Depressed

I have generally been an optimistic person.  The glass is usually half full, but in the not too distant past I struggled to even get out of bed in the morning.  I had almost no motivation to do anything.  The tiniest mishaps in my day would bring me to tears.  I prayed for God to give me strength, to give me the courage to keep fighting the fight when everything in me wanted to quit.  I knew deep down that God didn’t want me to have this attitude about life, but the darkness of this world had surrounded me and I couldn’t find an escape.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul writes: 'The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.'  I love Paul’s words here.  Depression is not something to be ashamed about.  At one point or another we are all going to go through seasons of depression, despair and darkness.  But God’s promise to us is that we are never alone!  There may be times when we feel completely alone in the darkness, but God is there shining a light to help us find a way out.

For me, this light has been a group of amazing spiritual women that God has placed in my life. When the darkness creeps in, God’s light shines into my life through them and their words of encouragement and love.

But how do we find the strength to endure?  Endurance can seem impossible when you feel like you are drowning.  Have you ever had to tread water in a pool?  At first things are fine you can easily keep your head above water.  But as time goes on you get weaker, your body feels heavier, and it becomes a struggle to keep your head above the surface.   The harder you try the more futile it feels, and the more desperate you become.

This is how depression can feel at times.  Things are going fine, then something happens and like the flip of a switch you begin to struggle to keep your head above water.  In the moments of despair, the moments when it feels like you could easily just stop kicking and sink, follow the words of the Incredible Kimmy Schmidt “you can endure anything for 10 seconds”.  Sometimes you just need to get through the next 10 seconds of life then start over and work on the next 10 seconds after that.  When you only focus on the next 10 seconds it’s easy to keep kicking.

It the worst of times, you are not alone.  Ever!  God is always right there beside you, with His hands reached out wanting to pull you out of the water.  In Lamentations 3:32 and in countless other places in the Bible it says that God has unfailing love for us.  His love is constant, reliable, inexhaustible, and endless.  He will never walk away or abandon us, He will never harm, reject, or stop loving us.

The darkness of this world can leave us feeling hopeless, lost and alone; but the Light of the World, God our Father is here to shine a light in the darkest places of our heart. 

Remember that the Devil is going to continue to attack us through our thoughts and feelings.  Depression is a weapon of attack that he uses to draw us away from feeling God’s love.  But there is hope in knowing that even in the moments when we can’t feel His love for us, it is always there.

If you are feeling depressed and alone, please know that there is a God who loves you with more love then you have ever experienced.  You were chosen on purpose, for a purpose.  Maybe God wants to you use you to be the light in someone else’s darkness. 

If the weight of depression is weighing on you, and you need someone to talk to, please know that any of the members of staff here at Element are more than happy to talk and pray with you.  Your service captains are also available.    Please don’t ever feel like you are alone in your struggles.