A Tale With a Moral to Ponder....

This may be a bit long. Sorry. Really.

Rewind to about 4 months plus ago.

{snip -- story starts here}

After the deaths of my wife's sister and father, as well as the sudden unexpected death of her brother-in-law all within the last four years, then the sudden unexpected death of my mother last December, I personally was drained spiritually.

Add to that my company had announced at the end of November/start of December that they were closing down my place of employment and I would have to find a new job because my old one was going away at the end of March.

Thankfully, God has sustained me through the months since the closure announcement. Even though I have not found a job, I have had a real peace that goes through to the very core of my soul.

I had not read my Bible nor prayed in many, many months (years??). I was not in blatant sin, but I was at the bottom. It's hard there.

My wife and I had changed churches about three weeks before my mom's passing. It was near Christmas and we certainly were not in the Christmas spirit. Thank God for some really good Christian friends who "forced" us through the motions and really did finally get us into the Christmas spirit. (Thanks all you "J" folks!)

My wife and I knew we really wanted to get involved "up to our eyebrows" in Church. This had been really hard to do at our old church due to the distance we had to travel. Previously, we had always been real involved in any church we had attended since getting saved.

We joined a Tuesday night small group and they are really great! Those folks recharge us for the coming week. I can never say it enough - Christian fellowship is vital to spiritual growth.

We've slowly started getting more involved in Church. My wife joined a Ladies Bible study and I am in the Easter production in a non-speaking role (could you imagine an okie-sounding disciple??), thanks to a certain small group leader who will remain anonymous.

Also, since we returned from my mom's funeral in Oklahoma, I've started reading my Bible and praying every day. I don't need to say how important that is.

Here's where we get to the "meat" of this story.

Last night we had a pot luck dinner at our small group. We ate (naturally!), played a game, and had a blast! My wife and I have not laughed that hard in a long, long time. It was real good!

We came home (in a blizzard!) and were getting settled. I was upstairs doing stuff, you know, just "knocking around", when suddenly and without any notice I became depressed over my job situation.

Now I don't think I've ever really been depressed before. If you asked my wife and family, they would tell you that I'm "real laid back".

God knows, if any two people could ever deserve to be depressed, we were those two people.

This depression was like a heavy, black blanket that covered me completely. I felt swallowed up.

It was near bed time so I figured I'd go to bed so I wouldn't have to feel this way.

I awoke the next morning (this morning) still feeling the remnants of my depression. I got around and headed to work. On the way, as I passed a certain landmark by the road, I remembered that as I had passed it the day before on my way to work I had been praying. I had been feeling that God had something special in mind for me and I told Him that I was ready and willing to do anything He asked.

I realized exactly where my depression had come from and why. Satan doesn't want us doing God's will. He will do anything in his power to stop us.

I told Satan "where to go" and my depression was instantly gone, like I'd never had it. His power over me was broken.

So, if you must have a moral to this story, it is this:

If you tell God that you are ready, willing and able to do His will, be ready. You probably are soon to step into the "storm".

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