Dealing with the Spirit of Heaviness

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We all from time to time get weighed down by the demands of life. You try to balance your spiritual, familial, relational, and professional obligations while seemingly standing on one leg and juggling, life can get a bit stressful. I get it.

Or maybe if your personal life is fine, you find yourself stressed out by the world around you- a global pandemic, lawlessness and violence in the streets, a looming economic downturn, and escalating tensions in the war between Russia and Ukraine that could result in a global conflict. How much more gasoline can we pour on this out of control fire?

I know in times past, I’ve had a tendency to withdraw inwardly when faced with an overwhelming situation or situations. I’ve shut down while going through the motions of life. At times it felt like I lost power and was running on a back-up generator to keep the essential operations going. Ignoring a problem will never solve said problem nor will retreating into drugs, alcohol, food, sex, or anything else. Even though the problems we face may be scary and complicated, we must face them nonetheless.

We are not alone when facing our problems. For Christians, we can rely on the strength of Christ and the Holy Spirit. There are also family, friends, and wise counsel we can seek when it’s too much.

The Bible has a word for when we are weighed down by the stresses of life- heaviness. To be more specific, God’s Word has eleven words for heaviness.

Perhaps the most well known of the heaviness passages is Isaiah 61:3:

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”(KJV).

The Hebrew word for heaviness in Isaiah 61:3 means feebleness or obscurity. In other words, the passage indicates that someone lacks the spiritual, physical, or mental strength to overcome a problem or that someone may not see hope in the darkness, their view is obscured. Luke 4:18-19 tell us that Jesus read the verses above Isaiah 61:3 when He taught in the synagogue in Nazareth.

What are some other symptoms of the spirit of heaviness?

-A spiritual heaviness may bring about physical sickness (Psalm 69:20),

-Heaviness may bring on depression or grief (Psalm 119.28, Proverbs 10:1, 14:13).

-A spirit of heaviness also brings along anxiety (Proverbs 12:25).

-Heaviness may brought on by trials or persecution (1 Peter 1:6).

-However, not all heaviness is bad because there should be times that we come to God and confess our sins, fast, and pray about the burdens we have for the lost and other people. (Ezra 9:5, Romans 9:1-2, James 4:8-10).

In order for us to properly deal with the spirit of heaviness, we must be in right relationship with God. If worshipping and reading the Bible seem like chores during heavy seasons, that is when we must lean in all the more to God. We must also starve ourselves of the lies of the world and feast on God’s truth. We must turn away from the negativity and all worldly things which seek to bring us down. We must withstand the devil’s attacks with the Word of God. Put on your armor and prepare for battle.

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.” (Isaiah 35:3-4, KJV).

God bless you all.

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Proverbs 29:11-Wise and Foolish Conversations

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We live in “The Age of Rage,” where just one statement on Social Media can spark a wildfire of venomous hatred and cancellation. Living in the age of technological instant gratification allows us to give our “hot take” on the topic of the moment. However, do we ever question the wisdom of giving someone a piece of our mind?

The Book of Proverbs provides us a path on how to live a life of devotion and wisdom. Solomon and the other writers of Proverbs make their points by contrasting the actions of the fool and the wise man. For instance, let’s examine Proverbs 29:11.

“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterward.” (Proverbs 29:11, KJV).

This verse states that the fool does not hold back when giving in to his thoughts or emotions, while the wise man holds back. If someone is making a grave mistake or is in danger, then yes, we should speak the truth and speak up. We should always speak truth at the appropriate time and not be so concerned about “winning” the argument. We must be careful about speaking out in anger or allowing our emotions control us. Words can’t be taken back. We must exercise self-control and not be so quick to respond to what we hear and see. Let’s get all the facts.

“Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.” (Proverbs 14:33, KJV).

Before we engage with someone, we must ask ourselves, “Is this a productive use of my time?” If you are responding to a post on Social Media, I would argue the answer is no. We must not allow ourselves to be roped into pointless arguments that will not change anyone’s mind.

“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” (Proverbs 26:4, KJV).

As we go forward, let’s so wisdom and discretion in picking our battles. Be careful in choosing the proverbial hill you want “to die on.”

The Greek philosopher Plato agreed with The Bible when he said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

God bless you.

Upon Further Review…

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” -Socrates

In recent years, I have done a lot of what I would call “mid-life reflection,” where I have pondered the direction of my life. I have also taken a hard look at what I believe and why I believe it. Does what I believe stand up to critical examination, logic, reason, and common sense? Am I willing to let go of certain beliefs if they no longer stand up to scrutiny? Can I be intellectually honest enough with myself to admit to such a finding?

To paraphrase the great Jedi masters, I have not fallen to “the dark side,” but I do allow myself to play “devil’s advocate.” Let’s take my Christian faith for example. I was born in the United States, more specifically Indiana, where Christianity is the dominant religion. Indiana coincidentally, tends to more fundamental in its faith, which by default leads people to being more politically and socially conservative. However, what if I was born in Thailand? More than likely I would have become a Buddhist, because Buddhism is the dominant religion and culture in Thailand. Same goes for India, where people practice Hinduism, or what if I was born in Saudi Arabia, where people follow the teachings of Islam?

The question becomes is our faith simply a by-product of what we are born into and therefore accept without question because it’s the norm? Also, if we believe to hold onto the one true faith, why do we react so harshly to criticism? Why has religion been the source of so much bloodshed throughout the history of the planet? Much worse than an unexamined life are the consequences of unexamined ideas and the people who follow along. We must temper what we believe with reason and not give blind allegiance to people of any religious, social, or political group, because we can find ourselves disillusioned when we place faith in man.

Examining your values and beliefs doesn’t have to wait until all hell breaks loose, but it can be a daily exercise to cleanse our minds and spirits. I intend this year to go deeper into my reflection without fear of asking the hard questions. I also intend to examine the common responses, or in most cases, cliches that all of us say because we feel compelled to say something. I want to explore deeper subjects and go beyond the surface. If faith is an ocean, I intend to explore the Mariana Trench. I am going to take a reasoned, philosophical, and verifiable approach to faith. I hope you come along for the journey. God bless.

Pontius Pilate’s Question

After he claimed to be God, Jesus was taken from the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council unto Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. According to Jewish law, Jesus’ crime of blasphemy was punishable by death. However, under Roman law, only the Romans could carry out capital punishment. Thus, Jesus had to face a second trial by Rome.

At this time in history, Jerusalem and all of Judea were political powder kegs, which could explode at any time. There were groups such as the Zealots, who led insurrections against Rome and there were others who expected the Messiah to be a military/political figure, who was going to overthrow Rome and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel. Though in John’s gospel, Pilate perceives the issue between Jesus and the Sanhedrin to be nothing more than a religious dispute, he still had to tread lightly. Pilate’s main concern was whether or not Jesus and his followers were going to rebel against the Roman occupation.

Pilate asked Jesus if He as king of the Jews (John 18:33), to which Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36, KJV).

Pilate asked Jesus again, “Art thou a king then?”(John 18:37), to  which Jesus replied, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37, KJV, emphasis mine).

Before the story transitions to Jesus and Barabbas and Jesus’ ultimate crucifixion, Pilate asked Jesus a thought provoking question, for which unfortunately, John doesn’t record a response.

“Pilate saith unto him, ‘What is truth?‘” (John 18:38a, KJV, emphasis mine).

What is truth? Isn’t that the seemingly the most unanswerable question in the history of humanity? The search for truth is a riddle wrapped inside of a mystery, which is wrapped inside of an enigma. All of us, no matter who we are, our background, our nation of birth, gender, religion, and so forth, spend our lives searching for truth and meaning. Who am I? Why am I here? Does God exists? Is there life after death? Have I done enough good deeds? Have I wasted my life on the wrong pursuits? Questions like these can induce crises on many levels and can keep us up late at night.

What did Pilate mean by truth? The Greek word used throughout the New Testament and this passage is the word Aletheia (Strong’s #225), which when used objectively as a noun means “signifying the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter.” Thus, objective truth is something that can be verified. For example, we know our universe rotates around the sun. We know gravity is the invisible force holding our feet on the ground. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

There is also a subjective nature to truth, which according to Strong’s, “not merely verbal, but sincerity and integrity of character.” So, how sincere are we in our beliefs? Do we embody the character and essence of what we believe? When we view truth in a subjective manner, that is where the disagreements and trouble starts. History attests to all of the atrocities committed by groups of people upon others simply because they believed in a different God, political philosophy, or someone simply wanted their land, the list of reasons goes on and on.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” The irony of the story of Jesus, the Sanhedrin, and Pilate is that Jesus was the Messiah these Jewish leaders and others were praying for for decades, if not centuries, however, because they had a different vision of the Messiah, they rejected Jesus. For those in leadership, Jesus represented a shakeup and perceived threat to the established order. The people were following after this carpenter from Nazareth, who taught people to love their enemies, pray for your opposition, turn the other cheek if they struck you, and pay your taxes to Rome, etc. Jesus also did this without the help of the religious elite, for his disciples were fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and other everyday people, which certainly upset the establishment.

If you are reading this, you may be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, or you are looking for something to believe. I believe that we should openly examine our beliefs and discover what is truth. No matter what you believe, are there fearful questions in the back of your mind? What if I’m wrong? How can I be sure? One thing I have learned recently is don’t fear the opposition. There is a world of information out there, seek it out. Examine what you believe and why you believe it. Read books and articles that run contrary to your beliefs, so you can be informed. Search your heart, search your soul, use logic and reason along with your faith. God bless you all.