Helping with Other Problems

WE CAN all use the practical guidance that comes from God in dealing with a number of other major problem areas of life. One of these, for example, has to do with mental depression.

Mental depression is a serious and growing problem today. Ever so many people are profoundly depressed because of their own problems, and also because of what they see going on in their neighborhoods and in the world in general. They look to the future with dread.

Building an Optimistic Hope

But God’s servants know that all these bad things are part of the “last days,” and that they will shortly disappear when God brings this wicked system of things to an end and ushers in his righteous new order.

That knowledge certainly builds hope. It gives us an optimistic, confident outlook for the future. It helps to calm our spirit and improve our attitude, because we are not constantly upset by all the terrible things happening in the world. As Proverbs 14:30 says: “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism.” And Proverbs 17:22 adds: “A heart that is joyful does good as a curer, but a spirit that is stricken makes the bones dry.”

An example of how the accurate knowledge of God’s purpose overcomes such depression is the case of an elderly person whose wife died just before their 50th wedding anniversary. He wrote: “This left me very gloomy, and I could get no satisfaction from my church. I was so miserable that I finally decided to join my wife by committing suicide. I planned to pick poison weeds that grew in my neighborhood, make a brew of them and drink it. As I was actually starting to do this, two young people walked up the path to call on me. We talked for an hour or more about the Bible and God’s purpose for mankind. I didn’t finish making my brew that evening, as they promised to call back next week. They never missed a week’s call after that.”

This elderly man learned about God’s new order. He learned about the grand resurrection hope for his wife. He also learned who and what was responsible for sickness, sorrow and death, and that none of these things will exist in God’s new order. Since then, this man has become a dedicated servant of God, telling others about the good news of the new order.

A Help with Economic Problems

Can serving God help us with our economic problems? Yes, in several ways. One who sincerely serves God is assured of His backing. Jesus said: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things [that is, material needs] will be added to you.”​—Matt. 6:32, 33.

Also, the Bible helps us to see what the really important things are in life, so that we avoid the snare of materialism. This saves us a tremendous amount of money by our not wasting it on nonessentials that we cannot afford. We avoid being trapped like so many people who ‘spend money they don’t have, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t even know or like.’

In addition, by avoiding various bad habits, such as excessive drinking, and also by not smoking, a person safeguards his health and saves money to spend on necessities. Since smoking is responsible for about 90 percent of lung-cancer deaths, and other ailments, think of how many problems can be avoided by conquering just that one unclean habit, as a servant of God knows he must do.

Too, the Bible teaches us to be honest, to work hard, to give a good day’s work to our employer. Often this results in God’s servants being highly valued as employees. One garage owner asked his Witness worker to cheat his customers. But the Witness told him: “If I could cheat your customers, I could cheat you too. Now, you wouldn’t want that, would you?” His employer saw the point and valued his services even more after that.

But, of course, economic problems will persist as long as this present system lasts. Only the new order under God’s heavenly kingdom will eliminate all economic injustices such as extremes of wealth and poverty, unemployment for millions, undesirable work, and hunger for hundreds of millions of persons.

In that new order, as Psalm 72:16 says, “There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.” The God who created the earth and its fruitful fields knows how to place mankind’s economic system on a proper basis so that all will be truly prosperous and content in his new order.