The Hope to which He has called us (V) The opposite spirit

Still working with the prayer for “a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we might know the hope to which He has called us” (Ephesians 1:17,18). There is a spirit of wisdom and revelation and there is a spirit of hope. Well what do I mean by that? Let’s think about the opposite for a moment. If you can read body language you can “see” the spirit of discouragement on someone in a state of hopelessness. You can see it in their fact, it's not just no smile, it's a downcast look, perhaps stooped shoulders. They carry a “spirit” of heaviness, and your attempts to cheer them up simply fail. I'm not talking about healthy grieving here, the necessary period of mourning after a significant loss, for there's “A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). It's more than possible though, for the spirit I am talking about to set in if we do not learn to grieve properly.

There is a spiritual song that has recently not only caught my attention, but is helping me in my struggle to extricate myself from discouragement over something that  happened. It’s called “I raise a Hallelujah.” The line “Out of the ashes hope will arise” is standing out to me this morning as I write. The principle is that this will happen as we raise a Hallelujah, as we praise the Lord in spite of the circumstances. The “ashes” are likely a reference to Isaiah 61:3 where we read that Messiah came to “To give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Indeed these things are gifted, but like all spiritual gifts,  they have to be received, they have to be appropriate, and we do this through an act of obedience by “raising a Hallelujah.”

Perhaps you don’t feel like it. But we don’t feel our way into action, we act our way into feeling. You see every thought is accompanied by an emotion, some stronger than others of course. But when we nurse our feelings, they grow. “But I would be pretending,” I hear you say. But no, you are practicing not pretending. And in the words of another spiritual song “I’m done chasing feelings.” Related to this is the command to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). Verse 8 tells us how. In particular whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy we are to meditate on these things. Actually it' spiritual warfare, the song I am talking about puts it this way “my weapon is a melody.” No we are not pretending, we are practicing. And I don’t know about you, but I still need to practice bi-times.

Father, if we are going to do this well, there will certainly be times of mourning. Lord though what I am talking about this morning is practicing, nevertheless it's more than possible to pretend if we do not face the brutal reality of our situations. Thank You that there is a greater reality, and it's You, it is You who ultimately gives us the oil fo joy for mourning, and who will ultimately wipe away all tears. In the meantime Lord, please give us a revelation of what it means that to live is Christ, but to die is gain (Philippians 1:21) in Jesus Name Amen