When the Joy Has Gone

“And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.” — 1 Kings 19:5 (KJV)

Meyer wrote a chapter called “Where Am I Wrong?” for Christians who see joy in others but feel none themselves.

First he says something important: not everyone feels things the same way. Some people naturally tend towards feeling low. That doesn’t make them worse Christians. And he says that our feelings are not a reliable test of our spiritual state:

“In other words, absence of joy does not always prove that the heart is wrong.”

Sometimes, he says, we are just exhausted, like the prophet Elijah. After a huge spiritual victory and then running for his life, Elijah lay down in the desert and asked to die. And God didn’t tell him off. Meyer notes that God met him “not with rebuke, but with food and sleep.”

That is worth remembering. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is eat a proper meal and get some sleep.

Meyer does go on to say that when people feel low they should simply carry it quietly. Today we know more. If you feel down most days, or flat and empty for weeks, or have thoughts of not wanting to live, that is not something to carry alone or in silence. Please talk to a trusted adult, a school counsellor or a doctor. Depression is real, it is nobody’s fault, and help really does work.

Meyer’s most helpful point is the difference between your standing and your experience. Your experience, how you feel, changes like the weather. But your standing in Jesus, the fact that you belong to him, doesn’t change at all.

He uses a money picture. Your standing in Jesus is like “invested capital”. Your emotions are like “spending money”, always going in and out of your pocket. Your capital doesn’t shrink just because your pocket money is low this week.

So he says: “Cease to consider how you feel, and build on the immovable rock of what Jesus is, and has done.” And he adds: “God does not hold us responsible for what we feel, but for what we will.” You can’t always choose your feelings. You can choose to keep trusting.

One thing to do this week: if you feel spiritually flat this week, look after your body: eat well, sleep properly, get outside. Then remind yourself every day: “My standing in Jesus hasn’t changed.” If the low feeling goes on, tell someone you trust.