I apologize if you received an email
with an unedited version of this post. I quickly posted this the other day, and then
went back to revise the post.
I’ve been
thinking about the classic old movie, It’s
A Wonderful Life. The movie is about a man named George Bailey who nearly
ended his life. I wouldn’t classify this as a Christian movie, but some of the
themes can tie into a Christian’s life. We can struggle at times with some of
the things George struggled with. Yet we have a hope that fades not away in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
As George
Bailey goes through difficult providences, he despairs and is on the brink of
suicide. In the movie, an angel named Clarence is sent to help George as he is
about to jump off a bridge.
Although
believers always have joy in the Lord, we can struggle with despair, discontentment,
and unbelief. It is not sinful to be depressed or sorrowful. Medically related
depression is an illness that afflicts believers and unbelievers alike. As with
other illnesses, medical depression can be a thorn in the flesh that believers
struggle with throughout their lives. Others may struggle with it for a short
season.
Also, believers have
a godly sorrow which I touched on in my last post. Isaiah calls the Lord a man
of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3.) Likewise, sorrow is common among believers. However,
our response to depression and sorrow can be sinful if we are discontented,
despair, or act in unbelief rather than bringing our burdens to the Lord.
When we go
through the valley of the shadow of death, our desire for our heavenly country
grows stronger. Believers can be tempted to take matters into their own hands
to depart this world and go to their Savior. We must remember we are not our
own. We are bought with a price. We must trust that God is with us as we walk
through dark valleys. His grace is sufficient to sustain us. We can be tempted
to despair when we see no temporal comforts and experience hardship. Instead of
looking at our circumstances, we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ. Our comfort is not found in this world. With
every temptation there is a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13,) even the
temptation to suicide. Oh may we flee to our Savior when
temptations (of any kind) come. Though we are not yet with him bodily, we are
hidden in him and seated in the heavenlies (Colossians 3:1-3.) Scripture
teaches us to cast our cares on the Lord (Psalm 55:2.) Psalm 88 is a good
example of a saint doing just that. Hebrews 4:15 tells us “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin.”
Please note,
it is wise to seek treatment from medically related depression. And it is
prudent to share our burdens and confess our faults to other believers (Galatians 6:2, James 5:16.) Such things
are gifts from the Lord. But our hope lies not in these things. By the Lord’s
hand we may be brought out of a dark valley after a short season and by the
Lord’s hand we may have a lengthy pilgrimage through a dark valley sustained by
his hand. By the Lord's hand the good work that he began in us will be completed (Philippians 1:6.)
At my church, we recently confessed our faith with the Heidelberg catechism Lord’s Day 1, question 1: What is your only comfort in life and in death? The answer is beautifully and
biblically stated:
That I am not my own, but
belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and
has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over
me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the
will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my
salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and
ready from now on to live for him.
For scriptural proofs to this answer, please visit the following link: http://www.heidelberg-catechism.com/en/lords-days/1.html
There is
nothing that a true believer can do that voids God’s work on the cross on their
behalf. All sins that a believer commits have been washed away by the blood of
Christ. Though believers fall, they will not be utterly cast out (Psalm 37:24.)
That said, believers should never tempt God and sin that grace may abound. Those
that are born again are dead to sin and by the power that works within us, we
can defeat the schemes of the devil and the lusts of the flesh. There are many
warnings in the Bible of the dangers of presumptuous sins. May God give us the
grace to love him and keep his commandments. Whatever our sin struggles may be, may we petition the Lord as David
did in Psalm 19:13: “Keep back your
servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I
shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.” Henry Frances Lyte's hymn, "Abide with Me, sums up our need: " I need Thy presence every passing hour.What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me."
What shall we say then? Are
we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!
How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into
death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans
6:1-4
In It’s A Wonderful Life,
Clarence stopped George from ending his life. God chastens his children,
refining us like gold. He also corrects us when we ere from his ways. Once when
I was having a discontented thought while driving, a car drove past me with a bumper
sticker of a Bible verse that served to rebuke me. God brings about all
providences for our good. God arranges all providences we encounter to aid in
our sanctification. Often times our “angel” is a difficult providence that
causes us to draw nigh to God.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 1 Kings 19:4-14
Death was
not God’s will for Elijah at that time. By God’s strength, Elijah got up and
kept serving the Lord faithfully until he called him home. Death is a mercy for
a child of God. Believers groan for the day they will see the Lord and no longer
struggle with sin. But we are to be content to serve him for as long as he wills
us to be here. The day faith becomes sight will come with haste even if we live
beyond the age of seventy to eighty years (Psalm 90:10.) What is one hundred years
in light of eternity? Our days are as the grass which withers (Psalm 103:15.)
So we are always of good
courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord, for we walk by faith,
not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage,
and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please
him. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
After George’s
suicide plans were thwarted, he states he wished he’d never been born. The
following script is from the movie and is found on http://www.moviequotedb.com/movies/its-a-wonderful-life.html
Clarence: So you still think killing yourself would make
everyone feel happier, eh?
George: Oh, I don't know. I guess you're right. I suppose it would have been better if I'd never been born at all.
Clarence: What did you say?
George: I said "I'd wish I'd never been born!"
George: Oh, I don't know. I guess you're right. I suppose it would have been better if I'd never been born at all.
Clarence: What did you say?
George: I said "I'd wish I'd never been born!"
Like George,
believers can sometimes wonder “why was I born?” Below are two biblical accounts
of believers asking this.
Why did I come out from
the womb to see toil and sorrow, and
spend my days in shame? Jeremiah 20:18
Why did you bring me out
from the womb? Would that I had
died before any eye had seen me and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave.
Job 10:18
Jeremiah was
being persecuted and Job was greatly afflicted by a variety of very difficult providences.
Both men were godly but struggled with residual sin as all believers do. The
weight of trials caused them to question why they had been born instead of
reckoning that their present sufferings were not worthy to be compared to the glory
which would be revealed to them (Romans 8:18)
In It’s A Wonderful Life, Clarence shows
George how his life has impacted others. For example, George saved his brother
from drowning and had George not been born, his brother would have died. George
sees the impact of his life on others and again desires to live.
Sometimes,
God hides the fruit of our work from our eyes. We are not needed by God to
accomplish his work but he chooses to use weak clay vessels molded by the Potter’s
hands. He causes us to walk in good works he has ordained. It is encouraging to
see God’s grace at work in us and it is encouraging when we do see fruit from
our labors- fruit that God brought forth. But we should not be discontent with the ways God calls us to serve nor should we be discouraged if
God hides the fruit from our eyes. The Lord will do what he wills with our labors. Self righteousness and self glory tell us to find our worth in
our works and in the fruit of them. By grace we are saved. To God be the glory. A believer’s identity is rooted in Christ. I really enjoyed reading Jeremiah
23:6 the other day. It states, “In his days
Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be
called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”
Believers
can be tempted to make serving a priority over spending time with the Lord like
Martha (Luke 10:38-42.) This could mean we don’t desire to go to our eternal
rest as earnestly as we should because we would rather serve here; we may cling
too tightly to our works. This is in contrast with Paul in Philippians 1:22-25 who
saw that it is far better to depart and be with Christ yet knew he must serve
the Lord here a while longer. We must always be ready to go home but we must be
willing to serve until he calls.
George saw
the value of his life in what he has done for others. But the value of our
lives is this: We are creatures made in the image of God; he has formed each
one of us (Psalm 139:13-16.) Our lives are not to be destroyed by our hands or by the hands of others,
from the unborn to the aged and those in between. Yet, in our natural state, under the bondage of sin, we
have no hope or joy. Hope and joy lies not in ourselves or our accomplishments
but in the completed work of Christ on the cross. In him, we have eternal life
and joy unspeakable.
In closing,
I’d like to change gears a bit and tell you of a winter scene which reminds me
of why Christ came to earth, a babe long ago:
There’s
nothing quite like a fresh winter snow. I especially enjoy snow covered trees.
The trees sparkle as the sun gleams off the frosted branches. A snow covered
evergreen just may be the prettiest Christmas tree. Snow comes by the hand of
the Creator. When I take in the beauty of his creation I often think of Psalm
19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Fresh snow
brings to mind another verse also, one of my favorites, Isaiah 1:18: “Come now
let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white like
snow, though they be crimson they shall be as wool.”
The soul
that trusts in Jesus is white, white as snow. Let us rejoice in God’s boundless
grace and his gift of salvation.
O Joy
that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
(O Love
That Will Not Let Me Go, by George Matheson)
