GOD’S PROMISE IS GREATER THAN MY ANXIETY

By Dr. Todd A. Peperkorn

In times of suffering, doubt rises up like a wave that overwhelms. It can be crippling, paralyzing, and brings with it fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. We can sound like the psalmist in Psalm 10:1, looking for God when He seems to have run away and hidden from us.

In many ways, the suffering of this life is always forcing the “where is God” question upon us. This is never clearer than when that suffering comes from mental illness like depression or anxiety. Many of the symptoms of mental illness come because we get overstimulated by the outside world. Sights, sounds, and even emotional pressure can cause us to turn inward and try to escape all the things that make life so hard.

That is how Satan often uses doubt. Because my instinct is to isolate when I am suffering and in hardship, this cuts me off from the very thing that I need to have peace. The “did God really say” that Satan used in the Garden of Eden still works pretty well on us. Because things are hard, there can be this voice coming at you, trying to lure you away from our Lord’s certain promises. Satan wants you to doubt that God is on your side, and because you are suffering, Satan will try to use that suffering and hardship as proof that God doesn’t love you.

But that isn’t true. God does love you. He demonstrated this by sending Jesus to die and rise again so that you might live with Him forever. God’s love for you in Christ is the most certain thing in your life, even if things are hard — especially when things are hard.

The key, though, is to remember that faith comes from outside of us. Faith is not a matter of willpower. I can’t make myself believe in God’s loving care for me. Faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9), and because it is a gift, that means God is the one who gives us this gift. He gives this gift to us by His Word and Spirit.

Because faith is a gift, that means it isn’t based on how I feel or what I think. It isn’t a matter of choice or pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. Faith means looking to God in Christ because looking to yourself is useless and even harmful.

So, what should you do when you doubt God’s love and mercy? What should you do when the answers aren’t there, when the more you seek Him out, the farther away He seems? Stop looking inside yourself for the answers. Recognize that whether it is Satan or it is your “depression brain,” in both cases, they are lying to you.

Hear what our heavenly Father says to us in His Word:

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26 ESV).

Your heart is not the measure of God’s love in Christ. Christ binds Himself to you in the waters of Holy Baptism. That water soaks you, permeates you, envelops you so that you are never alone, never abandoned, never left behind.

There are no easy answers to the hardships that we face in this life. Doubt is always lurking in the corners, trying to lure us away from the sure and certain promises of God. Thank God that He reveals Himself to us in His Word, that His love for us isn’t based on us, and that even when we stumble, He will lift us up in His mercy.

That is where our hope lies.

Dr. Todd A. Peperkorn serves as an assistant professor of pastoral ministry and missions at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind. He is author of the book, “I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression.”