A melancholy personality is the perfect breeding ground for depression. We do not even need a reason for feeling depressed. It is simply part of our hormonal make-up. We are melodramatic, pessimistic, and easily distressed and anxious. We tend to surrender to the negativity of our circumstances and fear the worse.
Depression may try to overwhelm us for no good reason at all. We have other habits that fuel these negative emotions. Insomnia, stress, a carb-loaded diet, excessive busyness, etc. These will all increase our depression. Yet, mild and fun exercises, eating a diet of whole foods, staying active, playing with family and friends will all help to alleviate our grief or sadness.
When we are in turmoil in our soul, our only truly healing hope comes from God. If we place our hope in things or people in this world, we will be very disappointed, because people rarely live up to our expectations. They are human too, after all. Praising God in every circumstance is our best cure (Psalm 42:11).
God’s love gives us great joy and encouragement in our times of loss and grief. We can share these same attributes with our Christian family who live all over the world (Philemon 1:7). When we see Jesus face-to-face, we will rejoice, and no one can ever take away our joy (John 16:22).
However, it is possible for us to choose to give our joy away. It is very tempting to dwell on our problems. This will lead us to find someone to blame, something about which to complain, and tempt us to meditate on our issues rather than on the solutions. Our only hope is to pray without ceasing and to cooperate with God’s Spirit as He sanctifies us with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
We trust in the salvation that comes only from God. He gives us courage in place of our discouragement, He surrounds us with His safety when our enemies attempt to destroy us, we worship Him with shouts of joy, and we sing and make music to Him – even if it is just in our heart (Psalm 27:6; Isaiah 35:10).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You that there is never a moment of time that Your Spirit is not in us, with us, and all around us. Your courage gives us the commitment to keep on keeping on, and to perform Your will for us each and every day. Your Kingdom is full of Jesus’ righteousness, as well as peace, and joy which all come from Your Holy Spirit within us (Romans 14:17). You are always loving us and surrounding us with Your provision, protection, presence, and providence.
Remind us that we may weep for a time, but Your joy sustains us with the dawn of every day (Psalm 30:5). Teach us that focusing on Jesus, being creative, and helping other people as Your Spirit directs us will help us to drive away depression. Jesus set the example for us of fixing our eyes on the crown of life awaiting us in Heaven (Hebrews 12:2). He helps us to focus on the positive in our life, which diminishes the hold that negative circumstances have on our soul, body, and spirit.
Thoughts for the Day:
On days when we are weary and heavily burdened, God is still in us and with us filling us with His joy, supporting us with His strength, and loving us through His intimate union within us. The more of our busyness we carve out of our schedule, the more time we have to focus on Christ in us – our hope of glory now and for eternity.
