What about- Depression?

Introduction

— Tough topic

— I am not a mental health professional, but I do believe that the Bible gives great insight to all matters of life, including this topic

— Everyone goes through seasons of discouragement, and heavy constant seasons of discouragement is what leads to depression.

— So what is depression- Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.

— What are the symptoms of Depression?

Feeling sad or having a depressed mood

Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed

Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting

Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

Loss of energy or increased fatigue

Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., inability to sit still, pacing, handwringing) or slowed movements or speech (these actions must be severe enough to be observable by others)

Feeling worthless or guilty

Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions

Thoughts of death or suicide

There are many characters in the Bible who were depressed and even suicidal. People like Moses, Samson, Saul, Job, Judas, and even David. Listen to this writing from King David.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet[b]— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21  Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued[c] me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted[d] shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

Many people struggle with discouragement and seasons of depression. Lets look at a story of a prophet who struggled with it.

1 Kings 19:1–12 KJV 1900

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

1. The Causes of Depression

a) Destructive Thinking

You are constantly feeding yourself, your own soul with your thoughts. Any sort of negative thoughts are going to have a negative impact on your life.

For me personally, if I’m not careful, I can have complaining thoughts. I am naturally a pessimist, and I think I am a pessimist cause I like to try to fix things and fix people, so I always look for whats wrong, So if I’m not careful, i will constantly just be complaining to myself in my head. And if I do that enough, it will manifest on the outside and I’ll be in a bad mood or be grumpy or whatever.

Like with the yard sale, it is a lot of work leading up to it, and a lot of work the day of, and there is so much stuff going on and so much stuff that i want to fix and control and so i begin to complain in my head.

You need to be able to bring your thoughts under control. It is a discipline, a self discipline to be able to control your thought life.

If you let negativity control your thoughts, it will inevitably lead to discouragement, and that will just build and build into a deep state of depression.

b) Destructive People

The people who you surround yourself with is one of the most important things that you do in life. And we’ve had a couple recent messages about friends from Sunday School and chapel this week, but who you surround yourself with is who you will become. Have you ever spent a lot of time with a friend and yall started to rub off on each other like they would start saying words or phrases that you say and vice versa? Like since I spend a lot of time with Brother Andrew I have started using some of his vocabulary. The one that i say the most is crikey.

So if you spend all your time around people who use bad language or do bad things, that stuff will slowly begin to infect you and influence you, and then it will infect your thoughts and it can lead to discouragement and disappointment. Surround yourself with happy and godly people, it is so refreshing to be around good people.

c) Destructive Health

Bad health can be a cause of depression and it can also be a symptom. If you don’t have a balanced and healthy diet it can affect you mentally, If you don’t have a regular, healthy sleep schedule that can have a negative affect on you mentally.

If you do have depression this can lead to not eating well and not sleeping.

Your physical health affects your mental health and your mental health affects your physical health.

And then both your physical and mental health affect your spiritual health.

d) Destructive Demons

Spiritual warfare is a real thing and I think we forget about that and don’t considerate that a lot of the time.

Ephesians 6:10–12 KJV 1900

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There is an all out battle occuring right now for your life.

Jesus came to earth to give us two things: eternal life in heaven but also an abundant life on earth.

If you are saved then the Devil and his demons can’t do anything about your eternal life. But they can have an influence on your life here on earth. As a Christian, you cannot be possessed by a Demon, because you are already possessed by the Holy Spirit, but they can and will do things outside of you to try to bring you down. So they can’t possess you but they can oppress you. And sometimes demonic oppression can be a cause of depression.

So at the base, at the core and the foundation, what is the cause of depression?

It is sin. Demons are the very essence of sin. Unhealthy lifestyles are a sin. Letting sinful people influence you and your actions is a sin, and unhealthy thoughts are a sin.

I want to touch on something else very quickly. There is one more legitimate cause of mental illness and that is chemical imbalances and faulty brain wiring. These can be causes of true clinical depression, it is science, it is observable. But even this, at its core, is a result of sin.

In the garden of eden everything was perfect. There was no sickness or disease, but because of sin, there is now sickness and disease, including chemical imbalances. I’ll take it even a step farther and say that a life of sin and being far away from God can result in chemical imbalances and faulty brain wiring.

So at the foundation level, the cause of depression is sin.

2. The Cure for Depression

When Elijah was depressed and ready to kill Himself, the Lord sent an angel to Him, and then spoke to Him.

The cure for depression is the presence of the Lord.

1 Kings 19:12 KJV 1900

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

Nothing in this world should determine our contentment, not our friends, not our possessions, not our circumstances, only the presence of the Lord.

How does the Lord speak to us today, it is through His word. That’s just another reason why it is so important for you to be in your Bible, studying and applying it to your life.

The vast majority of Christians who are depressed do not have a consistent meaningful prayer life or Bible reading life.

Explain

Steps to take when feelings of depression attack:

— Tell somebody (parents, teacher, pastor)

— Get spiritual counsel from a teacher or pastor once a week for at least a month

— Consider professional counseling from a Licensed Clinical Therapist

A lot of Christians do not want to seek health from an actual mental health professional because they wont understand their problems since theyre not a Christian. Here’s the thing, there are Christian based professional therapists. And theres nothing wrong with going and seeing one. There is no shame or embarrassment in seeing a counselor or therapist.

The main difference is going to be the fact that a pastor will give you counseling for free whereas a therapist will charge a good amount of money.

The fact of the matter is tell someone who you trust spiritually. and they will do everything they can to help you and to point you back to Jesus.

When I read from Psalm 22 where David laid out his heart to God because He was so discouraged, it is also actually a prophecy that Christ fulfilled.

Jesus cried those same words on the cross. When he was stabbed water poured out of Him, meaning His heart literally exploded, His bones did not break, the romans gambled for his robes, and there are many other similarities between this passage and the crucifixion.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Christ went through everything a human could go through so that He could be our example. Jesus Himself was disappointed and maybe even discouraged, yet He was without sin and still trusted His heavenly Father.

Jesus can heal depression and he can give you your joy back.

To say that Jesus cannot heal your depression is to limit the power of Christ. When He rose from the dead He conquered sin and death and the affects of it, including depression. He can give you victory over it.

Really all that Elijah needed was some cake and a nap and he was basically good to go. All joking aside, when he was able to hear from the Lord is when it really made a difference