Chapter 3
The root cause of
oppression“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial

which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have herperfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all

As I look back, I have been delivered even without my own notice. God works wonders and miracles. I wanted to share to you that there are certain principles we need to learn when suffering under this kind of struggles. Sometimes we may come under them or not at all. It is true that we must tremble before the Word of God (Isa 66:2) and that we must fear Him (Ecc 12:13), but there are certain things we need to separate such as the unhealthy fear of the Lord, certainly this does not come from Heaven. Depression and then abandoning the Word of God, and stopping to fellowship with others and altogether shutting down ourselves. I thank God this did not happen to me, but I must confess that I did tremble with the Word of the Lord but my undue fear and thoughts on the negative have rather made matters worse. I kept on thinking about backsliding, about the “ifs” of life and what will happen then. Jesus simply said, do not be anxious about tomorrow or be concerned about these things because God is able to take care of these things for us. Yes, even though Jesus was speaking about food and clothing on these verses, He too was referring about spiritual provisions for us…that is whatsoever will happen tomorrow or our future, Jesus will take care of it, one thing at a time.

“So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matt 6:31-34 (NIV)

Most of our struggles in this life are rooted in saving our own skin. When we are more concerned about saving our own lives, we find it that we will tend to lose it eventually. The more concerned we are about ourselves, the more inwardly we turn to be and there is nothing good found in us. Depression may come in and we will find ourselves in greater struggle than before. Many workaholics do so out of saving for riches, buying more properties and trying to find significance in temporal matters. Life is not meant to be all work and use it as a reason to cover ourselves away from God. Work should be a partnership between God and man. We will find our lives not apart from God but with God…true significance come only when we have the eternal One residing in our hearts. Thus, when we dwell on the negative, we will tend to see things bleak and our hearts will cower in fear. I praise the Lord that during those times, He provided me friends and people who comforted me making things better and eventually I was able to focus my eyes again on Jesus. There are principles we can extract from my experience and the experience of other people to set us free and refocus our devotion to the Lord.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

There is a great difference between a true fear of the Lord and one that is unhealthy fear. To fear the Lord means to obey Him, to not allow the seeds of disobedience to pollute our minds. But one can also obey Him without loving Him. So the Apostle John wrote we must love God because fear has torment with it, it is in love that the fear of the Lord is perfected. When the Apostle John who could arguably be the most intimate disciple with the Lord saw visions of Jesus in the isle of Patmos, he would often times described as trembling and falling before the Lord (Rev 1:17). We can be intimate with God and still have a healthy fear of the Lord. When we fear to read His word because we are hurt and we do not like what is written in it, this is the unhealthy fear inside of us. The only way for us to overcome our own fears is to submit it to Jesus because He can calm our anxious hearts like He did the turbulent waves of the Lake. Sometimes we become arrested by too much thought on our future, on our children and these can overwhelm us. King David prayed, Elijah prayed and the Lord promised us that when we come before Him, He will answer us. The secret is to bring our struggles before Him, including the way we feel at certain things. The Lord loves to hear His children pray and speak with Him.

“In the year of King, Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,, The whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined!, Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips;, For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Isa 6:1-5 (NASB)

Depression is the result of seeing things by our own eyes. When I kept on looking at the future, the only thing I saw was hopelessness. But when these Seraphims reported back to God, they can only tell the Lord that the earth is “full of glory”. How can these Seraphims tell that the earth is full of glory? The secret is they were beholding the Lord in His very presence. When John saw the Lord in Heaven and the people of God, he only saw rejoicing and worship, even those creatures on the earth and under the earth.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four andtwenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.” Rev 5:11-14

Heaven is heaven because of God’s presence. Even if it were a paradise, without the presence of God, we will not see things rightly. The prophet Isaiah said, “woe is me… for I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Why should Isaiah be afraid of the Lord? This tells us how holy God is, and even prophets whom we may think to be holy could only see their drabness when they focus on themselves such as Isaiah. But when one looks on the Lord, we will be transformed day by day into His image. Paul the Apostle wrote, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of ourfaith… consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb 12:2-3). It is only by looking to Jesus that we will find true comfort because He has experienced same trials we will undergo and even more because He obeyed the Father and was crucified. We will always find fault when we look to ourselves and when we look to others. This is why we must always behold the Lord like we are looking to a mirror for as we look to Him, we will reflect Him more and more.

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18 (NASB)

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Cor 3:18 (NLT)

In the Old Testament, when the Bible describes “downcast soul or face” this speaks of depressed people. Hannah for example had a downcast face because she does not have any children and she cried that God give her one (1 Sam. 1:18). When Cain’s offering was not accepted, he was angry and depressed and felt jealous that God accepted his brother’s but not his (Gen 4:5). And when Jeremiah was grieving, he too was depressed (Lam. 3:20). King David had probably written most of his bouts of depression in the Scriptures and how he had overcome them by putting his hope and praising the Lord making him our best model on how to overcome depression.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and
my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon — from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” Ps 42:5-7(NIV)

“I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Psalms 30:1-3

To overcome depression, one must put his focus back to God. We must not dwell on the negative and we must learn to forgive offenses when others hurt us. Anger and depression is a tale tell sign that we are not walking in faith.

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmlyplanted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Psalms 1:1-3 (NASB)

The Word of God serves as a map in the Kingdom of God. It is full of life and full of wisdom that if Plato and Aristotle could have laid their hands on, they would have both agreed that this is life eternal. Even the Apostles gave priority over the word of God and prayer in their ministries. It is a book that has determined the rise and fall of many. King David and Joshua both lead a successful army and organization because they read the word of God and meditated on it day and night. What makes the Word of God essential to our lives as pilgrims on earth? First, the word of God is our map and guide (Josh 1:8, Ps 119:9). Second, the word of God washes the filth away from our minds (Eph 5:26). Third it is used to judge doctrines, traditions, theology and Christian experience ranging from prophetic visions and dreams whether they are biblically sound or have antecedents (Mk 7:13, 2 Tim 2:15; 1 Cor 10:6). Fourth it is food for the nourishment of our spiritual bodies, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”

(Matt 4:4). And fifth, it is used for equipping the saints to teach them to do ministry and follow the way of the Lord Jesus bearing witness of His testimony (Acts 6:2,Heb 4:12; Rev 1:2)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” 2 Tim 2:15

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16-17 NASB

“For the word of God isquick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and isa discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb 4:12

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed theretoaccording to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalms 119:9-11

In short, the Word of God serves as a way by which the Lord speaks to us and confirms our doctrines and experiences. We cannot validate every experience of the Christian to be sent from the Lord because some of it are probably allowed but maybe authored by the devil. For example there are cases of spiritual manifestations which cannot be validated by the Word of God this includes Virgin Mary apparitions and worship of saints and prayer to saints…these are not Scripturally sound. Visions and prophetic dreams are valid as there were many antecedents in the Scriptures such as in the Prophets, the Apostle Peter, John and even Paul who saw the Third Heaven and Joel’s prophetic declaration, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, thatwhosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 2:16-21. What we need to watch out is the source of dreams and visions as even Satan can sow tares when we sleep and do not watch our hearts.

There are many books written about prayer that we can chew and should apply. The best however is to really pray and go down on our knees daily. There is actually no formula how we should pray before God or what should be done first before praying. Prayer is our simple way of talking before our own Father. We must see God as our family. It is by seeing Him as member of our family do we really see that He is our father and that we are His children. Many have evil thoughts about their earthly fathers so that they can’t really see the point why they call Him father. So they settle to call Him Lord. Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. And when He did, the first thing He taught them was to call Him, Our Father. If you have been brought up in a family which is surrounded with love, you can understand that your father can be your best friend as well as teacher. You can tell him all that is in your hearts without the fear of hiding anything that may detest him, because you are comfortable with him. God is not a faraway God; this is why Jesus became man so that He can show the Father to His people. It was for love of the Father that He sent the Son (Jn 3:16). Jesus is the revealed glory of the Father (Jn 14: 9-11). What is the secret of praying long hours? It is not babbling all that you know and repeating them in chanting that we please God. Rather it by opening our hearts before Him. The psalmist wrote,

“Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct myprayerunto thee, and will look up. Psalms 5:1-3

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. Psalms 6:8-9

“As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, 17

David’s Psalms are full of prayers, they are meant as a worship prayer to God. Many of those record stories and tell us how David prayed before God. This can guide us well. When he prays before God David simply opens up all that is in his heart before the Lord. He tells the Lord how his enemies accused him unjustly and how he feels about these. Like David, we must be personal before the Lord and learn to abide by this. We must make time for prayer if we want to shine the light of the Kingdom of God to our officemates and friends, the first thing we do is to be equipped with His Word and learn to pray.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift,

In Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carols, Ebenezer Scrooge is the prototype of a man who is always sad, pathetic and continually depressed. He hates everyone. Most of the people fear and tolerate him. But once the three different spirits of Christmas visited and warned him, he finally repented. The first act of kindness we saw him doing was to give a boy some monies to buy a turkey. Giving, in any form from services to providing the things we can probably removes depression faster than anything else. It is by giving praise and worship that we remove the veil of depression and sadness in our lives. We become stronger because we bring joy to God (Neh 8:10). His presence energizes every bones and sinews in our body. Fellowship provides the same avenue for us to give to others whether encouragement, Bible reading or simply chatting over a cup of coffee. When we have fellowship, we unconsciously refocus from ourselves to others. This can be the reason why people have never stopped to form organizations and societies. But it is only the Church which can provide spiritual encouragement, training and equipping to the people. When we fellowship together, the Lord is in our midst ministering grace, strength, wisdom, knowledge, miracles and healing, “for where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). The Church provides a refuge, a sanctuary not only to the sick and downcast but even to everyone who has struggles. This works as long as the people of God learn to love each other and minister to one another by the strength and grace God has given them. When we forget to proclaim the everlasting gospel, set free the captives, heal the sick, visit those in prisons, provide clothing and shelter to the homeless our religion has fade in significance.

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” Heb 13:1-3 (NLT)

“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” Heb 13:15-17 (NLT)

People who altogether have lost hope will not only try to kill others but even themselves. When Paul and the prisoners were being carried on an Egyptian ship bound for Rome, a strong typhoon caused them to be stranded on the sea for days. Then when finally the ship was about to be broken because it run aground in rocky reefs, the soldiers plotted to kill the prisoners. They have not eaten for weeks, worried and depressed for their lives because not even the stars would be seen at night.

“The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone. No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, "Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down…

Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. "You have been so worried that you haven't touched food for two weeks," he said. "Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish." Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it. Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat— all 276 of us who were on board.
After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.
When morning dawned, they didn't recognize the coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship aground. So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed toward shore.
But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.
The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn't swim ashore and escape.” Acts 27:20-22, 33-42 (NLT)

Hope is the anchor of the soul (Heb 6:19). When people lose hope, they are more driven to do nasty things that they do not intend to do. But in the midst of this darkness, the Apostle stood as an exemplary example, encouraging the people to eat, and to be strong. When the crew thought that they finally found a bay to dock, they ran towards it only to be shipwreck. In our lives, problems and struggles can sometimes be confounded by things we thought to be solutions. Instead of running to the Lord to deliver us, we run away from Him. When Jonah was called to preach repentance to the Ninevites, he ran away only to be swallowed by a big fish. Our solutions to our own problems can be scientifically valid, but are they scripturally sound? When King Saul saw all the people running away from him, he thought he could actually sacrifice before God and stay the people together. What he did cost him his kingship, whereas King David would often be found inquiring before the Lord, Saul acted on his own presumption which was both pride and insecurity. Mental anguish could be a terrible suffering and the Lord did not put any exemptions on the list of diseases He can heal. When I asked the Lord what was the basis of His healing the mental anguish of man, He pointed to me that the thorns that pierced His head and the sufferings He had in the garden testify of His authority to heal in this area, for where He was bruised, there He has the authority to heal. It is by having hope that we pierce the veil of darkness in our lives and continue to fellowship with the Lord (Heb 6:19). We must therefore continue to encourage and never give up on people who have lost their hopes. Like King David, when we put our hope in God, we shall find deliverance for our souls even when it was cast into the pit of delusion and depression already.

“Behold, the eye of the LORD isupon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Psalms 33:18-19

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and whyart thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him forthe help of his countenance.” Psalms 42:5

“For thou artmy hope, O Lord GOD: thouartmy trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall becontinually of thee.” Psalms 71:5-6

“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiethfor the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: Isay,morethanthey that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD thereismercy, and with him isplenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Psalms 130:5-8

“Which hopewe have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” Heb 6:19