In our last post we considered Christian’s encounter with Pliable. Pliable was willing to go with Christian towards the Wicket Gate until they both fell into the swampy area known as the Slough of Despond. Pliable freed himself from the muddy pit and returned to the City of Destruction leaving Christian behind to fend for himself in the swampy substance.
The Slough of Despond
Mr. Bunyan wrote, “Now I saw in my dream, that, just as they had ended this talk, they drew near to a very miry slough that was in the midst of the plain; and they, being heedless, did both fall suddenly into the bog. The name of the slough was Despond. Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time, being grievously bedaubed with the dirt; and Christian, because of the burden that was on his back, began to sink in the mire.”
Going back in the story, it was Evangelist that told Christian to escape God’s wrath to come by going towards the Wicket Gate. Christian wanted to rid himself of his heavy burden. However, Christian and Pliable were caught off guard by the Slough of Despond.
The word “slough” means an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamp-like region. The word “despond” means to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage. In other words, Christian was sinking in fear and lack of confidence.
Thankfully, there was a man named Help at the slough who assisted Christian in getting out of the miry clay. Here is what Help told Christian about the Slough of Despond:
“This miry slough is such a place as cannot be mended. It is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin, doth continually run, and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond: for still, as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there ariseth in his soul many fears, and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place. And this is the reason of the badness of this ground.”
Mr. Help described The Slough of Despond as a place where the conviction of sin continually runs, and where the awakened sinner is confronted with fears, doubts, and discouraging apprehensions. As the sinner is awakened to his condition he is confronted with many emotions and thoughts. Mr. Bunyan used The Slough of Despond as a metaphor for this experience in the Christian conversion.
Fear
Christian had already been wrestling with fear as he was fearful of the wrath of God. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” This is what Adam experienced when he disobeyed God, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).
Like Adam, Christian was dealing with guilt. That sense of guilt brought about a fear of God. If you were to mix fear and guilt together you’d produce sorrow: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Cor. 7:10). This godly fear produces a sorrow that leads to repentance.
Doubts
As a sinner begins to have their life changed through the Spirit, doubts will arise. Doubts concerning the reality of God, and if the forgiveness of sins is even possible. I remember vividly experiencing this myself after several years of backsliding. I was helping a man pray at the altar, believing he would receive the Holy Spirit. He hadn’t been attending my church for very long, and this was the first time he had been to the altar. It wasn’t long before he began to speak with other tongues, as the Holy Spirit filled him (Acts 2:1-4). As this man was being filled with the Spirit, I was being filled with doubts. I had witnessed this miracle hundreds of times in my lifetime. This Holy Ghost occurrence even happened to me! However, it had only been a few weeks since my life had been changed from years of backsliding. As that man received the Holy Spirit, I had thoughts of “This isn’t real. He has just heard others do that. He’s just doing that to get us to stop praying with him. This is all learned behavior.” I had never had those types of thoughts before. From that moment I began to doubt my own salvation. I even began to doubt the existence of God! This went on for several days. I didn’t tell anyone, because I was fearful of what others may think of such ideas. I just privately wrestled with these doubts. Thankfully, after much prayer and fasting those thoughts and doubts began to dissipate. I soon realized that this experience was spiritual warfare, of which I was unaware of.
Discouraging Apprehensions
Along with fear, and doubts, the awakened sinner would experience “discouraging apprehensions.” Apprehension is an active state of fear, usually concerning some danger or misfortune. The awakened sinner couples his apprehensions with discouragement.
Many sinners at the beginning of their conversion also feel apprehensive. They may not like the thought of losing friends and family due to their faith (Matt. 5:11;10:22; 37-38; Lk.14:26). Or they may feel apprehensive concerning denying themselves (Matt. 16:24). Perhaps they don’t feel they have the capability to live holy and godly. Whatever the case might be, the person becomes faint-hearted and it paralyzes their faith and momentum.
The Way of Escape
As Christian struggled to get out of the Slough of Despond a man named Help assisted Christian out of the swamp. Help told him of the King’s attempts to have the swamp fixed and covered. Unfortunately the mire had sunk 20,000 thousand carts and myriads of other travelers, despite clear instructions. Stairs had been built to remedy the Slough of Despond. Help wondered why Christian hadn’t used them. Christian said, “Fear followed me so hard, that I fled the next way and fell in.”
But one wonders how Pliable got out of the bog with such ease, and Christian struggled to get out. The answer to that is Pliable didn’t have a burden upon his back, and Christian did. Pliable hadn’t been awakened to his sin, Christian, on the other hand, had been awakened to the reality of his sinful nature. Fortunately, Mr. Help was there to give Christian a hand. There are those who are familiar with the Slough of Despond. They know what it’s like to wrestle with fear, doubt, and apprehension. They point to a staircase that wasn’t seen or observed. Beloved, there are others who have traveled this way before who know how to get out of the Slough of Despond. Thank the Lord for the seasoned saints who will help the newly converted Christian find relief from fear, doubt, and apprehension.
Finally, Jesus declared to Nathanael that He was the staircase to heaven (Jn. 1:50-51). Not only is He the staircase to heaven, but He is the staircase out of the Slough of Despond (1 Cor. 10:13). Don’t turn back like Pliable, but get out of the slough and keep walking towards the Wicket Gate.