Long before the steam engine was invented, crews of sailing ships
dreaded a region of the oceans called the doldrums. The doldrums, located
around the equator, are known to have light ocean currents and long periods of
little to no wind. With no wind and no current, ships and sailors that
found themselves in the doldrums knew only days and days of stagnate, still,
breathless ocean. They knew only a prolonged period of
waiting…...tortuous waiting.
On any given day, a great storm can arise that will test you. Furthermore, if you live and serve God long
enough, there will be trials and temptations along the way. Many times
these trials take the character of a big storm at sea. You know you're in
one, and everyone else does too. A loved
one gets sick, you are robbed, you lose your job; it is obvious to both you and
your support group that you are in a storm. This is a trying of your
faith. However, the doldrums are a different kind of trial, and a
different kind of temptation. When the sailors of old would reach the
doldrums it was a trail of different sorts. Whilst they were used to the
rain and wind, the idea of weeks and weeks of no wind was almost more terrifying
than a looming storm. The inactivity weighs on the mind; day, after day,
after day, you are going nowhere when you know your whole purpose of being in
that boat is to go somewhere. The sun beating down on you, the food
running low, you pray for wind…..a breath of it, a breeze, something you get
you moving. Yet the harder you pray and call out, it doesn't change the
fact that you are still stuck in the doldrums to rot. This type of trail
is not outward but inward, the battle is fought and won between the ears.
Maybe I am out on a limb here, but I would venture to say that 1 and 5
Christians who read this have experience the onset of spiritual doldrums. Granted, it is not as obvious as cancer or
the death of someone, but it is temptation that can rob you of your joy and
peace just like any other. The doldrums
will make you believe that you are cut off from God. That you are the only one who is not on the
mountain top. That your experience is
not a glamorous as you’re fellow Christians.
So, what do you do when you haven't done anything wrong, but your
spiritual life feels dull and stagnate? What do you do when you find
yourself in a spiritual doldrum?
No matter what the devil tells you always remember that God loves
you, and he sought you, and His Son died for you; so that He could have
fellowship with you. Therefore, if you have done nothing sinful or
disobedient and you’re in the doldrums, remember that God is there with you
even if you don’t “feel” him. The book of James gives us good
instruction: count it all joy and let patience have her perfect work.
It also tells us later to draw nigh to
God and he will draw nigh to you. When those sailors of old were in
the doldrums, they were totally helpless and totally dependent on God. If
you find yourself in the spiritual doldrums, don't be hasty or frustrated;
trust and believe God. Many battles are won with patience. When you
trust God and wait on Him to send the wind, it will change your perspective on
the doldrums. What once was a torture chamber of constant questions and
second guessing, then becomes a proving ground of faith to draw you closer to
the imitation of Christ. The patient soul does not waver when the wind
goes slack and the boat stalls. They carry out their responsibilities as
though the very next moment will bring a strong breeze to lift the top sail and
fill the main, carrying you out of period of waiting and forward with
confidence that you are governed by the master of the wind. This is faith
and patience, and it is the answer to the doldrums.
