Hope in Mind:Depression is Real

Have you ever felt…

Hopeless?

Depression is real.

Hopelessness is a real feeling!

Maybe this situation…

· Stims from something you have done that has brought pain on yourself!

· Stims from something someone else has done that has brought pain on you!

Either way it can be exhausting!

Hope in Mind: Hope In Battling Depression

Battling depression involves…

· Real People

· Real Problems

· Real Price

· Real Prayer

· Real Hope

Look with me…

Main Text:

Lamentations 3:1-2, 5-8, 17-20

1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;

5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. 8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18 So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

Big Idea: Don’t be isolate instead join with others who’s hope has been found!

Two truths to remember when you are Battling Depression.

1.Your emotions are VALID, but they are not PERMANENT.

We must understand the situation to understand the point!

Talk about what got the Israelites here.

Book of Lamentations: is a book of laments /express sorrow over the siege of Jerusalem

It is a book that contains 5 poemsform an anonymous author that survived the siege.

This is the most horrendous event in the history of Jerusalem.

Illustration

2nd Kings 24-25 is this story, I will reference it but not read it.

o God promised Abraham the land

o Gave David victory to make this the capital

o From David came the royal line of kings

o God’s presence in the temple

o The priest maintain the rules of worship

o 500 years of history

o 587 bc in the summer it falls to Babylon decimated and gone!

Chapter 1 a grieving widow with no one to comfort her!

The city destruction is like the death of a loved one.

Chapter 2 What caused this, their sin resulted in God’s wrath.

Divine Wrath equals God’s Justice.

The poem is about we had this coming, you said you wouldn’t tolerate evil and we kept it up.

· They had made a covenant with God and they hadn’t kept it.

· They had oppressed the poor,

· God is slow to anger but he eventually get angry at human’s evil

Listen to these verses again knowing the situation!

Lamentations 3:1–8 CSB

1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. 2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light. 3 Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long. 4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones. 5 He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages. 7 He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains. 8 Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

I mean this man understands.

He isn’t writing this as a man who has watched this take place to a friend,

This poem is a reflection piece on how do you feel about a movie you saw or a book you read.

This is a first hand poem about what he has went through.

It is more than fair to say that his emotions are valid.

Chapter 3 is the verse of a lonely man speaking out of Grief speaking out for the people.

Poet sees his hardship as part of God’s justice.

He knows why, but it doesn’t change his hardship.

The first 3 verses let us see that this author understands that his affliction.

But commonly it is the picture that you are outside of the blessing of God.

Alienated from God’s favor.

To the point of driven away he says. Forced into darkness.

A sense of abandonment shines out from these first 20 verses.

As this author is thinking about not just the siege but he is also thinking personally about how what it has done to him. He says…

Lamentations 3:4–6 CSB

4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones. 5 He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages.

That is graphic,

the picture is it has been costly and it has lead him to this place of bitterness and hardship.

· The worst part is not the broken bones,

· The worst part is not the flesh being worn away,

One of life’s darkest moments is to experience the absence of God and have one’s prayers go unanswered.

I don’t fully think that we can all understand what war and destruction looks like.

Listen to these verse…

Lamentations 4:5–6 CSB

5 Those who used to eat delicacies are destitute in the streets; those who were reared in purple garments huddle in trash heaps. 6 The punishment of my dear people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand laid on it.

Lamentations 4:9CSB

9 Those slain by the sword are better off than those slain by hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

Lamentations 4:10 CSB

10 The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became their food during the destruction of my dear people.

· I mean this is valid emotions from a man watching all of this.

· But they don’t have to be permanent.

· I mean that is what the lie is.

· That is what Satan wants to sell you.

John 8:44CSB

44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan wants you to think this is it!

In This situation, there is no end to it!

This is, Depression!

Depression is real,

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn't worth living.

More than just a bout of the blues, depression isn't a weakness and you can't simply "snap out" of it. Depression may require long-term treatment.

Sadly, the troubling reality is that tens of thousands of people every year believe that lie. In the United States, during 2020, almost 46,000 people committed suicide. That’s about 125 people a day, making it the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S., the second among ages 20-34.

Illustration:

I officiated 2 services this past year of people who took their own lives!

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem!

People often think the world would be better if they were not in it!

It all comes to the lie that this is permanent!

The Problem…

It is valid, the feelings, the emotions, the rawness, the vulnerability, that is all real, but it isn’t permanent!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

There is hope!

Battling depression involves…

· Real People

· Real Problems

· Real Price

· Real Prayer

· Real Hope

2.Your situation feels HOPELESS, but with God, there is always HOPE.

Lamentations 3:21-27 (The only verses in Lamentations that give hope)

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Notice:

3 Good things God gives so that you can hope!

1.The Lord is GOOD to those who hope in him-who seek him. Vs 25

Matthew 6:33 seek first the kingdom of God….

2.It is GOOD to wait for God’s salvation! - Wait for his best for you. Don’t settle!

Psalm 27:13-14

13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 3:3

3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Psalm 46:1

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

3.It is GOOD to bear the yoke! (Take responsibility for my actions)

Proverbs 28:13

13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renouncesthem finds mercy.

1 John 1:9

if we confess our sins, Jesus is just to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 1:7

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…

Romans 10:9-10

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Words of Hope for today!

Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NEXT STEP: Don’t isolate- Get connected in a Small Group or a Serve Team.