A Pillar of Strength

One of my greatest pleasures is reading. Very often, the writers have challenged and inspired me through their writings. Currently, I am poring through Henri Nouwen’s book entitled THE ROAD TO DAYBREAK. I would like to quote a portion of his writing that touched me deeply. It read “This morning, I woke up somewhat depressed. I could not find any reason for it. Life just felt empty, useless, fatiguing. I felt invaded by somber spirits. I realized that this mood was lying to me. Life is not meaningless. God has created life as an expression of love. It helped me to know this, even though I could not feel it. Based on this knowledge, I can again choose joy. This choice means simply to act according to the truth. The depressed mood is still there. I cannot just force it out of my heart. But at least I can unmask it as being untrue and thus prevent it from becoming the ground for my actions.”

At one point or another, we had gone through what Nouwen so candidly expressed. Perhaps some of us are in the midst of depression. The heaviness and bleakness overshadow the bigness and greatness of the Lord. We seem to be blinded and groping in darkness. Our hearts are so cold that we fail to cry out to God.  Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Lord is unchanging. He alone can rescue and lift us up again.  All it takes is for us to acknowledge that we cannot manage on our own. All we need to do is to lay our burdens, our heartaches, our anguish and pain at the feet of Jesus.  He promised to carry them for us. He desires to make us whole again. He is a pillar of strength to every weak, weary and heavy-laden child.