Gloom, Despair, And Agony, On Me

Gloom, Despair, And Agony, On Me

By: C. Mason Davis

A doctor comes in and asks his patient, "where does it hurt?" The Man says, "everywhere, absolutely everywhere, I'm at my wits end, whenever I touch any part of my body it hurts a lot!" The doctor asks the man to point out the places the pain radiates from. So, the man pokes his knee, screaming as he does, and does the same thing on multiple points on his body, with each poke screaming in pain, Finally, the doctor gives him an examination, writes down a few notes and said "sir, you are almost completely fine" The man looks at the doctor in disbelief, poking his chest and arm and holding back agonized screams "how can you say this is fine? I'm in pain all over! I want a second opinion!" The doctor sighs and explains "I said you are almost fine, the problem isn't your body, it's just that you keep poking yourself with a broken finger!" You see, sometimes we remain in agony because we are so busy in our pain that we don’t stop to see what the root cause of that agony is, and meaning we continue to agonize.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

1 Peter 3:14-15, “But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. so don’t be afraid and don’t worry. instead, you must worship Christ as lord of your life.”

How do you deal with gloom? How do you deal with despair? And how do you deal with agony? Once again, God in His sovereignty led me to speak this message today. He knows exactly what we need to hear today, and each day. The truth is everybody here today is probably suffering in some way. What is this sudden elation after a pessimistic statement? It is the elation that comes when we recognize something we all share has been stated boldly. Our pent-up tension can be released in laughter if you allow it.

How many of you remember the “Hee-Haw” Show in the 70’s-80’s? Do you remember the quartet of men who sang about gloom, despair, and agony on me?

Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Deep, dark depression, excessive misery

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all

Gloom, despair, and agony on me

I still laugh when I hear this painful expression of despair and I am so grateful that laughter can cohabitate with deep gloom. Some of us have those kinds of days. So, what do you do when you have one of those days?

Ask yourself, “What is gloom?” Gloom is a partial or total darkness, a dark or shadowy place, a lowness of spirits, dejection. It’s like an atmosphere of despondency that looms over your life. It’s like the shadows and darkness in an abandoned house. When you sit around all day in your room and cry because a high school crush broke up with you. Gloom is also defined as a state of being depressed and in a constant bad mood. The main characteristic of gloom is a sad and gloomy feeling. You have less fun in normal daily activities. You are not in the mood to go to work, studying, exercising, or meeting friends, and nothing can cheer you up. A person who is unhappy and without hope is said to be gloomy. It’s when everything to you is dark or dim, or deeply shaded. Sunny days even seem like gloomy skies. Everyone and everything seem to add to your gloom. Nothing you set out to do seems anything other than a dismal and gloomy prospect. The sadness you feel leaves you feeling dejected, or melancholy. Do you currently live in a state of gloom? Have you ever been in a state of gloom? Now that I’ve already got everybody thinking and/or feeling gloomy, let’s delve into the world of despair.

What is the definition of despair? Despair is the utter loss of hope, a cry of despair, having given up in despair. A cause of hopelessness. Is despair a sin in the Bible? Unlike other sins, despair is by tradition the sole sin that cannot be forgiven because it is the conviction that one is damned absolutely, thus a repudiation of the Christian Savior, and a challenge to God's infinite capacity for forgiveness. What does the Bible say about despair? The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Why is despair a sin against the Holy Spirit? To despair consists in thinking that one's own malice is greater than Divine Goodness. Despair is best understood as a complete absence of hope. Often a sense of helplessness is associated with despair. Temptation to despair is common; we live in a fallen world with no shortage of things that try to crush our hope. But what is most important to understand when we despair is that we are rejecting the truth of what Jesus has done for us.