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Do You Have a Crushed Spirit?

4.21.09

Recently I saw a 61 yr-old gentleman who lost his job back in May of last year. Whenever a long period of time has passed without a job I always suspect more life issues to be lurking in the sidelines. (Yes, even in this economy.) 

My suspicions were confirmed once again. This man told me his wife left him four months ago, his daughter (“the joy of my life”) got married and moved away five months ago, his investments are now worth less than half what they were 3 years ago, he had worked for the same company for 36 years and then they let him go with a small severance package, and he’s unconnected at his church. He feels “rejected on all sides.” He made the last monthly payment three weeks ago on his dream house that now must be sold to settle the divorce and he’ll likely move into an apartment in town.

So, where do we go from here? Proverbs 18:14 tells us “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” Or in the Living Bible it says “what hope is left?”

Each area of our lives requires that we are making deposits of success. Even tiny withdrawals with no replacement deposits will lead to bankruptcy in relationships, physically, spiritually, and socially as well as in jobs and finances. I know that in crisis the area of most pain gets most of our attention. But often it is by making extra deposits in other areas that a person can springboard back to success in even the most critical ones.

Tim Carlisle