Breaking The Spirit of Misery – Part I
Psalms 34:10 – "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they
that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing."
Have you ever heard a friend, loved one or even a co-worker say, "I am
so miserable…" To such a statement we usually ask "Why?" Or in
other words, "what’s causing your misery?" This week we will begin a
series that takes a look at misery, and through the anointing of God, we WILL
break that spirit off the lives of those in bondage.
The term "misery" is defined in the dictionary as "suffering
and wanting resulting from physical conditions or extreme poverty." To get
a better understanding, let’s break this down in smaller sections.
Suffering and Wanting
These two items are surely not for the children of God. Our text states:
"The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD
shall not want any good thing." Notice how God’s word overrides Mr.
Webster’s definition. This scriptures tells us, if you earnestly seek God, He
will direct your paths so that you will have NO WANTS. Think about it. How can
a person be miserable AND have no wants. If we had everything God desires for
us, then we surely wouldn’t be miserable.
Now from the above definition we also find two elements that cause misery
(or this suffering and wanting).
(1) Physical Condition
One thing that starts us on the road to misery is our physical condition
(OUR FLESH). Let’s get down to the real nitty gritty and tell it like it
"T" "I" "IS." Most of the suffering in our lives
came when we catered to our flesh. When we wanted to get those high dollar
items, we did what?… put them on plastic. Then when the bill came, misery
came with it. Another example, instead of waiting for God to send Mr./Mrs.
Right, we settled for Mr./Mrs. Right-next-to-us. Then after it was too late, we
wished he/she would have been "Mr./Mrs.
Way-over-yonder-where-I-would-have-never-seen-or-met-them."
Also, the physical condition can be seen as a lack of spiritual maturity.
Our text states: "The young lions do lack." Now if you’ve ever seen
wildlife documentaries concerning lions you will quickly learn that the older
lions are the hunters/providers for the pack. This is because they have the
skills/experience to hunt or better yet, the maturity. On several occasions,
the young lions are killed and eaten by hyenas and even other lions. Kinda
sounds like we humans to some degree—-hunted by the enemy and sometimes
destroyed by our own (those same people that we know that have all that
religion).
(2) Extreme Poverty
Extreme poverty for a Christian is living with a lack of "word" or
spiritual food. Your spirit man is just like your physical man. If your spirit
man is in extreme poverty then he will starve, which will lead to you being
incapable of fighting the spiritual battles. Also, when we think of poverty we
usually associate that with people lacking food. We think of children (again
the young) in underdeveloped countries with not enough to eat, but this theory
can also apply to the spiritual aspect of our living. An underdeveloped spirit
causes you to yield to the flesh or physical condition; as a result, you make
fleshly decisions instead of Godly ones.
In addition, Webster’s dictionary has a very interesting and accurate
definition for poverty concerning religion: "The renunciation made by a
member of a religious order of the right to own property." Now here is
where it all ties together. If Christians lack understanding of the word of
God, then they will not know what God has in store for them. And by being
spiritually ignorant, they will renounce their property. In other words they
will say, "God doesn’t deal with your wants, only your needs." Or they
will say, "Jesus said come to me just as you are, so we can always be
poor, broke, busted and disgusted."
These are examples of poverty mentality. Some people live in poverty; they
feel there is no other way they should live, but this is not so. Of course,
Jesus will love you if you’re broke and even if you stay broke, but that
doesn’t mean He wants you to stay there. If that were so then why does Psalms
35:27 state, "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my
righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant." Because of an
immature spirit, many people have renounced their birthright to prosperity and
happiness.
So today, choose to step out and stay out of misery. If you’re broke,
lonely, waiting for healing, or going through headaches and heartaches with
your children know that it’s FOR NOW NOT FOREVER. Whatever you are waiting on
God to deliver you from, find that deliverance in His word and stand on it. It
does take some action on your part. Everyday we make a conscious effort to feed
our physical man, so do the same for your spirit man to ensure you possess the
Spirit of God and not the spirit of misery.