Has your depression ever taken you to the point of groaning under its weight? If yes, then this blog may help. Please know that it's okay to groan. Our Savior was no stranger to "groaning," as He undoubtedly did under the weight of the cross. He knows that you groan, and He can empathize with you. As the writer of Hebrews tells us in 4:12, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin." King David was also no stranger to groaning. We may think blissfully of all the joyous strains of the Psalms, yet the words groan, groans, and groaning appear no less than 8 times in 7 of the Psalms. (I'm pretty sure David was bipolar.)
But there's more! In Romans 8: 26-27, Paul wrote: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." What an amazing verse! Quite literally, the Spirit groans for us before the Father, acting as our Groan-interpreter, our Groan-intercessor before the Father for us, even when we can't put our groans into words. And He does this in an amazing way. His groanings are "too deep for words." It's as if He speaks a different groan-language altogether between Himself and the heavenly Father. And His groanings are "according to the will of God." Hence, He has the Father's ear. Not only that! The Father knows the mind of the Spirit. So they are in lock step. They know our hearts. They know our pain. We are intimately and effectively interceded for. Amen!
So what to do with this picture--of the Spirit groaning for us before the Father? It encourages me to bring my deepest needs before the Father. It is okay to groan. He's a big God; He can take our worst groaning, and lovingly so. It also encourages me to ask the Holy Spirit to help me "groan well." In other words, it's okay to pray something like this--"Holy Spirit, You know how I am aching, You know the intensity of my suffering. Would you pray with me and for me? Would you groan on my behalf?" Try this out the next time you groan. May God bless you in that time of need.
Blessings!
The Christian Bipole
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