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What is Depression? Today, depression has become prevalent within our society. Depression is being discussed evaluated, and treated more everyday. Many take medicinal drugs to help them to cope with the issues of depression. Others have invested large amount of money into professional counselors in hopes of becoming free from depression. Although professional counseling is encouraged, it is also important to understand the biblical knowledge that is available for those that deal with depression. Painfully so, Christians and their spiritual leaders are becoming more subject to depression. When addressing depression, there are those that identify depression as an evil spirit that has come to persecute the children of God. However, there is biblical proof that depression does not occur the same way at all times. Sometimes people become depressed because the principalities and circumstances that are in their lives are rather difficult to deal with. Ultimately, there are several elements that can contribute to depression. There are people that believe that the bible does not address the issues concerning depression. There are a number of people in biblical times that have experienced depression. King David, Samuel the judge, Hannah, Job, are all individuals within the bible that have experienced depression. Jesus also experienced a period of time when he was being pressed and tempted by the devil. Although it may seem elementary, I perceive that it is necessary that we break down the word depression. The base or root word in the word depression is the word press. The prefix of the word depression are the letters d and e. The letters d and e represent a downward motion. According to our assessment of the word depression, the word depression is the process of being pressed down. If we are to look at the meaning of depression alone, we could assume that depression is caused only by coincidental mishaps that occur in our lives. However, to deny that spiritual beings have an impact on our natural lives is equivalent to not believing in God at all. Spiritual beings do affect our thoughts and our lives, The bible displays several moments of depression that were caused by actions that have been caused by evil spirits. Also, there were incidents that caused people to be depressed, but the underlying factor for some of the situations were that God allowed difficult situations to occur in order strengthen the individual in certain areas of their lives. In this devotional we will attempt to identify with people in the bible that experienced depression. Job’s Experience With Depression First we will identify with Job. The story of Job is a biblical story that many have heard, and it is a story that many have read for themselves. According to Job Chapter 1 verse 1, Job was a righteously perfect man that feared God while hating evil at the same time. Job was also a wealthy man with a large family. He had seven sons and three daughters. However, Job was chosen by God to be tried by Satan. According to the scriptures Satan was traveling the world seeking to devour and destroy, and the Lord asked Satan if he had considered His servant Job. Job Chapter 1:8 (KJV) reads, 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? However, Satan believed that Job was only a good person, because the Lord blessed him so richly. God then allowed Satan to try Job sparing only his life. Satan did try Job just as God allowed. Job lost everything he owned. His ass were stolen, and his sheep were burned alive. His ten children were killed while they were feasting. Job suffered great losses, and it seemed as if no one could console him. His own wife told him to curse God and die. His closest friends initially came to comfort him, but they eventually wounded him further with continuous accusations rather than comforting him with a listening ear. Job entered a sorrowful depression. His grief and depression lasted for approximately a year. Job felt so low that he cursed the day that he was born. Job Chapter 3: 1-3 (KJV) reads, 1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day 2 And Job spake, and said, 3 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Not only was Job sorrowful and depressed due to the fact that he lost everything, but he also received an attack to his bodily health. Job had sore boils from the soles of his feet unto the crown of his head. According to Job Chapter 2 verse, Job scraped the boils of his body and sat down among the ashes. However, Job never sinned in the midst of the season in which he was being pressed down. Job was a godly man, and in all his doing the bible said that he did not sin.While studying the actions of Job, I have learned there are certain actions that can be made in order to endure periods of spiritually being pressed downward. 1. Job did not filter his emotions when he talked. Freely did he speak concerning his painful state of being. He was also in constant prayer with God, and he spoke freely to God about his feelings. Often, people fall silent when they are going through depression. They withdraw themselves, and they dwell in seclusion. However, it is good to pray freely, and it is good to always pray to God in our most vulnerable and bitter moments. God want us to be truthful to Him. It is also good to talk to friends, family, and professionals counselors that are willing to listen. 2. Although Job was filled with sadness and mourning, He kept the faith until that grievous season of depression was ended. He purposed in his heart to be patient and continuously faithful to God. In Job Chapter 14 verse 14 Job says, “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” In Job Chapter 19 verse 8, Job expresses that God placed darkness in his path. Therefore, it is biblically proven that not all tribulations are afflicted upon us simply to destroy us. Sometimes God allows us to go through dark periods, because he knows that we will overcome them while giving his name the glory. When we keep the faith in God, we are sure to overcome in due season. Depression can be caused by several different elements, but we must keep standing while remaining faithful to God. The bible tells us that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. That verse assures us that if we endure during the dark seasons in our lives, we will be blessed for remaining faithful to God. Hannah’s Moment of Depression The incidents that brought about Job’s depression was that he lost everything, and there are different situations that cause people to be depressed. The key to glorifying God in the midst of tribulation is standing for for Him with all of your might. We cannot give up on life, and we should also never give up on the giver of life. We should always remain faithful to God. There is another person in the bible that encountered depression, and her name is Hannah. Hannah’s story is located in the first chapter of the first book of Samuel within the bible. In the case of Hannah, depression was caused due to the fact that she was not able to have children. She was married to an Israelite man by the name of Elkanah, and he was born into the tribe of Ephraim. However, Elkanah had two wives, and his other wife’s name was Peninnah. Peninnah was able to have children, and she did not allow Hannah to forget that fact. Peninnah provoked Hannah intentionally so much that the Bible called Peninnah Hannah’s adversary. In today’s society we would call Peninnah a bully, because she often bullied Hannah. Everyone involved knew that Hannah was barren. The bible tells us that the Lord shut up her womb. All of the factors recently mentioned caused Hannah to fret, and the revelation that this story recognizes Hannah’s fretful state as being equivalent to what is called depression today. The bible also expresses that Hannah even refused to eat which is a symptom that many have when dealing with depression. Elkanah and his family went to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to God as they have done annually. While Hannah was in Shiloh, she poured out her heart to God in prayer. The priest Eli saw her lips moving, but he did not understand why she was moving her lips until she explained to him that she was praying to God. After Eli realized what Hannah was doing, he told her to go in peace. Eli also told Hannah that the Lord would grant her petition. After her prayer along with her encounter with Eli, Hannah believed God would grant her request. Hannah believed God, and she was no longer sad. Hannah took part in two actions that I believe are imperative when struggling to stand through depression. 1. Hannah worshipped God. She worshipped God in spirit and in truth. 2. Hannah did not fail to pray to God, and within her prayer she did not hide her feelings of affliction from God. She confided in God. 3. Hannah believed God. According to 1 Samuel 1:18, Hannah went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Hannah stopped being sad before the Lord even blessed her with her beloved firstborn son Samuel. Jesus Faced Temptation! Depression? Within the third chapter of Matthew, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. God was glad Jesus received the baptism by John so much that a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” After the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The bible tells us that Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. He was afterward a hungred. When Jesus was at what looked to be one of his most vulnerable moments, Satan began to tempt Him. You have to understand that that Jesus was a man, and he went without eating for forty days and forty nights. His body was tired. His body was worn. I can not even imagine how feeble I would feel if I was commanded by my Father to go without food for forty days and forty nights. But Jesus new that this must be done in order to go further in his ministry. As we continue in the text, we see that at one of Jesus' most vulnerable moments the tempting took place. The tempting took place in the book of Matthew beginning at the third verse of the fourth chapter. St. Matthew Chapter 4: 3-11 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread: 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, it is written again, Thou shalt, not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me, 10 Then saith Jesus unto him Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Although there are several analogies of the temptation of Jesus, I have one more to present. This was a very vulnerable time for Jesus. Jesus was in a weak state physically, and it is a great possibility that he suffered mentally as well. Many would agree that Jesus was weak physically, but many of them would strongly disagree with the notion that Jesus ever showed a moment of weakness within His mental state. If you will, let me interject a thought. The definition of the word tempt is to entice or attempt to entice someone to do or acquire something that they find attractive but know to be wrong or not beneficial. Secondly, Jesus admitted that he was tempted when the devil told him to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Matthew Chapter 4:7 7 Jesus said unto him, it is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. According to the definition of the word tempt, it is possible that the temptation was only an attempt to entice Jesus to jump from the top of the temple. Also it is possible that the temptation was actually enticing to our Lord, because he was suffering greatly at the moment. The temptation was so great, that angels came to minister to him afterwards. Either of the two definitions of the word tempt could have been true concerning the temptation of Jesus. Maybe, the scripture was intentionally written in that fashion to prepare the believers for temptation whether it is actually enticing or not so much. The first temptation had to be enticing to Jesus, because Jesus was hungry. He was forty days and forty nights hungry. And told Jesus, knowing that Jesus had the power to turn stones into bread. Can’t you just hear the devil talking to Jesus. “Make the stones be bread thou Son of God. You know that you are hungry.” Jesus!! My Jesus remained strong, and he endured the fasting as well as the temptation just as God intended. There are actions that Jesus was committed to that allowed him to stand through his vulnerable state of being pressed. 1. Jesus showed us that it is imperative for us to be strong in the Lord even when it seems that our total being is at its weakest state of being. In Ephesians 6:10 Paul says, “ Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” We must follow the example that the Lord Jesus has set before us. 2. Also, Jesus showed us that we can fight the enemy and principalities using the word of God. In Ephesians 6:17 Paul says, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. This scripture teaches us that if we study as well as live according to the word of God, We will have protection for our heads. We will also have a powerful weapon to fight with. Our minds and our thoughts will be protected with the word of God. We will be able to fight the enemy with the word of God which is also the sword of the Spirit.
Depression is situational, and it is not always instigated by evil spirits. Sometimes it desired by God to make us stronger. Also, the variables that bring about depression are different with different people. However, we should not fail to remember to stand as well as fight against depression or any other form of attack that is pressed upon our minds with the armour of God. We should go to God in honesty and truth with our vulnerabilities and all. You would be surprised to find that there are many people that live everyday with grief and pain that they were never intended to carry alone. There are so many (especially in the African American community) that will not seek counseling. There are also many counselors that are trained to help people deal with their issues, but they feel that they have no one to go to with their issues.
However, I want to encourage you that God can be a listening ear. He can help you carry the load. He can bring peace in the midst of the storm. Jesus Christ beckons us to come unto him with our burdens. Matthew 11:28-30 KJV "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."He is able to bear them, The Bible encourages us to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. There are those that believe that the bible does not supply solutions for issues such as depression, bipolarism, schizophrenia, and many other mental illnesses. Contrary to that faithless train of thought, the bible provides a solution for all illnesses. No sickness or disease is superior to the powerful capabilities of our God. No medicine can cure things such as depression. Medicines can only be used to treat those afflicted by depression. What are we to do when the medicine wears off only allowing the heavy feeling of depression to return? Should be over-medicate ourselves and keep ourselves in a state of numbness? God forbid. We should turn to God, because His power is everlasting. The Lord tells us that heaven and earth shall pass away, but His word shall stand forever.
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