Breaks Down the Life-forces
Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust,
all tend to break down the life-forces and to invite decay and death. .
. . Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong
life.--MH 241 (1905).
Impairs Circulation
Sadness deadens the circulation in the blood vessels
and nerves and also retards the action of the liver. It hinders the process
of digestion and of nutrition, and has a tendency to dry up the marrow
[interior substance] of the whole system.--Lt 1, 1883.
Cannot Remedy a Single Evil.
While grief and anxiety cannot remedy a single evil,
they can do great harm; but cheerfulness and hope, while they brighten
the pathway of others, "are life unto those that find them, and health
to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:22).--ST, Feb 12, 1885. (AH 431.)
Every Situation Provided For
We are not to let the future, with its hard problems,
its unsatisfying prospects, make our hearts faint, our knees tremble, our
hands hang down. "Let him take hold of My strength," says the Mighty One,
"that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me" (Isaiah
27:5). Those who surrender their lives to His guidance and to His service
will never be placed in a position for which He has not made provision.
Whatever our situation, if we are doers of His word, we have a Guide to
direct our way; whatever our perplexity, we have a sure Counselor; whatever
our sorrow, bereavement, or loneliness, we have a sympathizing Friend.--
MH 248, 249 (1905).
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Anticipating Trouble Doubles Burdens
We are in a world of suffering. Difficulty, trial, and
sorrow await us all along the way to the heavenly home. But there are many
who make life's burdens doubly heavy by continually anticipating trouble.
If
they meet with adversity or disappointment, they think that everything
is going to ruin, that theirs is the hardest lot of all, that they are
surely coming to want. Thus they bring wretchedness upon themselves and
cast a shadow upon all around them. Life itself becomes a burden to
them.
But it need not be thus. It will cost a determined effort to change the current of their thought. But the change can be made. Their happiness, both for this life and for the life to come, depends upon their fixing their minds upon cheerful things. Let them look away from the dark picture, which is imaginary, to the benefits which God has strewn in their pathway, and beyond these to the unseen and eternal.--MH 247, 248 (1905).
Casting a Shadow.--It is not wise to gather together all the unpleasant recollections of a past life--its iniquities and disappointments--to talk over them and mourn over them until we are overwhelmed with discouragement. A discouraged soul is filled with darkness, shutting out the light of God from his own soul and casting a shadow upon the pathway of others.--SC 117 (1892).
Talk of Blessings, Less of Trials
The Lord's merciful kindness is great toward us. He will
never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him. If we would think and
talk less of our trials and more of the mercy and goodness of God, we would
find ourselves raised above much of our gloom and perplexity. My brethren
and sisters, you who feel that you are entering upon a dark path, and like
the captives in Babylon must hang your harps upon the willows, let us make
trial of cheerful song.
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Dwelling Upon Oneself Is Selfishness (counsel to a grief-stricken minister).--Now Brother_____, it is a species of selfishness to keep your mind dwelling upon yourself. It is not at all like the apostle Paul, who was a man of infirmities, yet himself was the last subject of his thoughts.He had trials such as you have never experienced nor ever will be called upon to endure, and yet he turns away from these; he does not dwell upon them but magnifies the grace of God.
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I know whereof I speak. If the mind is permitted to be clouded with grief, the food is not digested and as a result the system is not well nourished.--Lt 1, 1883.
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What to Do With Sorrow.
Are you filled with sorrow today? Fasten your eyes on
the Sun of righteousness.
Do not try to adjust all the difficulties,
but turn your face to the light, to the throne of God. What will you
see there? The rainbow of the covenant, the living promise of God. Beneath
it is the mercy seat, and whosoever avails himself of the provisions of
mercy that have been made and appropriates the merits of the life and death
of Christ has in the rainbow of the covenant a blessed assurance of acceptance
with the Father as long as the throne of God endures.
Sympathizers Not Always Friends
If those around you are of that class who do not seek
to turn your conversation and the current of your thoughts, if they sympathize
with all your impressions as if they were a reality, the less you have
of the society of this class the better. They are not your friends but
your worst enemies. The Lord would have you be cheerful.
An Antidote for Grief
God has provided a balm for every wound. There is
a balm in Gilead, there is a physician there. Will you not now as never
before study the Scriptures? Seek the Lord for wisdom in every emergency.
In every trial plead with Jesus to show you a way out of your troubles,
then your eyes will be opened to behold the remedy and to apply to your
case the healing promises that have been recorded in His Word.
In this way the enemy will find no place to lead you into mourning and unbelief, but instead you will have faith and hope and courage in the Lord. The Holy Spirit will give you clear discernment that you may see and appropriate every blessing that will act as an antidote to grief, as a branch of healing to every draught of bitterness that is placed to your lips. Every draught of bitterness will be mingled with the love of Jesus, and in place of complaining of the bitterness you will realize that Jesus' love and grace are so mingled with sorrow that it has been turned into subdued, holy, sanctified joy.--Lt 65a, 1894. (2SM 273, 274.)
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Worry, Not Work, Kills
It is not work that kills; it is worry. The only way
to avoid worry is to take every trouble to Christ. Let us not look
on the dark side. Let us cultivate cheerfulness of spirit.--Lt 208, 1903.
Dwelling Upon the Difficulties
Some are always fearing and borrowing trouble. Every
day they are surrounded with the tokens of God's love; every day they are
enjoying the bounties of His providence; but they overlook these present
blessings. Their minds are continually dwelling upon something disagreeable
which they fear may come; or some difficulty may really exist which, though
small, blinds their eyes to the many things that demand gratitude. The
difficulties they encounter, instead of driving them to God, the only source
of their help, separate them from him because they awaken unrest and repining.--SC
121, 122 (1892).
Worry Makes the Burden Heavy
I greatly fear that we are in danger, by worrying, of
manufacturing yokes for our necks. Let us not worry; for thus we make the
yoke severe and the burden heavy. Let us do all we can without worrying,
trusting in Christ. Study His words, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22). These words are
the pledge that all that an omnipotent Saviour can bestow will be given
to those who trust in Him. As stewards of the grace of heaven, we are to
ask in faith and then wait trustingly for the salvation of God. We are
not to step in before Him, trying in our own strength to ring about that
which we desire. In His name we are to ask, and then we are to act as if
we believed in His efficiency.-- Lt 123, 1904.
