I have decided to write a series of articles regarding one of the biggest issues we face today, depression. I have seen it soak into the souls of the most vibrant people and seen how it steals joy. It is time to face this issue head on and see about reclaiming our joy!
Quick to Medicate, Slow to Heal
I personally know three people who have been hospitalized due to depression. All three were given medication, and none of them were given healing. This picture scares me. The issues that lead to the depression are still present; therefore these people are medicated just so they won’t feel the sadness. What happens when the prescriptions are done? If the issues are not dealt with these people will sink right back into their depression, possibly even deeper than before, because the ‘medication’ didn’t help.
Why is it that all of these psychiatrists and psychologists medicate? I believe many of them don’t know how to deal with this issue. I am not bashing these professionals at all; this is not an easy issue to address. Depression is a symptom of other issues that are present that has made it so that the person no longer feels joy. These issues vary from person to person, so it is very difficult for a medical professional to find a solution. It is not like a disease where there is one medication that will work for everyone. Also, if one treats only the depression and not the underlying issue than it is like treating the headache for someone with a brain tumour but leaving the tumour untreated.
Now that I have expressed my feelings on the matter of medicating, here are some of the words God has given to us regarding this issue.
“He will give light to those who live in the dark and in death’s shadow. He will guide us into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79, God’s Word Translation)
“At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don’t know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God’s people the way God wants him to.” (Romans 8:26-27, God’s Word Translation)
No matter what you face God will give light to you and show you the way to having peace. He will also provide help in your times of weakness. The next time you feel weak or feel your peace slip away you can rest in this knowledge and reach out to God. He will reach right back.
Why is it that all of these psychiatrists and psychologists medicate? I believe many of them don’t know how to deal with this issue. I am not bashing these professionals at all; this is not an easy issue to address. Depression is a symptom of other issues that are present that has made it so that the person no longer feels joy. These issues vary from person to person, so it is very difficult for a medical professional to find a solution. It is not like a disease where there is one medication that will work for everyone. Also, if one treats only the depression and not the underlying issue than it is like treating the headache for someone with a brain tumour but leaving the tumour untreated.
Now that I have expressed my feelings on the matter of medicating, here are some of the words God has given to us regarding this issue.
“He will give light to those who live in the dark and in death’s shadow. He will guide us into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79, God’s Word Translation)
“At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don’t know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God’s people the way God wants him to.” (Romans 8:26-27, God’s Word Translation)
No matter what you face God will give light to you and show you the way to having peace. He will also provide help in your times of weakness. The next time you feel weak or feel your peace slip away you can rest in this knowledge and reach out to God. He will reach right back.
Quick to Judge, Slow to Forgive
I have found that one of the leading causes for depression is unforgiveness. Society as a whole is quick to judge others, labels are placed on people all of the time. How much of that time do we actually look at ourselves and evaluate ourselves. We get so focused on others, and what they have done to us that we do not see what we do and how we treat others. This focus on the wrongs of others and how they have hurt us breeds unforgiveness.
Unforgiveness is one of the worst 'joy stealers' in the world. When you hold back forgiveness the only one you hurt is yourself. When we hold back forgiveness from others we also close the door on God’s forgiveness. “Yes, if you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15, New Century Version) Therefore, we hold back God’s forgiveness of our sins every time we hold back forgiveness from others.
We need to let God judge others and not judge them ourselves. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, New International Version) We are to examine our own lives. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5, New International Version) When we focus on our own lives we will not find it as hard to forgive others, because we will realize we make mistakes too. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23, New International Version)
The only way to true freedom is to forgive so that we can be forgiven for all of our sins as well.
Unforgiveness is one of the worst 'joy stealers' in the world. When you hold back forgiveness the only one you hurt is yourself. When we hold back forgiveness from others we also close the door on God’s forgiveness. “Yes, if you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15, New Century Version) Therefore, we hold back God’s forgiveness of our sins every time we hold back forgiveness from others.
We need to let God judge others and not judge them ourselves. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, New International Version) We are to examine our own lives. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5, New International Version) When we focus on our own lives we will not find it as hard to forgive others, because we will realize we make mistakes too. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23, New International Version)
The only way to true freedom is to forgive so that we can be forgiven for all of our sins as well.
Out of Focus
As I was preparing for this article I was reminded of a Veggie Tale Movie that talks about fear. There is a song in the video that says, “God is bigger than the boogieman, He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV. Oh, God is bigger than the boogieman and He’s watching out for you and me.” Now I am sure that many are wondering what in the world does this have to do with focus, my answer: EVERYTHING!
Life is not easy. People disappoint us, hurt us or reject us. School is overwhelming, difficult, or trying. Work is exhausting, frustrating or stressful. Relationships are difficult to start, difficult to maintain, or painful to live without. Family is disjointed, dysfunctional or sometimes filled with drama. Friends betray us, lie to us, or walk away from us. The list goes on and on of all the things that can cause our lives to become out of focus.
In Genesis we see a beautiful picture of what life was supposed to be like. A life focused on God, walking with Him and talking with Him freely in the Garden. Eve lost her focus the day the serpent convinced her to eat; she focused on herself and what the fruit could give to her. Sin entered the world that day and is still here to this day. When something bad happens we have a hard time focusing on anything else except that. Even at work, it is still there in the back of our minds. We have difficulties sleeping, eating, and the longer we focus on our troubles the closer to depression we get. Depression is not a sudden thing it is a gradual process in which we lose hope because we cannot see past our circumstances. I find it interesting that our problems have become the size of Godzilla and we still don’t see that God is bigger. We are too busy focusing on the giant monster instead of the tremendous hero standing right behind it. When we look past our monster of pain and regret and see God who can carry us through anything and walk with us through anything, then the lingering depression will start to fade. We need to go back to the design God intended. We need to focus on him. God truly is bigger than anything we are facing and when we take our eyes off our circumstance and focus only on our Creator, the difficulties of this life will start to fade.
David had lots of troubles in his life. For many years he was hunted by King Saul, because King Saul wanted to kill him. The book of Psalms reveals an ordinary man and how he dealt with problems. You can see the time when he was focused on his circumstance, he was asking God why he had forsaken him and then in the same chapter you can see a shift as he takes his focus off of the circumstance and focuses on God because it is at that moment he then starts praising God. David was a man after God’s own heart and he had times when he lost his focus too, the important thing to remember is that when we feel the heaviness of our troubled lives weighing down on us, we need to focus on God and let him protect us and help us get through.
Romans 8:37 says that we are more than conquerors through Christ; which means we can overcome anything with Him. It is when we are weak and we let God be our strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9 reveals that God’s grace is sufficient for us and His power is made perfect in weakness. It is in the times when we are weak that God’s strength will empower us to persevere. God has the power to deal with every issue we face, all we need to do is stop looking at the circumstance we face and look to the one who overcomes every circumstance.
Life is not easy. People disappoint us, hurt us or reject us. School is overwhelming, difficult, or trying. Work is exhausting, frustrating or stressful. Relationships are difficult to start, difficult to maintain, or painful to live without. Family is disjointed, dysfunctional or sometimes filled with drama. Friends betray us, lie to us, or walk away from us. The list goes on and on of all the things that can cause our lives to become out of focus.
In Genesis we see a beautiful picture of what life was supposed to be like. A life focused on God, walking with Him and talking with Him freely in the Garden. Eve lost her focus the day the serpent convinced her to eat; she focused on herself and what the fruit could give to her. Sin entered the world that day and is still here to this day. When something bad happens we have a hard time focusing on anything else except that. Even at work, it is still there in the back of our minds. We have difficulties sleeping, eating, and the longer we focus on our troubles the closer to depression we get. Depression is not a sudden thing it is a gradual process in which we lose hope because we cannot see past our circumstances. I find it interesting that our problems have become the size of Godzilla and we still don’t see that God is bigger. We are too busy focusing on the giant monster instead of the tremendous hero standing right behind it. When we look past our monster of pain and regret and see God who can carry us through anything and walk with us through anything, then the lingering depression will start to fade. We need to go back to the design God intended. We need to focus on him. God truly is bigger than anything we are facing and when we take our eyes off our circumstance and focus only on our Creator, the difficulties of this life will start to fade.
David had lots of troubles in his life. For many years he was hunted by King Saul, because King Saul wanted to kill him. The book of Psalms reveals an ordinary man and how he dealt with problems. You can see the time when he was focused on his circumstance, he was asking God why he had forsaken him and then in the same chapter you can see a shift as he takes his focus off of the circumstance and focuses on God because it is at that moment he then starts praising God. David was a man after God’s own heart and he had times when he lost his focus too, the important thing to remember is that when we feel the heaviness of our troubled lives weighing down on us, we need to focus on God and let him protect us and help us get through.
Romans 8:37 says that we are more than conquerors through Christ; which means we can overcome anything with Him. It is when we are weak and we let God be our strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9 reveals that God’s grace is sufficient for us and His power is made perfect in weakness. It is in the times when we are weak that God’s strength will empower us to persevere. God has the power to deal with every issue we face, all we need to do is stop looking at the circumstance we face and look to the one who overcomes every circumstance.
Hope and Healing
This is the last article in this series. There is so much to say on this topic it could go on for several more articles; however I believe that I need to talk about one more thing in this series. For all who are depressed there is hope and healing available to you.
If your depression is a medical condition there is still hope. God can still bring you joy in the midst of your struggle. God can also provide you with the strength to persevere. I also believe that God can heal any ailment. When Jesus was on earth he healed many people from many different ailments. Jesus healing ministry can be read about throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible.
If your depression is not a result of a medical condition, there are ways to deal with it. First we need to examine ourselves and find out what is causing our depression. It is only when we find the source that we can do something about it. Once we have determined the source then we need to find a positive way of dealing with it. These positive solutions could be anything from forgiving someone who has hurt you to looking at your problems from another perspective.
If you cannot figure out the source on your own, you might want to seek out a counselor to help you find out what is causing your depression. Your counselor may also be able to help you come up with some good strategies for dealing with your depression.
I am going to wrap up this by sharing some of God’s thoughts on this topic.
Psalm 40:1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and clay. He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure. He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see this and worship. They will trust the Lord.” (God’s Word Translation) God hears us when we call out to Him and He rescues us.
Psalm 34:17, “The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him, and he saves them from all their troubles.” (New Century Version) God hears us when we call out to Him and He saves us from our troubles.
Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.” (New Century Version) God is always with us, and He is always protecting us.
Isaiah 40:31, “But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again. They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; they will run and not need rest; they will walk and not become tired." (New Century Version) God is our strength, because it is when we trust in Him that we will become strong again. God will lift us up, no matter what we are facing.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort.He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.” (New Century Version) God is our comfort and it is through this comfort that we are able to comfort others.
Romans 8:38-39, “Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers,nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (New Century Version) Nothing, absolutely nothing can ever separate us from God’s love!
Psalm 147:3, “He [God] heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (New Century Version) God’s heart is to bring complete healing to all who are hurting.
1 Peter 5:6-7, “Be humble under God's powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes. Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.” (New Century Version) God doesn’t want us burdened down with our problems, He wants us to give them over to Him, so He can carry the heavy load for us .
Knowing God’s heart for us will help us when we face troubles in our lives. God is always there for us, ready to comfort us, strengthen us, and protect us. He even wants to carry our burdens for us, we only have to give them over to Him. No matter what you are facing or how difficult the circumstance you face, always know that God loves you so much and He provides the hope and healing you seek.
If your depression is a medical condition there is still hope. God can still bring you joy in the midst of your struggle. God can also provide you with the strength to persevere. I also believe that God can heal any ailment. When Jesus was on earth he healed many people from many different ailments. Jesus healing ministry can be read about throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible.
If your depression is not a result of a medical condition, there are ways to deal with it. First we need to examine ourselves and find out what is causing our depression. It is only when we find the source that we can do something about it. Once we have determined the source then we need to find a positive way of dealing with it. These positive solutions could be anything from forgiving someone who has hurt you to looking at your problems from another perspective.
If you cannot figure out the source on your own, you might want to seek out a counselor to help you find out what is causing your depression. Your counselor may also be able to help you come up with some good strategies for dealing with your depression.
I am going to wrap up this by sharing some of God’s thoughts on this topic.
Psalm 40:1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and clay. He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure. He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see this and worship. They will trust the Lord.” (God’s Word Translation) God hears us when we call out to Him and He rescues us.
Psalm 34:17, “The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him, and he saves them from all their troubles.” (New Century Version) God hears us when we call out to Him and He saves us from our troubles.
Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.” (New Century Version) God is always with us, and He is always protecting us.
Isaiah 40:31, “But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again. They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; they will run and not need rest; they will walk and not become tired." (New Century Version) God is our strength, because it is when we trust in Him that we will become strong again. God will lift us up, no matter what we are facing.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort.He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.” (New Century Version) God is our comfort and it is through this comfort that we are able to comfort others.
Romans 8:38-39, “Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers,nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (New Century Version) Nothing, absolutely nothing can ever separate us from God’s love!
Psalm 147:3, “He [God] heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (New Century Version) God’s heart is to bring complete healing to all who are hurting.
1 Peter 5:6-7, “Be humble under God's powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes. Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.” (New Century Version) God doesn’t want us burdened down with our problems, He wants us to give them over to Him, so He can carry the heavy load for us .
Knowing God’s heart for us will help us when we face troubles in our lives. God is always there for us, ready to comfort us, strengthen us, and protect us. He even wants to carry our burdens for us, we only have to give them over to Him. No matter what you are facing or how difficult the circumstance you face, always know that God loves you so much and He provides the hope and healing you seek.