Depression

Depression can be very enabling emotion for anyone. It seems to quickly work from the mind to the rest of the body. It can cause blood flow to slow down, headaches, back pain, muscle aches, joint pain, chest pain, digestive problems, exhaustion, fatigue, sleeping problems, change in appetite and weight and no doubt dizziness or lightheadedness.

Emotionally it can cause difficulty in concentrating, remembering details, making decisions, feeling hopeless and/or pessimistic. An individual can feel guilt, worthless, helpless, irritable, restless, sad, anxious, suicidal and having that “empty” feeling.

Depression has also been well documented in the bible and by Christian writers and figures.

Depression is a spiritual battle. It starts in the mind -in our thought process. And just like fighting the thoughts of condemnation, pride, lust, hate, revenge, jealousy, etc, we have to make a strong effort to redirect our thinking when it comes to depression. We have to realize our joy, peace and love does not come from others or ourselves but from God. God is our source of our strength to battle depression.

Psalm 42:5 “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God!”

Isaiah 50:10 “ Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon lie down in great torment.”

In depression we warm ourselves in destructive ways and thoughts. And if you don’t think so -think about where our heart goes when we are depressed? What are we choosing to treasure when we are depressed? Where are our eyes?

When my step dad passed away this last summer I suffered from a bout of depression when I returned home. The Lord helped me take care of my dying step-dad in his home and take care of things that needed to be done after his passing but after I returned home, images and certain smells bothered me... and as I began to process everything that had happened during those previous weeks I began to consider everything as meaningless and no point. Waves of sadness would come and go and then I would feel “empty” void of all emotion. The Lord had shown me some great things during those previous weeks but I had been so overwhelmed by depression that I had momentary forgotten those things.

I had allowed depression to take a seat and blur my focus and I had to make a choice to allow depression to be welcomed or not. I had a choice to remember all the good things about my step-dad’s life or the holocaustic condition his body was ravaged in… and how stiff his tent became after the angel grabbed him by the armpits and took his soul to heaven.

Focus is where it “all” starts. The scientific word is “cognitive restructuring which leads to a behavioral change. God knew this and shared this with Paul who wrote:

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he had done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Jesus Christ. And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:6-9

This positive peaceful focus will not just motive us in Godly ways but change our physical habits as well.

We will want to participate in more pleasurable experiences such as working with others in a building project, volunteering, enjoying the wonderful outdoors on foot or bike, playing sports, creating something, traveling, and spending more quality time with loved ones.

Remember focus is where it “all” starts.