Spurgeon on “Depression of Spirit”: A Word to Pastors

Every single one of these could be relayed into men of today. Spurgeon's points are well taken, and I do agree that pastors struggle, I just think it can be expanded to men in general today.

1. We’re human. We face the reality of a fallen world—filled with afflictions and difficulties. These struggles come so we “may learn sympathy with the Lord’s suffering people, and so may be fitting shepherds of an ailing flock.”[2]
2. Our bodies and minds are often unhealthy. Physical ailments and emotional battles are real. If we’re predisposed to “lowness of spirit,”[3]we shouldn’t be surprised by our giving in to this pain.
3. Our work is weighty. We bear the burden of supporting our family, dealing with work, our home life, our children. Men often get little time for themselves, but are weighted down with so many things dependent upon them.
4. The walk of many men is a lonely one. Many men today lack of close friendships with other men. It is a struggle that is growing in today's world.
5. Office work too often promotes a sedentary lifestyle. Here, I’ll let Spurgeon make his point: “To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair.”[6]

Last week I heard about a study where they discovered that the same areas of the brain that were used for anxiety were also used for thankfulness. The hypothesis was that if you focused on being thankful, then there was less room for that part of the brain to focus on anxiety. It was essentially the Biblical put off put on principle as we renew our minds.

Shortly after that, I was driving to town and started to worry about something and I felt the anxiety rising and I began to feel all tense. This doesn't happen to me often, but it does every now and then. Part of the reason it doesn't usually last long is because when it happens I focus on prayer and thinking about the bright side of things. This time, instead of just praying and trying to be optimistic, I actually prayed and thanked God for so many things that were closely related to what I was worried about. Within about 5 minutes the anxiety was gone. The thankfulness put things into perspective and showed that it really wasn't worth worrying about.

I do not remember what the issue was, but I remember it was something that could have had a financial impact on our family. I thanked the Lord that even if the thing happened, we currently had enough to cover it. I realized that I was worrying about the future and what might happen if we had less of a buffer in case something else happened... I realized I was worried about the "what if's" that could be endless, but that God had already provided for the "right now's" and for that I was thankful. Suddenly I realized that I really did have a lot to be thankful for and that there really wasn't much room for worry.

It also helps me to be thankful for other members of the SI community. This is especially important when I disagree with them. It is easy for any of us to get annoyed over a post someone makes, but at such times I like to remember how thankful I am for another post that same person has made about a different subject.

It also helps me to be thankful for other members of the SI community. This is especially important when I disagree with them.

I guess your favorite gospel song is "I believe in miracles" eh?