Picture an unwanted guest.
-- They show up without warning.
-- They are annoying, rude, and inconsiderate.
-- Their goal is to ruin your day and prevent you from focusing.
These guests don’t even knock; they just barge right in as if they own the place. They fight for my attention, disrupt my daily routine, and refuse to let me fall asleep at night. Sometimes, I’m tempted to give up trying to chase them away, but I know that their lingering presence is toxic to my soul. Their names are Loneliness and Fear. Do they barge through the front door of your life, too?
Maybe the guests that kick down the front door of your heart go by different names. Names like:
Despair
Hopelessness
Doubt
Self-pity
Depression
Failure
Worthlessness
Sometimes they come one after the other, like a chain reaction, attempting to wreak havoc on your faith. Depression may make a dreaded visit, so Loneliness naturally creeps up as well. This often causes Despair to hover over you and acquaints you with Hopelessness. Self-pity makes a grand entrance and introduces his cousin Miserable
As Christians, we must be on our guard against anything that distracts us from following Christ. The enemy often attacks when we are at our weakest and lowest point (physically or spiritually), but he also tempts when our faith and relationship with the Lord is fresh and soaring.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Show Them the Door
How can we drive these unwanted guests away? How can we show them they are not our masters and we are not their slaves? To combat the lies they speak to us, we need TRUTH! God’s Word frees us from being locked in on house arrest with these unwanted guests.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
Let me show you what I mean.
Hopelessness whispers, “Look at you. Your life is falling apart. You don’t have a shred of hope to hold on to.” God’s Word says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:11).
Weakness remarks, “This is too much for you. How will you be able to cope? You’re not strong enough.” God’s Word teaches us to say, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). We are weak, but our God is strong.
Self-pity cries, “Poor you. No one feels sorry for you. You don’t deserve any of this. All this pressure must be exhausting. Go do something for yourself, and never mind about anyone else.” God’s Word says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).
Loneliness mocks, “You are all alone. Your so-called friends don’t even care for you. Or do you even have friends? Admit it, even God seems so far away and out of touch with you.” God’s Word promises, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18), and “For my father and mother forsake me, but the LORD will take me in” (Psalm 27:10). He will never leave or forsake us.
Worthlessness adds, “You don’t matter. You’re nothing and can do nothing. What worth are you to anyone?” It doesn’t really matter what our value is before men. To God, we are worth the very blood of His Son! We were ransomed “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). How very valuable and cherished we must be in God’s estimation to be purchased at such a price!
Feeling lonely or sad or worthless is not necessarily a sin. We are human, and situations affect us all differently. Though these “guests” may assail us, because of God’s Word we don’t have to be enslaved by them. Instead of being tempted to wallow in our misery, hopelessness, or despair, let us saturate our minds with the Word of God and look away from ourselves and upward to our Savior.
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed (Psalm 34:5).
Which unwanted guests have arrived at the doorstep of your heart? How can you kick them out with the truths of God’s Word?
By Kaitlin Dendekker
