DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- PILGRIM'S PROGRESS -- THE GIANT OF DESPAIR

PILGRIM'S PROGRESS – THE GIANT OF DESPAIR

"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You…." (Psalm 42:5-6a).

"But despite the risk, they began tracing their steps back to where they had first entered the wrong path. After nearly a dozen near-drowning, and because the darkness made it impossible to see anything, they decided to find a place of shelter where they could wait out the storm until daybreak. Not far from the place where they lay sleeping stood a castle called Doubting Castle. The owner of this castle was Giant Despair, and it was on his grounds that they were now sleeping."

While trying to return to the God-path, they had to cross the land of Giant Despair. While they sleeping, Giant Despair discovered them trespassing on his property, and he took them into captivity and took them to his Doubting Castle. There he beat them mercilessly for several days and they were unable to escape. At the urging of his wife, whose name was Distrust, Giant urged Christian and Hopeful to commit suicide to get out of their terrible situation. They discussed it at length between themselves, and finally decided it was better to die in despair than to violate God's commandment forbidding murder. In the end, Christian remembered that he had a key to escape Doubting Castle. The key was called Promise which would give them liberty from the prison of despair. That key opened the gates that confined them, and they walked out – though beaten and sore – to liberty and they were able to return to the King's Highway.

Satan would love to keep us in the prison of despair, discouragement, and condemnation in his castle. He beats us up with condemnation – that we have not lived up to our faith. The prison of despair keeps us in chains, and it seems that the only way out is death…. until we remember the promises of God – the mercy of His forgiveness, the hope of deliverance, and our destination of heaven. Condemnation is a power tool of Satan, but God says that "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2). This Scripture follows the condemnation that Paul experienced in Chapter 7 – that he could not live up to God's standard. He did what he did not want to do, and did not do what he knew he should. We hear the self-condemnation is verses 34: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ." This was probably one of the promises that Christian used to unlock the bondage of condemnation. Thank God for His promises!

Have a "freedom" day.

Love, Dad