Despondency

Despondency

I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil. Job 3:26

Despondency has a way of creeping into your life without you knowing it.  Listening to the evening news, both local and national, can sometimes bring you down.  Not getting that well-deserved promotion can bring you down.  Being laid off from work can bring you down.  Not having enough money to pay your bills can bring you down.  Hearing the words, “there is no cure”, can bring you down. 

When God’s servant Job cursed the day he was born, he was probably a little more than despondent.  He asked question after question trying to understand why he was in such a predicament.  Even though Job said there was no peace, no quietness, in the back of his mind, and even though he still had questions, he must have known that God was with him.

I do not remember the exact day and time I first heard the song Blessed Quietness, but it has always given me a sense of calm.  Just recently I attended a prayer service for an eight-year-old boy that was killed by a stray bullet.  At the service the family and religious leaders spoke about a God that can heal.  They spoke of a God that is merciful.  Unlike Job, we know the entire story.  We may still have questions, but we know that Jesus died so that we might be redeemed.  We know that He promised to send a comforter, the Holy Spirit, to abide in us forever.  I left the prayer service with a sense of hope.  When you think you have no peace, no quietness, but only turmoil, there is a Blessed Quietness you can call upon to ease the suffering.  Below are two versions of the song, Blessed Quietness.

Joys are flowing like a river

Since my Comforter has come

He abides with us forever

Makes the trusting heart His home

Blessed quietness, holy quietness

What assurance in my soul!

On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me

How the billows cease to roll