Going to God in discouraging times

There are those days, and then there are those days. You know what I mean. When you are depressed, about the last thing you want to do is get out of bed and rise to face the challenges of the day.

I read a troubling quote today. It was a news story about an NYPD detective named James Zadroga who had died from lung problems. Following 9/11, he had worked for months at Ground Zero and breathed in a lot of contaminated air. He was a hero.

Later, though, it was discovered that he might have been injecting drugs—ground up pills—that contributed to his lung disease.

Commenting on the story, Dr. Terence Keane, who heads the behavioral science division of the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, said: "We might think of [emergency workers] as stress resilient, but the reality is that the on-the-job pressure for these emergency service workers can be overwhelming."

Then Keane made the statement that causes us to pause: "Their job is 95 percent boredom and 5 percent terror."

What a way to live. They live lives marked by two emotions no one wants: long stretches of boredom broken up unpredictably by short stretches of terror. What a grinding toll that would take on your soul.

Emergency workers are not the only ones whose daily lives may involve a regular swing between two troubling emotions.

Some of you who are in deep financial debt might describe your lives as 95 percent pressure and 5 percent despair.

You who are in a broken marriage might describe your life as 95 percent anger and 5 percent depression.

You who have a life-threatening disease might describe your life as 95 percent fear and 5 percent resignation.

Whatever your situation, the painful mix of emotions can be taking a terrible toll on your soul.

Here's a Psalm of encouragement that helps counteract hopelessness and walk through the day with courage.

Psalms 108

1 My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

3 I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.

What's one of the keys to getting up on the "right side of the bed?" Begin your day with worship. Praise. Your day will go better if you begin with praise to God who made and redeemed you.

It's all about choosing the right attitude.

What can help us choose the right attitude? We are connected to God, we are part of the body of Christ, we are in the grace and hands of God.

David goes on to write:

4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

God loves us. Unconditionally. Without hesitation. There is no picking daisys with God and saying, "I love them, I love them not." God loves you today and He will love you tomorrow.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.

What gives you confidence this day?

David reviews God's track record with geographical references to camping places where the Lord sustained Abraham and Jacob

6 Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.

7 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
"In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah my scepter.

9 Moab is my washbasin,
upon Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph."

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?

11 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?

12 Give us aid against the enemy,
for the help of man is worthless.

13 With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.

With confidence, David can ask for help because of what the Lord has already done.

David ends his psalms by recalling the most difficult task facing him - the fortified city of Edom.

Edom was considered impregnable because of its walls, battlements, and defenses.

What is your Edom today? Perhaps you don't know how to overcome that challenge. I know that many times I don't.

David didn't know the "how" either, but he knew the "who." God himself.