Choose to Break Free

Psalm 25:16-18

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am alone and afflicted. The distresses of my heart increase; bring me out of my sufferings. Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.

David wrote this Psalm out of much anguish. You can feel his heart ache in these words. You can sense the loneliness and desperation he felt as he poured his heart out to God for relief. While David struggled with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and guilt, he knew where to turn for help.

David had a heart that wanted to be in a right standing with God. He asked God for three things in this passage – to be gracious toward him, to deliver him from suffering, and to take away all his sins. These were all things he could not do for himself, and he needed God’s divine intervention. In our times of distress, we need God to intervene with these three things, as well.

Grace is unmerited favor. Without God’s favor, we can do nothing. With it, however, we can do all things. Without His grace, we are hopeless in a dark world ruled by our adversary – the Devil. The enemy will certainly persecute us and place obstacles in our way, but he cannot contend with the grace of God in our lives. What the Devil gives us for evil, God can use for good and frustrate the wicked plan devised against us.

Jesus promised us we would have suffering in this world. Suffering may come as a result of our own sin or as persecution for doing the will of God. In either case, we are often without means to deliver ourselves and must rely upon God’s greater power and purpose to bring us out of it and place us on a higher plane.  Suffering can produce patience and good character in us, but it can also wear us down in our faith. We must look to God to bring us through times of suffering and lead us to a brighter path.

The Devil uses the weapon of guilt on us to convince us we deserve suffering. He will tempt us to sin, then beat us over the head with it when we do. While we may actually deserve the suffering of our sin, we must remember that God poured all of His wrath upon Jesus at the cross for our sin. That does not give us a license to do anything we want, but it does give us the power to turn to God in repentance and receive forgiveness to continue in this life. God can remove our sin and give us new life in Christ to live righteously and put away the sin that ensnared us to guilt.

Hope for depression, discouragement, loneliness, anxiety, and guilt is found in Jesus Christ. God delivers us from these things. While we may fall into these emotional states by accident, mistake, or outright rebellion, we remain in them by choice. Choose to break free today by turning to God and crying out to Him. He is gracious; He delivers, and He takes away our sin. He is a life-giver, and He has a new life to give you, too.

Have a blessed day!