Psalm 42, Psalm 43; Genesis 46:1-7, 28-34; 1 Corinthians 9: 1-15; Mark 6: 30-46

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God…” (Psalm 42:5)

I like to think of myself as a happy person with a positive outlook on life…and then I have one of those days. It usually starts with the little things: something wrong with the car, something broken around the house, an argument with someone in my family, or maybe just a frustrating day at the office. Next thing you know, all of life’s little disappointments seem to be piling on and I discover that beneath that cheerful exterior is someone who all too easily gives in to despair.

I’m not talking about despair as in sadness or depression, but rather despair as a spiritual condition: as the sin of letting the weeds choke out the Word, of believing that all the flawed and broken things of this world are beyond God’s reach, beyond God’s power to heal and restore. Ultimately, despair is a lack of trust – a failure to believe in God’s glorious promises.

When I am honest with myself, I find the source of my despair is firmly rooted in my own powerlessness, in my inability to fix the problems in my life and make myself into something better. And that’s when, like the psalmist, I need to remember where to put my hope: not in myself, but in the one who made this world, who will ultimately return to make everything right, and who even now through the power of the Spirit can change hearts and lives.