Of Lively Hopes and Anti-Depressants in the Easter Basket

I couldn't believe it.  The Words nearly jumped off the page at me...  Like a shot in the dark, a blast from the past, so to speak...  I had read it a hundred times before and NEVER seen it- how could I have missed it?  But isn't that the way it works when it comes to the Word of God?  We read the Bible again and again in our devotions, re-reading and re-reading, and then one day- something just pops from the page and lands in our lap... 

So was the case the other morning, when I was reading from 1 Peter 1, specifically verses 3-6.  Here, allow me to quote them for you:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a LIVELY hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptable, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you GREATLY rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations"

Any thoughts on what I picked out as the two key words of that passage?  I will give you a minute to talk amongst yourselves and see if you can discover the answer... 

OK, time is up- the key words I chose for this experiment are:  LIVELY, and GREATLY...  I sat and pondered these words for a bit...  And it hit me...  Maybe it was because of all the depression commercials I have seen on t.v. lately...  maybe it is because sometimes when you look at the world, it is hard not to get down...  Seems like there is always someone getting shot, or some earthquake or tornado killing and maiming people, or yet another threat of war...  So many things to bring us down...  And yet here is Peter writing about a LIVELY hope and GREATLY rejoicing! 

Now I know what you are thinking- well, he was probably having a good moment right then.  A lot of good things were probably happening to him, you know like what I hear from some of these televangelists...  I am sure he was probably the rich guy, driving the limo cart, only the finest oxen, people throwing money at him as he walked by, women mobbing him everywhere he went holding signs that read "Marry Me Peter" and stuff like that...  Well, the cold hard truth is it was nothing like that for him.  No riches or mansions here on earth for this guy.  If he had any popularity it would have been with all the jail gaurds he met on a regular basis as he sat in prison just for talking about Jesus.  Oh, and then there was that part where he ended up crucified too...   Yeah he was having the time of his life, all right!

Let's be honest- we would look at his situation and ask ourselves, how in the world could this guy be penning those words- LIVELY and GREATLY?  He has every reason to just sit down, put on his frowny face, and get depressed.  Isn't that what a lot of us would do?  No, in reality we would have raised the depression flag long before this was written.  How do I know that?  Just look at our society- it seems every 5 minutes there is another ad reminding us that "depression hurts everyone"...  We are bombarded with imagery of people sitting on their couch or laying in their bed, looking like they just watched their best friend tortured to death in front of them...  And why?  Because there is yet another one of the newest and greatest anti-depressants on the market that you just HAVE to try!  I swear it seems as though the pharmecutecal companies actually WANT people to be depressed!!!  Always they are coining new conditions that explain why we feel so bad, always pushing their products that will supposedly make us happy...

NOW WAIT!  Before you get mad- understand something.  I am not making light of people who deal with depression.  Not at all.  I know some may read this and raise their voice claiming I have no right I don't understand, etc. etc.  But let me share some thoughts with you- first off, I do understand...  at least to some degree.  No, I never went to a doctor, but when I was in high school I think I could easily fit into the stereotypical "manic depressant".  Depression was a way of life for me- and to be honest, sometimes it still is!  It is tough- it is no fun to be depressed. 

But here is where we need to understand something- depression is an emotion, and like ALL emotions, if we let them go unchecked they will control us!  It is not that getting depressed is wrong, what crosses lines is HOW we deal with it.  We also need to understand that we are not alone- believe it or not, even some great men of God went through some pretty traumatic depression...  Who, you say?  Well how about Elijah the prophet for one...   1 Kings 19, read that and tell me the guy was not about as low as you can go!

But I digress...  Look, here is the point I am trying to make- as Christians, do we realize the power in the words that Peter wrote?  Do we in our lives display a LIVELY hope?  Even if we don't deal with depression, the reality is too often we go through life looking like our dog was just ran over, never happy, always complaining...  Yet Peter in his affliction said that we have a LIVELY hope!  That we are to GREATLY rejoice- and check this- EVEN if we are going through hell and don't feel like we can lift our heads! 

So the question then remains- why?  Why should I choose to rejoice instead of choosing to wallow in my sorrow?  BECAUSE of the HOPE we have, a hope of that which is incorruptible, undefiled and NEVER fades away- a treasure so great that it compels us to pour all of our very being into this inheritance.  And it is made possible by one thing:  Resurrection!  The resurrection, Jesus Christ crucified for a wretch of sinners like you and I, but not bound by death- rather conquering it on the third day, and in so doing placing before us the very reason WHY we have a lively hope, that should be filling us to the point we are greatly rejoicing... 

As I close this out, I am reminded that tomorrow is Easter.  And with Easter comes the opportunity to recommit to that hope.  With Easter comes the choice that is placed before us- to continue to let this world be a drain on our emotions, to continue to let people shove more lies down our throat, to continue to be inneffective, to continue to be a slave wrapped in chains of the trials of this world...  Or we can get up, we can look our trials dead in the eye, holding tight to our promise that our God is greater, that our God is stronger, that our God has defeated the darkness, and taking the message of Easter, the reality of the empty tomb, the LIVELY hope that is given to us and let it spark a fire within us, GREATLY rejoicing in the mercy of God- and take that message to the world of broken, hurting people who need to know the healing love of Jesus Christ...

What is your choice?