Overcoming Depression: part 1 a Continued

3 .Emotions, Feelings and Depression

Men and women are different!

Yes, they are.

But how different?

I sense we will never know.

I cannot step into a woman's skin even for a moment.

This section is due to a discussion a man had with his my wife regarding emotions and depression.

She said, "You are not a women.

You do not understand!"

She stated that feelings play a much greater part of the struggle with depression than with men.

Some have suggested women enter depression more than twice as often as men.

Feelings and emotions are very influential.

When these feelings surge upon one's life, the person feels as if he or she is living under control of those emotions.

I have discussed this interplay between emotions and feelings in the Overcoming Anxiety series, but it needs to be brought up here.

If we do not rightly understand how our strong emotions fit into a bout of depression, then confusion rather than clarity will dominate this whole discussion.

Through our discussion here, I am not at all trying to minimize the impact of feelings on depression.

They are very closely tied together. One's emotions can greatly control one's perception.

Although it feels as if emotions bring on the depression, let me provide an alternative process depression enters one's domain.

Emotions and feelings are not the cause of depression but the means by which a person more quickly surrenders to the voice of resignation.

Emotions and feelings amplify what is hidden in the soul and mind.

These powerful feelings will seem to dominate and rule.

This is true.

We need, however, to keep in mind that they are only amplifying what is in the heart and mind.

If we want to find control over these moods and feelings, we will need to go back to our more hidden lives to find a solution.

Hebrews 5:14 points out.

Hebrews 5:14 KJV 1900

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

(Hebrews 5:14).

Hebrews 5:14 KJV 1900

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:14 KJV 1900

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Maturity is the mark of the Christian who has grown stable in his or her spiritual life.

The Greek word aistheterion is translated by perception or understanding.

This is the place the Lord is leading all of us as His children.

Notice what the author of Hebrews says is the prerequisite to entering that stage – have their sense trained to discern good and evil.

The word for 'senses' means perception or judgment.

In other words, it is one's perception or understanding of good and evil that provides that deepening of maturity.

Let's now go back to discuss emotions and feelings.

Feelings are an amplifier of what one believes to be true.

The perception of life is formed by these beliefs.

Whether these beliefs are true or false, it does not matter.

If one changes, say in this case lessens the emotions, it does not change what is the source of those feelings.

We can think of it the other way around.

When a person is overjoyed by the hope or anticipation of something good, the feelings are again amplifying and revealing one's responses to their inner feelings.

Anytime something is amplified, it is really bigger than it is.

Do not be afraid of the deep dark depressive times.

The feelings are trying to sway your allegiance.

It is at this time you need to firmly fix your focus on your allegiance to the Lord.

More will be said below on how to actually do this.

Accept your feelings but do not fear them or believe you have to obey them.

It is much safer to focus on "Why one might feel this way?"

"What is it that I believe that conjures up such feelings?"

The feelings are responders and revealers rather than leaders.

However, if we do allow these feelings to shout commands to our lives, then we will quicker give into the confusing spirits of despair.

The evil one uses these strong emotions combined with his temptations to subjugate a person. Be careful.

Fortunately, one can stand in the light of God's Word and find help and strength in the time of need.

But how are we going to build up our discernment so we don't get 'caught' in a bout of depression? Keep reading!

4 .Gaining Discernment of Depression

If we are going to consistently gain victory over the evil one's devices, we must train our mindsets or perception of things.

The mature believer is marked with discernment.

Hebrews 5:14 says,

Hebrews 5:14 KJV 1900

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

What a person feels or thinks is not necessarily true.

Our perceptions can and will distort reality and misguide us.

Satan tries to shape our judgments by influencing our minds and thus guides us down the road toward depression and suicidal thoughts.

The mark of maturity is the fact that we have mastered or consistently trained these senses.

How does a person do this?

We need the continual training that coaches you through the training that is needed to properly mature.

To help a person rightly train his or her senses to overcome some personal problem. The training does not stop in a course that we studied. It must not if it is to be successful.

We must move on and shape our senses and perception to understand and adopt God's hope.

That is, we are to allow the hope that comes from God's Word influence our perceptions of things.

In other words, we must have a full and proper perception of things if we will succeed.

'Solid food,' strong biblical teaching based on God's Word, is necessary for this training.

As long as a believer hangs around in kindergarten class, he will not properly mature in his understanding so to become a mature believer.

We are not to be as waves tossed to and fro but affirm a strong biblical mindset (Ephesians 4:14 read more).

Ephesians 4:14 KJV 1900

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

We must understand the choice between living by the Spirit or defaulting into a worldly mindset.

Depression definitely derives from a lack of confidence in the way God might care for them.

In many cases, a person first has been lured by his dreams or temptations into that promising career, marriage, ministry or ideal life only to find out that it is not ideal at all.

Broken dreams cause a lack of vision or focus.

We have said that though some of these dreams are okay, they should never have been the key focus in our lives.

If we believe our success is dependent upon this dream, then we should see how we have too high elevated it.

Jesus says that we need to die to ourselves.

It is fine to want a good marriage and family or even career.

But the moment, we exalt that ideal as our dream, it becomes our idol. God will, in His grace, crush it during our time on earth before Judgment Day.

When our dreams break apart, we are susceptible to other idols.

"If this does not work, I will try this!"

At some point, though, when success is not found, we will be tempted with regressing into a mindset

where depression easily enters in.

Let me further explain what happens when depression sets in.

Depression's Problem

Depression can be described from mild or moderate to very serious (manic depression) where it threatens one's life.

It is proper to think of depression as a downward cycle, reinforcing itself itself at each stage with the purpose of going further downward.

What happens is that at each stage, we are giving in to certain thoughts that come to our mind and accept them to define our situation.

Once we accept those thoughts, then we battle over another level of thoughts.

The thoughts are not encouraging and helpful so they are not easily accepted.

Here are some examples.

Add to the list!

The more clearly these thoughts are identified, the easier it is to understand where we are at in the downward cycle.

In order to fight an enemy, it helps to know things about them.

"I can't handle it anymore."

"I give up."

"I'll never be able to do it."

"I may as well end it all."

"I'm a failure."

"I feel so alone."

Further convincing thoughts combined with strong feelings can easily persuade a person accept these unpleasant conclusions as true.

When a person regularly thinks this way, the downward cycle can progress very quickly down.

The typical barriers have already been broken down in the past and more easily crossed over.

The further we give in, the more dominated we are by the evil one's grasp.

It is Satan, after all, who is behind these temptations.

He wants our failure and defeat.

5. The Downward Cycle of Depression Linked to the Root Problem

The basic root problem of depression is disobedience.

Whenever a person disobeys, there is a sense of guilt that pops up.

How does that person deal with that guilt?

If he or she confessed the sin, then forgiveness through Christ's blood would readily be found.

A birth of hope would enter our soul and lead us closer to the Lord.

If we, however, respond by covering it up and denying that it is a problem, then this spiritual problem begins to cause other problems, both physical and emotional.

Most people, however, do not see depression as a spiritual problem.

They are distracted with the symptoms. Let's look at an example.

The housewife has been putting off doing laundry.

She does not feel good about getting behind.

She might even tell her husband that he should do it.

She knows it should be done but avoids it by being busy with other activities, from good stuff like volunteering to bad habits like gambling, caught in a gossip chat or watching television dramas.

Her husband might make a little comment about not having some socks, but a great conflict occurs between them.

She might lash out, "You don't care for me.

Why don't you do anything around the home!" Eph 4:31

Ephesians 4:31 KJV 1900

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

She makes it appear that the real problem is him and his neglect, but she has neglected things.

She has been unfaithful to her responsibilities and is avoiding blame (see downward cycle chart).

One might think that her problems have nothing to do with depression, and at this stage, one would be right to state that.

But the foundations for depression are being laid. Remember, depression just does not come upon a person.

The dark mist starts off only as a vapor at first, but soon like thickening clouds, vapors become more and more dense.

What starts as a small problem grows as one covers up one's faults, blames others and runs into more failures.

In this sense the downward cycle is really a number of small repeating cycles (subroutines in computer language).

Depression often forms from this sense of failure.

"You can't do it."

"You are no good."

This is especially true when a person has been dreaming about being that perfect wife with a great home.

All of a sudden, there is clash between the spouses (in the story above) and the looming despair of her failures.

Failures in one area such as laundry can easily spill over to other areas of sloppiness, rudeness, being overweight, etc..

Before we can make much progress, one has to see how one area is connected to the other.

A cycle is dependent on another previous action to progress.

The 5 Ds: The Path of Disobedience

This chart helps clarify how one area of defeat leads to another.

Hopefully, this becomes a chart that you will memorize and use for yourself and with others.

Improve on it as you see it.

There will be exceptions.

Not every situation will fit into the chart perfectly, but is hopefully will serve its purpose.

There are many entry points into depression but usually one is locked in by the avoidance of repentance as shown above.

1. Disobey

Disobedience leads to personal problems.

3 When a person neglects something or does something he shouldn't, guilt enters the picture.

Remember that even though this is identified as one point, it is probably better to see it not as an isolated event but as a series of repetitive acts of disobedience.

This event might not be easily identifiable.

Sometimes it is as easy as seeing the way you neglect your quiet time with the Lord, don't care for kids, insensitive to spouse, etc.

Perhaps the original point of disobedience is elusive, but if one has gone down the downward cycle, then one can isolate numerous points of disobedience.

4 Work with what one can see. It is much easier.

Once disobedience is discovered, then we know the way out.

Obedience is the path out.

Disobedience will further pull one down.

2. Defensive

With sin, there is guilt.

One has to deal with sin one way or the other.

The best way is to confess and find forgiveness and restoration through Christ.

(1 John 1:7).

1 John 1:7 KJV 1900

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we choose (notice this word that indicates volition) not to admit our fault and restore things, then we are left only with hardening our hearts.

We become more hardened and become even less willing to accept fault and change.

Perhaps before we contemplated changing, but with further hardening, we are even less open to the idea.

At this time we become active players in the blame game.

We are further agitated and easily blame others rather than focusing on our part of the problem.

Criticism is where one enters another declining cycle.

The initial disobedience is covered up.

How convenient for the guilty person! Criticism, if joined with a lack of sympathy for or understanding of the criticized, usually points to a hardened heart and one's own unconfessed sin.

Cobwebs are abandoned spider webs that have caught dust.

Spiders keep active webs clean by regularly cleaning them and keeping them invisible.

We need to keep our souls clean and confess our sins.

3. Despair

By this time we have probably disobeyed the Lord even more.

In either case, we begin to feel burdened down by two things.

(1) Neglect

By neglecting caring for our responsibilities, whether it is laundry piles, undone assignments, lack of attention to one's spouse, etc.

, the consequences pile up.

Relationships get sour.

Life gets very unpleasant.

This only makes one feel worse!

(2) Overwhelmed - no way out

Along with these consequences comes the inability to see through the situation.

If earlier on one had looked at the problem, it would have been easy.

Just do a load of laundry.

But no longer.

Things have piled up.

There is has been blaming others and built up resentment.

Now there is no easy solution.

This is perhaps the beginning point of depression.

A person has begun to despair and think about giving up.

The situation is too overwhelming.

This is where stress comes in.

A person puts everything on hold.

He or she doesn't know how to go forward.

He is stuck.

We want to distinguish this step from the next stage where one actually gives in.

Despair is where one merely feels overwhelmed with the circumstances, dejection is where one resigns him or herself into a state of failure.

4. Dejection

While despair focuses on the circumstances, dejection focuses on one's personal inability to cope with the situation.

Words of Doom

"Give in."

"Give up."

"You are a failure."

"You are just fooling yourself."

"You will never succeed."

"You are a fool."

his is where Satan uses his master skills in 'accusation' to emphasize the inferiority and failures of a person.

He so strongly emphasizes his message that the person starts repeating it to himself.

Satan says, "You are no good."

The person blindly responds, "I am no good."

As mentioned above, one does not want to conclude these things, but after staring at the problem, feelings of despair overhanging one's mind and Satan's accusations, it seems the logical step to take.

Dejection describes how a person moved from being overwhelmed with neglecting doing what was right (despair) with concluding oneself as a failure (dejection).

The truth is that the person has done wrong.

He has blamed others. He has repeatedly hardened his heart against God.

Satan, The Accuser (Revelation 12:10), goes a step further, however, in his accusation.

Revelation 12:10 (KJV 1900)

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

He is not only saying the person has done wrong (which is true) but convinces the person that he can do no other thing but stay on that same path of defeat.

"If you can't be faithful to your wife, then that is the way you are. You may as well just give in and admit your failure."

This line of thought is something the Holy Spirit, the exhorter, would never do.

The Spirit shows a way out.

The Holy Spirit would come alongside a believer and show that one's failure is due to one's sin, and that he can repent and find restoration.

The evil one convinces a person that he can never get out.

This is where the spirit of dejection comes in. His feelings trump any proper thinking and pull him down into his despondency.

This leads to the last stage.

5. Depression

There are many stages of depression.

We do not really care to spend time distinguishing them.

They differ on their severity.

The severity is resultant to how many times they have gone through these sub-cycles being described.

Our point is to clarify the actual stages that occur to reach this stage of depression and what goes on at each stage.

Depression in the modern sense is best described as a resignation of defeat.

(Be careful not to conclude that all problems are because of disobedience (e.g. Job)).

The light of hope has been extinguished.

Yes, there are different levels of depression, and so at some levels there still shines a bit of light.

But with each ensuing stage, more of that light is taken away.

Hope, layer after layer, is stripped away by the lack of belief that anything can be done.

A person then becomes less and less convinced that they are able to cope with some situation.

Normally, a person would be able to cope with some basic tasks of life such as cooking, parental care, etc., but severe depression cripples even these basic tasks.

The steps to reach the last point can be complicated and hard to detect, but the signs of resignation, the look of despair, the spirit of giving up all come in and make it appear that it is the king of problems.

All of a sudden, it seems that the wife can't cook, have sex, care for others or even carry out normal parenting duties.

Sometimes it seems like this spirit of resignation or giving up just drops in.

In fact, as seen in these repeated cycles, depression does not just occur.

There are reasons a person has given up hope and it usually is because there is no longer any hope (lack of confidence) that he or she will be able to cope with this situation.

This person is usually physically able to work but no longer has the spirit to work.

She has given up hope that she can get over this problem.

And so, step by step, the problem of her inadequacy are exacerbated to the point she just agrees with the haunting thoughts that she is a failure.

Of course, stories about others who have slid into depression and never really come out of it can make things even worse.

Satan uses all these things to pound the nails into the coffin of depression.

She now has lost motivation to go on with life.

Actually, she has been tempted to think this way for a while, but she put those thoughts aside, doing what she could.

But now she believes she is a failure and cannot improve.

This is the spirit of resignation, the spirit of depression.

Summary

Before going on, we need to understand that a person never really fully gives in.

It will not seem that way in some circumstances.

The human will, though, always has a powerful reserve of energy.

Given the right circumstances, the person could by God's grace step out of depression.

A Personal Testimony

I remember as clear as day one case of serious depression. The wife had lost all ability to rightly respond to husband, relatives, children or pastor (me). The government workers exacerbated things by coaching her to blame her husband (he had his share of problems) and helped her try to get divorced. This built up further inner struggles. In the end she was in a psychiatric ward responding to no one. The psychiatrists tried all their magic drugs, but she was listless and not speaking. She was about to be sent off to long term psychiatric housing in two days. I could do no more. Neither could the psychiatrists. During one afternoon I was meditating on God's Word, the Lord brought two verses to my mind to tell her. I felt awkward speaking one of those verses but I was obedient. When I did, God began the greatest transformation that I had ever seen. Literally, before my eyes her facial features began to soften and her heart tender. For a good while I just watched all those tears and weeping noises. In the end, I led her to repent. I called her husband. They were immediately reconciled. She was out of the hospital in one or two days and back home.

I share this real story just to remind you that there is always hope.

Don't give up on yourself or others.

Man is made in God's image and so, as long as he lives, has a will independent of the circumstances.

Usually the circumstances shape his mind and feelings and guide him along.

Satan, however, cannot fully bind a person to the point that he cannot make a decision to trust God.

This is why deceit is so important to the evil one.

He needs to keep making it so the person does not gain any hope and if he does, quickly disperse it.

Satan can blind, but he cannot stop the human will unless the life is taken.

That is the reason he instigates suicide.

Men are less likely to show their depressive state, perhaps because of their pride.

But they are much more likely to commit suicide.

6 .Finding Hope to Combat Depression

The wife who failed to carry out household duties was just one simple illustration on how depression can enter a person's life.

The entrances through which depression arrives on a person's doorstep are many.

They most often enter through some form of failure, which is often disobedience but not always.

A father might expect top grades.

The son might get depressed over not performing up to his dad's expectation.

"I just can''t do it.

I tried so hard.

I guess I am a failure."

The expectations might be his own. It doesn't matter.

The same result occurs.

And so, after battling in his mind and with his work, he resigns to defeat.

This resignation, or giving into dejection, however is always sin.

For us to get a better picture of this, let us go back to the hours preceding the cross where Jesus faced his own lack of success.

This was the darkest time in the universe.

Even the sky went black at the time of Christ's death.

Satan seemed to have the upper hand and was found leading the Messiah, the righteous one, to death.

Jesus was severely tempted during this time.

The spirit of despair was all about Jesus.

His disciples all gave up hope.

Even lingering Peter who talked big about devotion, failed Him when it came to the time of testing.

Peter denied his friendship with Jesus.

The time was dark.

His disciples left Him.

How was salvation going to spread throughout the world?

The time at Gethsemane was the time that proved that Jesus was the second Adam who focused on obedience.

He is the one we are to learn from.

"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8).

Hebrews 5:8 (KJV 1900)

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

If a dream was ever broken, this was the one.

Just days before, Jesus was leading a crowd shouting, "Hosanna."

But now, it looked like He completely failed.

The only way to battle these temptations is with the truth and faithfulness.

The evil one powerfully tempted Jesus, but note how Jesus responded.

"Saying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done."

Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground" (Luke 22:42-44).

Luke 22:42–44 (KJV 1900)

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

What do we learn from Jesus?

We have so much to learn from Jesus. Here are three lessons.

1) God's will is always best.

A spirit of depression tells us that God's way, the right way, is not working.

Those who have entered despair will loudly hear this message again and again so they that they begin to believe it.

Jesus, however, trusted His Father's plan.

We must do likewise.

Although the story of a woman's problem with laundry seems so mundane, depression can threaten anyone anywhere.

Jesus held on to the basic belief that God's plan is always best.

In the case with the laundry, the wife should have shed the thoughts, "My friends are special with good paying jobs, but here I am hanging over a laundry basket."

Humble deeds are important.

God's greatest works could never be done without the unseen tasks of love done in secret.

Never underestimate the power of doing what is right.

Carry out your responsibilities because they are God's will for you (Romans 12:2).

Romans 12:2 (KJV 1900)

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Judas Iscariot displayed the whole cycle of depression in just days.

He lost hope that the people of Israel would be saved by Jesus and gave himself over to sin.

Judas coveted and betrayed Jesus.

Satan quickly finished the job with ending Judas' now severe case of depression by having him commit suicide.

Obedience is our goal. Obedience assumes that God's will is right and good.

This is our calling to live righteous lives to reflect God's glory.

This commitment might take us through difficult times.

It did for Jesus, but it is our constant hope that God will reward our obedience somehow and some day.

2) God will give grace to endure.

As Jesus endured this temptation and torture on the cross, we wonder how He did it.

The promise is true.

God will always give extra grace according to our need.

We have used this verse before, but its clear and powerful statement is very helpful.

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV 1900)

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God will make it sure that we will never encounter a situation that is beyond our ability to endure.

He makes sure we have extra grace to endure.

God did this with Jesus, and He will do it with ourselves.

These kind of truths become the backbone of our faith.

While despair is not directly linked to fear, fear can keep us from doing what is right.

Jesus plodded straight into the evil one's path and faced a terrible death.

Things might not be so bad for us, but they can seem to be so when the evil one dangles webs of fear about us.

The key to endurance is to go back to your life call of obedience to your Master.

Walk the road wherever it leads you.

If you waver on this, then you will be further tempted.

The more you waver, the more you will be tempted and the easier it is for us to fall.

3) Success does not always look like success.

We often understand what is true by what we see around us.

Be careful.

Peter found trouble when he looked at the waves rather than Jesus.

The same will be true with us.

The wife looked at the mound of laundry piled up and said to herself, "I can't do it."

So she would leave it for another day, hoping she would have more courage to attack the pile the next time! Would she? Probably not.

Faith often goes contrary to sight.

We will not make our best decisions when we base them on what we see or feel.

We need to train ourselves to focus on what we should do.

Jesus focused on the Father's will.

Let me give a few examples.

If one is trying hard to do one's best at work, but the boss scolds him on doing poorly.

How should he respond? Should he accept the scolding that he has done poorly?

Not if it has no basis.

The boss might just be allowing his own frustration out and the scolding might not be because of his performance. If one does his or her best parenting, but the child seems unruly.

Should the parent give up and let the child rule? No. If one tries to get into college but gets rejected while his friends are going off with good scholarships. Should one feel like he is no good?

Should he give up?

No.

If one tries hard to live a holy life but has a problem with lust, should he just give up? No.

If one's loved one has died.

The spouse is alone and making so many mistakes trying to work things out.

Should he give up ever thinking that he can cope. No.

In the situations above, we always should leave ample room to evaluate ourselves and improve.

We are not speaking of blind faith or positivism.

If we have not done our best, then acknowledge that and improve.

Change the way you do things and prioritize things.

Get others' input.

But having examined our lives and performance, we need to turn our face to the Lord.

Like Joseph in the Old Testament, although his dream popped, his dreams dashed to the ground, he stayed steadfast focusing on doing the right thing at all times.

He did not let the horrible circumstances that he was in cause him to give up.

The spirit of defeat is from the evil one.

God gave us a spirit to reign in Christ.

All the above examples could lead to a spirit of resignation.

The spirit of anxiety shouts doubt as to whether God can work things out.

Anxiety creeps into the discussion of depression.

These subtle fears darken the picture ahead.

The spirit of depression comes in with anxiety and introduces the choice of giving up.

"Since you can't go forward, you may as well give up."

The spirit of victory might be shrouded with signs of defeat and gloom, but by being focused on faith in God's will and mixed with simple obedience (doing what one is responsible for), one shall prevail and fight the spirit of depression.

Note the spirit in this psalmist.

"Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up; Yet they have not prevailed against me.

The plowers plowed upon my back; They lengthened their furrows.

The LORD is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked" (Psalms 129:2-4).

Psalm 129:2–4 (KJV 1900)

2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: Yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 The plowers plowed upon my back: They made long their furrows.

4 The Lord is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

Things did not look well. He experienced much pain (This pain might be due to neglect or more probable because he chose to live God's way).

He kept fixed on doing what was right despite the pain and rejection he faced.

He was determined to follow the Lord's path no matter what.

Those who focus on immediate reward will always be toying with temptations of depression.

Instead focus on obedience.

Get God's work done.

And with the Psalmist, you will be able to say, "Yet they have not prevailed against me."

Depression comes from doubting God's ability or willingness to help a person cope with some given circumstance.

The temptations that we have highlighted above focus more on the temptation to resign oneself to one's circumstances.

Remember how this spirit of despondency and spirit of giving up is also characteristic of anxiety, stress and other 'lack of confidence' sins.

Defeat cannot come without us giving up. By giving up, we take the controls off our life and try to ignore the future.

Instead let us take control of the future.

"I will obey the Lord even though I have no idea how it will work out."

Faith leads us into obedience and obedience delivers us from depression.

7 .Sharpening our shield

shows through Ephesians 6:16 how truth helps a person overcome depression. 'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression' is the ninth lesson in a series on "Reaching Beyond Mediocrity."

Ephesians 6:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Let's look closely at God's Word, the truth, as found in Ephesians 6:16.

God wants to build up our confidence in His wonderful ways.

Ephesians 6:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

"In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16).

Ephesians 6:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

The flaming missiles are targeted against God's people.

These flaming missiles of the evil one are, as I understand it, those ways that the evil one distorts truth so that we further disbelieve God and disobey Him.

This is understood partially through the defensive means given, that of faith.

Satan has set himself and his devices to overthrow the strength and welfare of the believers.

Paul here is not alluding to things like poverty or lack of jobs but Satan's temptations through which the evil one tears down the faith of God's people.

Some believers will go through famine, disease and persecution.

Others need to weather materialism, wealth and entertainment.

These are not the temptation but the circumstances in which we will face temptations.

These flaming missiles are temptations that cause us to doubt God in the midst of those difficult circumstances.

A flaming missile was one which they put tar on the end of an arrow and set it on fire before sending it forth.

Not only is the initial impact dangerous but so is the increased dangers through the fire.

Doubt disintegrates faith.

It destroys our strength as a believer.

Please get the message: Satan seeks to destroy us and he does it through temptations which shake our faith.

Our resolve is to fight back with the truth and not to give in.

When the missile comes, you do not put your shield down! No!!

Instead we hold the shield of faith in place and extinguish those flaming missiles.

So you ask, "How does a person hold that shield of faith up?"

It occurs when you keep believing.

Which is more powerful?

Satan's doubts or God's truth?

God's truth

As light dispels darkness so truth dispels falsehood.

Faith is the trust that what God said is true.

You stand by it.

You are committed to it.

All the doubts that try to make us believe and feel this or that way fail.

Satan's flaming missiles are being thrown at us.

We need God's spiritual armor to protect us.

Go forward even if all looks black.

Trust God even if He does not seem to care.

Focus on obedience.

But what about the depressed person?

Try to convince a depressed person that she does not need to be depressed and you will end up getting depressed!

Depression is almost like a poison which is easily passed on.

Their thoughts are so forlorn, so full of emotional, irrational excuses, that one has a difficult time not to join in with the depressed person and become depressed.

"Nothing we can do."

Whenever someone has lost their confidence in something, it is hard to regain.

They have put their shield of faith down.

The person's foundational thinking that formerly supported that truth has eroded away.

That foundational thinking needs to be rebuilt step by step.

Depending upon the depth of depression, more of that foundational trust in God and His ways will need to be reestablished.

We should be encouraged to discover that the troubles can be healed.

What a person normally believed or trusted needs to be restored.

As trust regains it position, so does the brain chemicals.

Physical and emotional healing follows spiritual healing.

I personally have found that drugs dull people's minds and lulls them into an erroneous belief that the real problem has to do with their chemicals in their brain.

This makes them believe that they can do nothing about it.

They then further resign themselves to despair and long term medication.

This is exactly the opposite to what they need to gain faith.

They can never find healing unless they trust the Lord and His ways in their lives.

Can drug therapy help?

It can help the symptoms but not resolve the spiritual unbelief.

Since the antidepressants are meant to be used for a long term, they can not easily be used for short term serious cases of depression.

Remember our battle is against the flaming missiles of the evil one.

Chemical treatment of depressed people leave those individuals in difficult long term wanderings, never confident about God's work in their lives.

Their testimonies are gone.

8 .Rebuilding the Foundation of Hope

which clarifies the importance of establishing trust and faith to overcome depression for the long term.

'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression'

We need to rebuild our trust and faith.

The missing belief or confidence needs to be identified.

The clearer that this need can be identified, the easier to rebuild it with the truths of God.

But remember, before trust can be rebuilt, there needs to be repentance.

As we discover areas of unbelief, we need to help the individual to turn from this unbelief through confession, repentance and faith.

We gave an example of the housewife with the pile of laundry.

She will need to acknowledge that she avoided her given tasks and inconvenienced others because of it.

She will apologize to the Lord and ask Him to cleanse her.

At the same time, she will become willing to try to redress the situation.

By this time the task seems insurmountable.

So it is wise and good to work out a schedule that she can follow.

"Can you wash two loads a day until you catch up (except on Sunday)?"

If for work or other reasons, then start with one load.

The husband can be the accountable person for the wife to see if she has done the one or two loads of laundry.

Don't simply do the laundry for her.

This example might seem simple but because there are real things in life that are connected to the build up of depression, it helps clarify some steps people need to take to throw off their depression.

Depression means that we have exchanged one poor mindset for another.

At each lower stage, we resigned our control and gave up.

We will get to the point of restoring trust in a moment, but we must realize that repentance is the foundation upon which this new trust is built.

Without acknowledging three things, the foundation cannot be built:

(1) We have done wrong,

(2) That we face the consequences of those wrongs and

(3) That we are willing to obey the Lord, then .

Question on how truthful one should be

Didn't depression come about because we faced the truth about our situation?

Satan often uses half lies.

He does tell some truth but at a certain point, he will lead us into a false conclusion.

Even this question is like this.

This question is begging us not to think about the truth.

Don't confess and repent.

But that is the solution.

It might sound contradictory but it is not.

Satan will have us believe the truth about our failures and then, and this is where we go wrong, we accept the failures and remain in them.

Satan will discourage us so that we get worse.

God's Spirit will lead us facing our error but not with the purpose of condemning us into a spirit of failure, but into confession that leads to forgiveness, freedom and faith to trust God for grace for next time.

Hints on leading people through a prayer of repentance

It is important that we help lead a person through a prayer of repentance.

Try to make sure he or she is earnest.

After pointing out how he should pray, ask him to pray first.

If another issue comes up, each offense should be stated as clear as possible before the Lord.

After seeing that this issue is different from the first, I will lead the person into another time of prayer.

I will usually ask the other person first to pray and then myself.

If the person does not rightly pray, I will tell them what they need to pray (before I pray) and then have them pray more.

After that, I will pray again.

A person can say he is sorry but until he tells God those things and ask for forgiveness, then the words are insufficient.

A good time of our time (mentor-trainee) together will be spent in prayer.

This is normal.

Always allow time for prayer even if you cut the conversation short.

9 Deepening Our Trust

, shows the important role of our trust through how Moses fought a problem of depression in Exodus 5 because his dreams were broken and he faced failure.

'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression'

Exodus 5 (KJV 1900)

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.

3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.

5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.

12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?

16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.

18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

21 And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

We mentioned that the main work, other than rebuilding the foundations through repentance, is the reestablishing of trust.

Several areas of trust have been breached. If we can identify the main ones and work on them, it is good.

Sometimes one area will seem to big or overwhelming.

Perhaps one can work on a smaller area and build up faith.

Depression shows that person has doubted God's willingness or ability to help him cope with some aspect of life.

So like anxiety, depression reveals there is some doubt on how God will help them cope with some situation or person.

They might not have trusted God in the first place.

They, perhaps, trusted their cleverness and getting ahead in their careers but now without a job and a poor economy, they do not know what to do.

In this case, they do not only need to repent for not believing God for this one incident but for the way they approached life.

Study on Moses (Exodus 5:22-23)

Exodus 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

"Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why hast Thou brought harm to this people?

Why didst Thou ever send me?

"Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he has done harm to this people; and Thou hast not delivered Thy people at all."" (Exodus 5:22-23).

Exodus 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

A temptation to give up hope can reach any of us.

Just before Moses brought the ten plagues to the people of Egypt, he was gravely tempted to give up.

From our perspective, we wonder how he could ever think that way.

After all, in just a month's time, everyone in the land will be at awe over his authority.

He, however, has lost confidence in God's description of Pharaoh's hardness and on God's power.

He forgot God's ability to carry out what He promised.

Moses did not have to give up hope.

In a sense he didn't fully give up because we see him praying and speaking to God.

That was important.

He still had some hope though it was largely decimated. Moses' problem is that he was operating on sight rather than faith.

"And they said to them, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh's sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."" (Exodus 5:21).

Exodus 5:21 (KJV 1900)

21 And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

Moses saw what God did make things go from bad to worse for the people he was so-called delivering.

This case probably has a touch of pride associated with it.

At least pride would be a problem with me.

But the exaggeration, "Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he has done harm…" This is exaggerated.

Moses just started speaking with Pharaoh and even that through Aaron.

Do you see how these unbalanced words reveal where Moses is at in his heart.

It is somewhat true but there is something that is missing.

Moses is on the verge of further losing his hope.

God does not want us to lose our hope in Him. He will come through. Exodus 6:1 shows how God speaks to counter the hopelessness of Moses (and the people - it was probably easy to catch this spirit of hopelessness from the Israelite people who did not believe God).

Exodus 6:1 (KJV 1900)

1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

"Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he shall let them go, and under compulsion he shall drive them out of his land."" (Exodus 6:1).

Exodus 6:1 (KJV 1900)

1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

And so God speaks to us through His Word if we would indeed listen.

Depression is seeded in the doubt that God is willing or able to help us cope with some aspect of life.

And so any form of discouragement, broken dreams, disappointment, despair are all places like Moses would face to challenge our trust in the Lord's way of doing things.

This is where we need to build up our trust and insight in the person and ways of God.

When a person has never trusted the Lord for something, it is much harder to establish and maintain that trust.

We can understand the Israelites in Moses' time of despairing.

They did not know what it was like to be rescued by the Lord.

People usually have to go through a hard time to break them of their trust in themselves before they will turn to the Lord.

It is hard seeing a person go through these testing times, but God said He will crush idols.

It is better they are exposed now so that the person can repent from them before the Judgment Day.

In the case of the Israelites in Egypt, they had to suffer before they came and cried out to Him (Exodus 2:23-25).

Exodus 2:23–25 (KJV 1900)

23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

So how do we present a faith to a person who has not believed in it before?

Or does the way we speak (or personally believe) differ from the way we might address someone who has believed in the Lord?

In both cases it is good to start with the basic truths that are questioned.

10. Two Truths Needed to Heal Depression

, shows how two truths are critical to know and embrace in order to overcome depression.

Do you know what they are or how they help?

'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression'

There are two major truths that need to be stressed when personally confronting a person with depression.

The doubts have to do with the unbelief in God's power and His ability to help us cope with some situation.

These two truths stand to ward off and cast off any kind of despair and depression.

This is the shield of faith we need to hold up.

Before discussing these truths, let us understand that we are talking about real difficult life situations.

Recently I heard from a pastor in Africa that his daughter has Yellow Fever.

This pastor and his wife need to trust God through this episode.

His daughter is 27 and has two children.

To make this situation more difficult is the death of the pastor's big 22 year-old son last year from pneumonia.

Do you see the way despair can settle into someone facing such difficult situations if these truths are not embedded in his heart?

Is God able to help?

Will He help?

These are the two truths that we must straight on.

This pastor is not alone in facing many difficult challenges.

He will be challenged in His trust of the Lord.

Now let's look at these two truths.

#1 Truth: God's Power

Is God able to help?

Does God have the power to help?

Does He have the authority to help?

All these questions challenge the truth of God's might.

The Lord indeed is sovereign and does as He pleases.

In Moses' situation, God affirmed His power.

"Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh…" (Exodus 6:1).

Never is it a question whether God was able to help.

Jesus had to face this temptation on the cross. He heard the evil one whispering through his disciples.

Exodus 6:1 (KJV 1900)

1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

"Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.

"Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:52-53).

Matthew 26:52–53 (KJV 1900)

52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

First Jesus had to counter the delusion that mere weapons can overcome the evil one.

Behind this thinking is the wrong idea that man can get done what God could not.

This is a subtle attack on God's power.

"He is not powerful enough.

We will have to help Him get things done."

Or a more direct attack, "God is not able to help you."

Note how Jesus responded.

He pointed out that God could easily help if He thought it best.

"He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels."

In a moment's notice Jesus could have more than 80,000 angels at his beckoning.

These were powerful angels not men.

What did Jesus do?

He fought insinuations and lies with truth.

He did not let the lies darken the skies about God's power.

Theologically, we know God is all powerful, but we sometimes doubt this truth when we see Him not doing anything about a situation that we care about whether it be the poor, the sick or abused.

Instead of doubting the truth of God's power, it would be much more helpful if we straightened out our understanding of how God uses His power.

The Lord never said He had to use His power every moment He could.

If He did, I suppose His wrath would be released upon our lives before Christ ever came to save us. The issue is never about power.

God makes the dead to come alive, the blind to see, the earth to be made.

The scriptures are clear about God's sovereign power. No one comes close to Him.

He only allows the evil one, demons and man for a time to openly rebel.

This does not show weakness but displays greater power.

God's power is of such a nature that it can incorporate defiance.

Most of us 'believe' God is all powerful but the weakness of our faith is shown when in crisis we wonder if God could have helped.

Perhaps a more difficult area to work through is whether God cares for us.

#2 Truth: God's Care for His people

Did Job know what was happening in the heavens when he lost his family, wealth and health?

No.

Did God care for Job?

Certainly.

The Lord was displaying Job as a great example of a man with faith and integrity.

Job's story is important because it helps us to see how God sometimes operates.

If we always judged our situation from what we see happen to us, then we will at some point be deluded.

The Book of Job does recognize God's power.

Job's friends associated blessing with righteousness and curse with sin.

They did not have a place for the righteous person who suffered.

This was Job's story.

He is in the scriptures to affirm that what we always see does not with a 100% accuracy predict a person's character.

There is more to the equation, and one needs faith to see those parts.

Job certainly looked cursed from man's perspective.

The truth is that Job was highly praised from God's perspective.

Sometime, to be honest, we suffer because of our sin.

We should 'get' the obvious connection between our sin and our consequence.

Jacob under Laban's care was a perfect example.

Let's think of an example.

Perhaps a wife says something that bothers her husband, and he screams back.

He did not follow the principle 'respond with a gentle answer' from the scripture, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

So now both of them are angry and critical to each other–not talking to each other.

This worst situation is an obvious consequence of not following the Lord's admonition.

This is not what we speak of here, but we need to keep an eye out for these connections.

Proverbs 15:1 (KJV 1900)

1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: But grievous words stir up anger.

From Job's example, we should understand that a righteous man or woman might lose their financial security, job, family members through death or even one's own health.

Satan wants to bring us to defeat and defamation, but God has His greater purposes.

We can see Satan's desire to ruin God's people (actually any people) since it is the only way he can make a mark against God.

He does not want God's people to reflect the Lord's glory.

When he enticed God in Job, he secretly wanted to destroy Job and his righteous life.

Read carefully and understand Satan's purpose.

"And Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

"However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face."

So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."

Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head" (Job 2:4-7).

Job 2:4–7 (KJV 1900)

4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Let us draw three points from this passage to support this overall truth of God's care for His people.

God sometimes allows evil.

The first point here is to see that God sometimes does allow bad things to happen to good people.

God has purposes that go beyond our own personal purposes.

We do not need to understand them to trust God. We trust Him despite what happens to us.

God is in control.

As we trust Him, He loves to further reward and use our lives.

God pays attention to the needs of His people.

Second, we should see that God has a great concern for His people.

He notices when they obey Him and greatly delights in them.

When Job went through these many crises, God was greatly delighting in Him.

God was taking care of Job.

From the way that God set the limit, "Only spare his life," we see that God had concern for Job.

Nothing could happen that was not within God's permissive will.

We can trust God for the details.

Third, we can trust God for the details of what happens to our lives and grace for what does happen.

In the first series of events, the Lord did not allow the evil one to touch Job's health.

In a similar way, the Lord shapes everything that happens to us so that we can succeed (1 Cor 10:13).

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV 1900)

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Nothing ever is beyond what we can handle.

This truth is one of the greatest to help a person encounter the impossible.

If God allows some difficult situation to arise in our lives, then He will give us grace to cope.

The truth builds up faith and trust in how God will help us to cope.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV 1900)

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

When a person says, "I could never do what you are doing?

There might be some truth to it."

Since God has not given them that particular circumstance, it might be quite true, at least at that point, that they could not handle it.

But if they were, then they would have access to God's power to endure.

Surely here we see God's abundant care for His people.

When a believer has any responsibility, then he can be sure that God will give him or her grace.

There is no temptation, no situation, no attack from the enemy, that we cannot properly handle through God's grace.

The evil one does his very best to get us to doubt on these two major truths.

If we trust the Lord, then Satan is kept away by the Lord.

11. The Cycle of Deliverance for Depression

, provides a five point summary on the steps to overcome Depression.

'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression'

Let us close by summarizing five steps as seen on the cycle of deliverance chart.

#1 What are you depressed over?

Try to identify the things that you have neglected, wrongly done or broken dreams of success.

Sometimes they are difficult to spot because we have fixed our focus on others.

If you sense bitterness in your heart, turn before the Lord and ask Him to point out your own fault.

Many things can be fixed quickly if we would but repent and start doing the right things.

If not, guilt piles up which confuses and blinds our minds.

If you cannot find anything wrong, just move on along through this cycle until something resonates with you.

#2 What do you doubt about how God will help you?

We have focused on two main areas that lead to a spirit of resignation for the Christian believer.

Unbelievers need to be led to salvation before they can find the comfort of the Heavenly Father.

We must make sure we do not just agree with them as doctrine but think through what the truths practically mean to our lives.

These are the two truths: God is all powerful and He cares for us His people.

There are no doubt many other relevant truths to help us from many problems, but these two will keep His people from giving up.

For if God is all powerful and He has set His heart on caring for you and me, then He will use His almighty power at His special timing and manner to help me.

Depression's greatest problem is giving up because one can not cope with a problem.

But when God is on one' side, there is no reason to give up.

In fact, if one does give up, one can be sure that he has doubted God in one or two of these areas.

Trust is built on confidence of God's character and ways towards my life.

Sometimes one might have to carefully test our faith.

We can do that with these two statements.

You finish them.

Since God is all powerful, then He can….

Since God cares for me, He will in His time exert His power and wisdom to help me….

Or you could put both of them together and say,

Since the all powerful Lord carefully watches over me, I will cry out to Him and He will help me through this particular situation.

The evil one knows we can find grace to overcome with the truth (although he no doubt hates to admit it).

He brings lies into our minds to cause us to falsely think and not rely on the Lord.

If we doubt God's ability to help us, then we are very prone to his temptations.

If we are suspicious toward God, His motives or His close involvement in our lives, then we will not trust Him.

Identifying false thoughts

Another way we can spot our doubts is in the lines (groups of words) that go through our minds.

At first, one will not even recognize them.

But pay attention to what one is thinking, especially when depressed or moody, and you will begin to see the doubts that the evil one has seeded into your minds.

He keeps us in deceit away from truth by placing these doubts about God's care for us.

There are two kinds of lines that commonly go through our minds when facing depression.

The first phrase that go through our minds support the doubts we have of God.

"I guess He doesn't care for me."

"I didn't think He could help me here."

These might be a bit more subtle once a person has gone into depression.

Another layer of thoughts will become more apparent with careful discrimination.

"I am not good enough."

"I can never be that good."

"I guess I may as well give up."

These are the thoughts of resignation.

A depressed person has the hope squeezed out of him.

People hate depression and look for hope to break its bind around them.

So the evil one has to keep these thoughts active to keep up the persuasion.

We might step in and out of mild depression for a bit but Satan's purpose is clear.

Destroy.

Shoot those flaming missiles because he wants our end.

I stress this because unless the person with depression, or maybe us who will at some time in the future face depression when we are exhausted or undisciplined in our minds and lives, must realize this is a spiritual warfare and only the shield of faith can rescue us.

Breakthrough comes when we follow through with step #3.

#3 Confess and repent from your doubts

Confession has two parts.

Confession is known better for acknowledging our sin.

This is one important side of confession.

Guilt is cared for when we acknowledge our sins.

All our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ.

That sense of fear and intimidation is gone.

We are accepted by our gracious Lord.

Our faith and trust in Him is strengthened.

Let's note a bit closer what is happening here.

Before our confession, we are suppressing our guilt and hiding from the Lord.

Our mind does not want to entertain the truth of God or the truth of our situation.

Some might feel that to point out the sin of a depressed person is wrong because it will get them further down and depressed.

I think we can understand and applaud this kind of concern.

The problem is that by not confronting the depressed with the truth, he or she will remain in the spirit of depression.

Truth is the way out.

As to the first part of confession, a person is confessing the truth of his sin before God and others.

The foundation for depression occurred when guilt was hidden in the soul.

We must be careful, though, not to draw the wrong conclusion about our sin.

The evil one wants us to feel poorly about ourselves and so give up.

God wants us to notice how bad we feel (consequence) to recognize that perhaps we have done something that has offended Him.

The Spirit's conviction leads us to the cross where healing can be found.

Do you see the difference?

There is a second level of confession and repentance.

This is where we acknowledge the truth about God and His ways.

In one sense, these two stages are the same.

They are different in that one leads to acknowledging sin while the other is recognizing the truth.

John meshes these together in 1 John 1:5-10. Notice how he begins this section.

1 John 1:5–10 (KJV 1900)

5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

"And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).

1 John 1:5 KJV 1900

5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Notice how he states the powerful truth of God's holiness.

God is light.

True confession must not focus on self but extend itself by confessing what is true, good and holy.

Yes, we must confess our sinfulness, but our thoughts do not remain there.

Confession will naturally move into prayer.

This is our fourth step of the cycle of deliverance for depression.

#4 Remind yourself of the truth in prayer.

Confession has to become prayer.

We need to proclaim the truth about our sin, God's forgiveness through Jesus, God's holiness, but we also want to state the person God has made us to be.

The Lord lives in us.

He is holy and lives out His love and righteousness through our lives.

Or just take the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and tell the Lord how you want Him to develop these in your lives. "Love, joy, peace, patience, …."

Actively seek God to develop these things in your life especially where you have found failure.

Do you see the different mindset here?

Instead of resigning to defeat and self-pity, you are seeking God's grace to do those things which are good and delightful before Him.

Let me give an example of a prayer of someone feel depressed.

Dear Lord, I thank you for your love.

I don't feel your love but I know you are there constantly caring for me.

You care for me even more than I do at this moment.

Please forgive me for giving up on caring for my husband.

I shouldn't be so mad at him.

Even if he did wrong, which he has, you have told me to be quiet of heart and kindly submit to him.

I was more like a roaring lion.

This is so wrong of me.

I have given up on our marriage but today I am welcoming your help in my life and our marriage.

Things look so bleak, partly through what I have done.

But you are a mighty God who does wonders.

Forgive me through the blood of Christ.

Strengthen me to be that woman you called me to be.

Instead of giving into a spirit of defeat, I am stepping into the truth of your light.

Shine, O Lord.

May your Name be glorified even in my life and marriage

. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

Although some people stay away from reading prayers, sometimes they can help break us from a self-focused spirit.

Use and adapt it!

But do pray.

Pray the truth.

#5 Take specific steps on what you should do.

Depression worsens each time we feel overwhelmed.

We feel overwhelmed by being reminded of those things which we have neglected to do or things wrongly done.

As long as the laundry pile remains high, you will easily be discouraged.

Your solution in part is to simply do one or two loads a day.

Get someone to keep you accountable.

Ask God for help.

If you feel that doing what you have neglected is too much (you have neglected much), start somewhere.

It might be that you will brush your hair, get dressed and make breakfast for everyone.

Perhaps you feel going to work would be too much, if possible try to go in for several hours.

If that does not work out, do some things around home.

It helps to talk to someone that will help you schedule what you should do each day.

This schedule helps some people live by that schedule rather than their feelings.

It presents a goal for each day which they think by God's grace they can do.

Do a bit more each day.

There is no magic here but just start doing what one had stopped can go a long ways in revealing that one's former conclusion was not true.

You can do somethings.

And if you can do some things, then the evil one is perhaps wrong on other things he whispered into your mind.

So step by step you pray the truth of what you should be and walk in that pathway.

Summary - Clarifying the Process

There are many things that can be said in summary, perhaps too many.

The Cycle of Deliverance for Depression is a summary in and of itself.

But let me just list some more general points here to keep you focused.

Remember the evil one seeks your worst Don't blindly trust the world's solutions Obey even when you don't feel like it We need to train our senses (perception)Trace your responses (5 Steps or 'D' words)Affirm the two truths Go through cycle of deliverance Praise Him for His help and tell others!

Remember that the Lord has made you an overcomer!

He wants you to testify to His greatness.

As you learn these truths, God will bring others who have similar needs into your life.

You can share what He has done in your life and how.

By first telling about your own life, they know you are not just bragging or emptily speaking about religion.

You are telling about the power of the Gospel!

Listen to how Moses and the Israelites testified to the Lord's greatness!

"Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said,

I will sing to the LORD,

for He is highly exalted;

The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation;

This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God,

and I will extol Him.

The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name."

(Exodus 15:1-3).

Exodus 15:1–3 (KJV 1900)

1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; My father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.

Since the issues surrounding depression go deep into the heart, we encourage you to take advantage of the exercises supplied with this lesson.

They will challenge you to further examine your own life as part of the learning process.

Consider going to our resource center to have all the materials and much more in one place including power points.

Exercise Sheets for Overcoming Depression

Looking for relief from depression or find a cure to help the depressed?

'Adopting God's Hope, Overcoming Depression' carefully examines the root sources for depression from a Biblical perspective.

If a person avoids dealing with the sources of depression, his or her depression will continue to disturb one's life.

Learn how to overcome depression, and God will use you to bring His hope into your soul and others!

Exercise Sheets for Overcoming Depression introduces the exercise sheets that accompany this series on overcoming depression.

It is insufficient to read about how one should overcome depression.

A person needs to make his or her own observations about one's life and then follow through.

These worksheets are included in the book, Reaching Beyond Mediocrity (see the bottom).

We will introduce the five worksheets here.

Solutions

It is much easier to work through problems before they happen.

We encourage you to start using these worksheets early on before discouraging responses become actual depression.

The better you are able to communicate the changes that took place in you, the better.

Here are some trouble points to look out for.

Don't get caught in the depression of others.

You need a strong vibrant faith for you and the other person you are talking to.

If you find yourself getting into depressed moods, work on building a proper response in your mind to protect you.Depression often is rooted in sin.

This does not mean that God does not love you but do follow His path out of doubt and back into a strong trust of His love.

Is it hard to find where the depression comes from?

These worksheets can help.You wonder whether God can really help your depression.

He can.

He is good.

You are confused by the world and all the media.

Go back to the Word of God. It alone is the sword of truth. Shield of faith will protect you.

Exercise #1: Understanding Your Depression

Purpose: Better understand how depression affects you.

It is hard to get an accurate picture of our lives!

Take an quick inventory.

As you look at your responses, you should better be able to discern the impact discouragement and depression have on your life.

This is a simple self-evaluation to see what degree discouragement and depression might impact your life.

Exercise #2: Tracing Your Depressive Responses

Purpose: Better understand how you respond and relate to depression.

Take a certain recent situation where discouragement went from bad to worse.

Observe how depression overwhelmed you and influenced your decisions.

The list of provided questions will help guide you through thinking about what happened.

Many times we do not understand our own responses to discouragement and depression.

This exercise helps us to see how we actually respond.

Exercise #3: Preventing Depression

Purpose: Better understand how depression and discouraging moods enter and impact your life.

Our real goal is to avoid depression rather than just to escape it.

Besides praying, there are things we can do.

Depression most often starts off as disobedience.

This disobedience might derive from neglecting one's responsibility and becoming overwhelmed.

Or it can come from being greatly disappointed in oneself when things do not work out the way you expected.

This worksheet helps you to develop certain observational skills needed to avoid depression.

It is usually best to start with the middle column.

Exercise #4: Combatting Depression

Purpose: Equip one how to identify and find healing from your worry.

Satan's tricks on every individual differ.

You must learn how the evil one has tinkered with your mind and emotions.

This worksheet helps you identify the ways the evil one influences you and to map out a way to overcome his tricky and deceitful schemes.

Exercise #5: Learning the Downward Cycle to Depression

Purpose: Equip one to identify and share the steps down to depression.

Depression does not just happen. It is a process.

Mood swings can heighten your awareness of these discouraging thoughts, but it still is a process.

Certain things happen that slowly strip away your hope.

Study this Path Down to Depression and learn the 5 Ds.

Our goal is for you to master them so that you can recognize them in yourself and share them with others as you have opportunity.

The Foundation of Overcoming

“I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14).

1 John 2:14 KJV 1900

14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

The four truths seen in 1 John 2:14 become four powerful spiritual principles needed to become an overcomer.

1 John 2:14 KJV 1900

14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

1) Hope brings inspiration:

Never need to give up The first phrase, “I have written to you, young men” leads us to the truth on hope.

John the Apostle had written and wrote again to them because he knew God was at work in them.

They were young men but could grow into the maturity of Christ.

No matter what they faced, these principles of overcoming could release them for Spirit-empowered service.

2) Believe what you choose:

Never be a victim The second phrase, “because you are strong” shows us the power of choice.

Chapter two elaborates on this special aspect of our will. We can, by God’s grace and design, take control, no matter how bad our situation presently looks.

We might feel Reaching Beyond Mediocrity: Faith’s Triumph Over Temptation defeated and even be addicted to something, but God shakes our lack of confidence by telling us that we are strong.

3) Strength from God’s Word:

Never fight alone The third phrase, “the word of God abides in you” reveals how we gain our needed strength.

We are hopeful because we can be strong, but we must also remember that strength comes only from God Himself in His Word.

Chapter three takes us behind the scenes and shows us why God’s Word is so important to our strength.

4) Light over darkness:

Never have to lose The last phrase, “and you have overcome the evil one” sets us on the path to becoming an overcomer.

One might wonder why there are so many weak believers among us until we learn how the power of victory can release every last believer from defeat —even in very oppressed situations.

As God’s children, we never have to lose.

A serious look at 1 John 2:14 challenges us to go beyond mediocrity in our spiritual lives and reach that goal of spiritual maturity.

1 John 2:14 KJV 1900

14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

These powerful statements lay out for us important principles that enable us to move on into a victorious Christian life that fully reflects the Spirit of Christ in our lives.

Why do people empty their pockets to run with such confidence to counselors for their problems when Christ can free them now without cost?

I hope you grasp and live out these four powerful principles to become a strong Christian and stay busy building up the lives of others.

Points of Reflection What is one area of your life that holds you back?

Write out a brief paragraph identifying your spiritual struggle(s).

Chapter 1: Establish Hope Seek hope.

• First, ask God to bring hope to your life.

Think of the most difficult part of your Christian life and ask Him to bring hope to face this issue specifically.

• Second, ask the Lord to use your hope to help others, even if you don’t know how it will unfold.

As you pray, note if there is any particular person who comes to mind.

If so, pray for him or her.

Feel free to write your prayer here.