Miserable for the Right Reason

I started reading Spiritual Depression by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones today, a collection of his sermons preached on causes and cures of depression from a biblical perspective.  He has a lot of good insight on a tricky topic.  One thing I read today that I found especially relevant and wise is this:  "You must be made miserable before you can know true Christian joy.  Indeed the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never been truly made miserable because of conviction of sin.  He has by-passed the essential preliminary to joy, he has been assuming something that he has no right to assume." (Spiritual Depression, Lloyd-Jones, pg. 28)  So true.

It is safe to say that everyone in their lives will face degrees of misery over seasons of their lives.  Some might be due to a troubling event or a physical illness.  This misery can range from an itchy sunburn to the death of a loved one, a breakup or even losing a valued possession.  Misery can be fleeting or chronic.  Everyone faces obstacles and difficulties which could potentially bring much misery to our lives.  Yet there is also misery of a spiritual kind:  a conviction of sin and the unbearable weight of condemnation.  For much of my childhood I had a belief in God.  Though I had faith in the Word of God and the power of Jesus Christ to save, even into my early adulthood I found myself powerless over several sins which kept me bound.  It was not until I became miserable in my sin and was broken because of my terrible offense before God that I found deliverance through repentance.  Misery was the path to reconciliation before God and empowerment by the Holy Spirit.

It is a rare thing today, to see people miserable because of their great sin before God.  There is no shortage, however, of miserable people!  Most people are miserable because their prime focus is on themselves.  Their eyes are blinded by unbelief.  They are disappointed and frustrated with the circumstances and the people in their lives.  They lust and covet and cannot obtain.  They are miserable due to sin, but they cannot see it.  In their eyes, they are miserable because their desires remain unfulfilled.  Only God and the conviction brought through His Word can open our eyes to this truth personally.  Those who have been most miserable in their sin are the least likely to return to that vomit.  They also seem to be among those greatly used by God in His service.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones speaks of miserable Christians:  "They are in the realm of the Church, and very interested in Christian things; and yet when you compare them with the New Testament description of the new man in Christ you see at once that there is a great difference.  Indeed they themselves see that, and this is often the main cause of their depression and their unhappiness...They take up Christians biographies and read the lives of various saints who have adorned the life of the Christian Church, and they admit at once that they are not like them...They read books which are meant to give instruction about the Christian way of life, they attend meetings and conferences, always seeking this something which they do not find.  And they are cast down, their souls are cast down and disquieted within them." (Spiritual Depression, pages 24-25) Lloyd-Jones observed that people who feel this way often have never felt themselves to be sinners.  They know they are sinners in an almost theoretical sense, but have not felt it in a personal way.  They have never been buried under the weight of conviction and guilt and felt they would die unless they were somehow relieved.

That is where the Gospel of justification by faith in Christ comes into play.  I believe we can make the mistake of offering the peace and consolation of the scriptures to the selfish and unrepentant.  We make a great error to rush them to the cross for salvation before they had been brought to absolute misery by their sins.  They cannot appreciate the love, grace, and sacrifice Christ has made for them.  Somehow they feel they deserve such love.  Praise the LORD it is not my job to make someone feel guilty!  We are called to speak the Word in love, and the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the blind.  He is the One who convicts and judges in righteousness.  Unless a man is under conviction, he cannot repent.  And when a man is without repentance, salvation through faith will elude him.  That is why God gave us the truth of His Word and the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment along with our conscience.  After we have been freed from the miserable weight of guilt through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, we have fulness of joy.  Miserable circumstances will come and go, yet we are more than overcomers through Christ.