 
But it isn’t my fault. 
It still takes a long time to get out. 

3. 
I walk down the same street. 
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 
I see it is there. 
I still fall in; it’s a habit. 
My eyes are open.
I know where I am. 
It is my fault.
I got out immediately. 

4. 
I walk down the same street. 
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 
I walk around it. 

5. 
I walk down a different street. 

© 1977 Portia Nelson, There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery

Here is the summation of this thought in the song, Promises by Maverick City Music