Friday I wrote in Words for the Day that I was feeling sad and depressed. The response came fast and it was furious, and it continued all day, on into the night, and even over the weekend. So many people around the country wrote to me that there would not be room in this devotional to post them all; however below is a sampling.
One person wrote: “My brother in Christ, God does speak to you every day. Through the song bird, wind rustling leaves in the fall, or sweet aromatic scents of spring; through the laughter of your grandchildren bringing back memories of your own children’s laughter. Your wife’s voice first thing in the morning and the last before you go to sleep. The life altering voice of the nurse that introduced you to whom you belong. No one, no thing, not anything can snatch you away from the love of our Father. Again God spoke to you this morning, and you were obedient unto death! You bared the nakedness of your heart to the world, not in the hypocrisy of the Pharisees or Sadducee rather in admission of your human frailty. So, whenever you’re feeling as expressed in Bob’s “Word for the Day” just “go get “Stoned with Stephen” Acts 7.
A lady said: It is impossible not to respond to your WFTD today. Although I am confident you have the skills and experience to solve the challenge you face this day, I want to add a few thoughts to encourage you.
How can I thank you?
1) I read your book – and that was hard to read. Maybe some give up the story before you find Christ. With me, I work to finish what I start, so I kept on even when I wanted to quit. It was great encouragement for me to REALLY find Christ.
2) You told me to read the Bible, starting with Romans. I did! It was the awesome beginning of a continuing quest to know more. I’m still reading and learning.
3) You’re a real person. You struggle. Life is not perfect. Good to know! Neither is mine!
4) Everything is personal for you. That hurts. It’s hard to let things go, forgive, accept, etc. I can’t do it. I try every day. With your intensity, I pray you will rest in the Lord as you rely on Him.
5) You know God has a plan for us and our beloved country. I believe that too. I also believe our best opportunity is to influence those closest in our life – local community, co-workers, friends and family. Even then, we will have many disappointments. Soldier on, pray, ask, and receive His wisdom.
6) Know that you have already influenced and succeeded way beyond any human abilities. Praise God and find joy, knowing you have given much.
Bob, you are loved and appreciated. Please rest, refresh, smile, and laugh! Accept God’s help for our weak and faulty selves. You are loved and forgiven. What better, greater joy than that?!
Thanks Bob. I know I am only one of many, loving life and sending (mostly silent) thanks and blessings to you.
One man said, “I would diagnose you with “Media Depression”. Media depression is a phrase I’ve just coined that means when highly intelligent people immerse themselves in the media in trying to decipher our culture–after a while they get depressed.
The best cure is to go cold turkey off all media for 30 days –then a reassessment at 30 days. I would offer the suggestion of immersing yourself in prayer, classical good books (where normal human heroics are displayed) and the Bible. Plus a healthy dose of exposure to good friends and good conversation. If that plan don’t work–what the heck–I never said I was a Doctor.
I’m sure there are many Bible passages that would support this–one is–my life is hidden with Christ–I just think the media can be a big distraction and kick the peace from our souls.
Another wrote: This morning I have prayed for my friend who has cancer and had 4 tumors and a 1/3 of his colon removed. I prayed for another friend whose son was frantically trying to save his pregnant wife who got caught in a rip tide but was not successful and now has spiraled into a deep depression. I prayed for you. All 3 are very different but equally just as important to God.
One friend wrote, Whatever the problem is, no matter how big, you can’t give up and walk away, that is not the Bob Williamson I have come to know.
If so, this is a concern of mine. I have come to know you over the past year and a half, I respect you and look up to you as a fighter. Knowing your determination to succeed is part of what got me through my business issues in June 2010. I kept saying to myself, if Bob can go through all he has, I can whip this simple issue I have, (in comparison mine was nothing). But you were my silent encourager.
You invited me to Honey Lake for the Business Seminar, and allowed me to stay overnight at no cost, and for that I will always be grateful. We are not close-close friends but we are friends, but more important friends care about friends. There is no problem that God can’t handle, yours or mine and that has been proven time and time again.
How about this gem? Hang in there Bob… without lows we don’t appreciate the highs as much… God’s love will bring and restore your joy any minute… (actually in his time) give thanksgiving for the blessing of the contrast he is giving you
And this one:
Bob – Thought this might help. Eileen Caddy was a great teacher and grounded in Christ. Things change, hang in there. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Love, Not Just Tolerate, Each Other
Life is active, dynamic and never static. It is about Doing truth, not merely refraining from that which is Not truth. You learn to live and move and have your being in Truth. You learn to live a life and not just talk about it. When I tell you to love one another, I mean love, not just tolerate. Ponder deeply over the meaning of love; go deep within yourselves. Reflect it in your everyday lives and living, in your whole attitude towards your fellow man and women. – Eileen Caddy
And last but certainly not least, one reader simply wrote: Selah…
Hmmm…I think I will feel sorry for myself and express it in Words for the Day more often; all of those heart-warming responses and the ones I didn’t have room to include made me feel pretty doggone good, and I hope they helped you, especially those of you who wrote and told me that you are struggling too.
Thanks for the tremendous outpouring of love and support.
Understandably I’m not depressed anymore, and I hope you aren’t either. Love as demonstrated by Christ and those Christian brothers and sisters who follow Him and encourage those who are broken can cure any problem. The real problem is that there just isn’t enough Christian love being spread around these days, (especially in this mean political season)…
It reminds me of the old Carpenter’s tune:
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
no not just for some but for everyone.
Lord we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb,
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last until the end of time
Lord, we don’t need another meadow,
there are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow,
there are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine,
oh listen Lord, if you want to know
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
No not just for some, oh but just for everyone.
Love is defined in the Bible for us and I think it would do us good to read it very carefully this morning; if not every morning… If anything needs to be “spread around a little”; it’s love…In fact it needs to be spread around a lot! … Selah
1 Cor. 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.