Depression
is a horrible issue that plagues humanity throughout the decades of time. Some
people take anti-depressant medication to thwart the ill effects of this
negative emotion, and some even need to add other medication to assist the
original one prescribed by the doctor.
Depression
hits us without warning and attempts to overwhelm us. Chemical imbalances in
our body often contribute to these feelings of intense sadness, hopelessness
and discouragement. Medication may assist us in balancing out these chemical
discrepancies and personality predilections.
Spiritual
warfare is another cause for these negative emotions. Satan loves to feed our
feelings of gloom, dejection and weariness. His goals is to defeat us, and to
keep our focus off the Lord. He fills our mind with his corrupting lies, which
influence our thoughts, words, emotions and behavior.
Our
only hope to recover from depression is to feed our spirit and to look to the
Lord for His joy and peace to fill us, regardless of our circumstances. Reading
God's Word, meditating on verses that speak to our soul, and praising God along
with uplifting Christian music all help to fill our spirit with nourishment.
Weeping
may endure for the moment, but the joy of the Lord is available to strengthen
us and to lift our spirit at any time (Psalm 30:5; Nehemiah 8:10). When we
connect with the Trinity of God within us, we are able to take our mind off our
self and our issues, and place our focus on Him and on the needs of others (1
Timothy 6:18-19; Luke 6:38).
Even
if we simply sit alone in our favorite chair, and begin to sing songs that come
to our mind, we can often praise our way right out of any debilitating
depression (Psalm 28:7, 59:16, 63:6-9, 77:6-10). As we sit there, we remember
God's promises, as well as the blessings with which He constantly showers our
life, and His total salvation in our spirit and soul and body. This opens the
floodgates for His joy to come pouring into our body, soul and spirit.
Prayer:
Father
God, debilitating depression comes when we believe the lies that Satan plants
in our subconscious mind, and when the chemicals in our body are unbalanced.
Help us to uncover the root cause of the reason that we believe these lies, or
have these imbalances. We may be overcome by circumstances, harboring anger or
unforgiveness for wounds inflicted on our body and soul, feeling dejected and
unappreciated and unloved, or lonely or in need of encouragement.
Whatever
our issues are, please help us to see them through Your eyes, filtered by Your
Word, and encouraged by the Psalmist's musings and revelation (Psalm 61:2).
Teach us to start a journal to lighten our mind of negative feelings, to record
how You answer our prayers, and to remember everything that You do for us on a
daily basis, so that we will not forget them and take You for granted, or drown
in the waves of depression that we feel.
Thought
for the Day:
Our
Father God is faithful and good, His precepts are worthy of our trust, and His
justice and judgements are totally righteous; He always hears us when we cry
out to Him, and He strengthens us as we follow His perfect plans for all of the
minutes in our day.
-
Psalm 34:17, 111:7-8
