ESCAPISM MENTALITY
Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 55:22
Escapism: the avoidance of reality by absorption
of the mind in entertainment or in an imaginative situation, activity, etc.
I’m not a big
fan of going to the dentist, which directly correlates to having a lot of
dental work done as a child. I remember opening my mouth wide for shots of
Novocain and being told to think happy thoughts. Go to your happy place! In
other words, avoid the reality of the present by imagining something pleasant.
In Psalm 55 we
learn that even the Shepherd King David had times when he wanted to escape his
reality. His thoughts were troubled and distraught. His heart was in anguish.
Fear, trembling, and horror overwhelmed him. The wounds were deep and the pain
intense; David wanted to escape.
He said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest – I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm” (vs.
6-8).
Can you
identify? Have you ever wished for wings that would take you from the reality
of laundry piles and runny noses to the seas of the Caribbean or the heights of
the Swiss Alps? Have you ever wished you could flee from a storm brewing within
your family, your workplace, or your health situation? Do you escape your
reality by setting your mind on the weekend? Do you call on Calgon®,
coffee, or chocolate to take you away? Where do you flee when pressures and
problems overwhelm you?
We live in a
world that medicates itself with temporary pleasures that provide no true
source of hope and healing. David points us to our Deliverer and Rescuer. I call to God, and the LORD saves me, He
hears my voice, He ransoms me unharmed (vs. 16, 17b, 18a).
Instead of
calling for an escape from our reality, we should be casting our reality and
its cares on the LORD (v. 22). Cast your
cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall
(v. 22).
Notice what
Scripture doesn’t promise. When we cast our cares on God, He doesn’t promise to
remove our problems or pain. God doesn’t guarantee an exit door or escape
route. He promises something infinitely better. He will sustain you (v. 22). God will hold you, guide you, and
nourish you, right now in the midst of the storm. He will not let you fall.
That’s His promise for those who put their trust in Him (v. 23b).
Think on it: If you could have wings of a dove, what
problem would you fly from today? Choose to trade in your escapism mentality
for full trust in the LORD, your Deliverer.
I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful
that I hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as I go
to. But I always get back again by this: I know I trust Christ. I
have no reliance but in Him. Because He lives, I shall live also, and I
spring to my legs again and fight with my depressions of spirit and my downcast
soul and get the victory through it. So may you to, and so you must, for
there is no other way of escaping from it. In your most depressed
seasons, you are to get joy and peace through believing.
Charles
Spurgeon
grace and peace,
Lenae
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