Week 4: God’s Blessing of Mental Wholeness; Lesson 1, Week 4: Overcoming Depression
Scripture for the Week: My soul is downcast within me; therefore I
will remember you from the land of the Jordan Mount Mizar
Lesson 1, Week
4: Overcoming Depression
Today’s Scripture Focus: My soul is downcast within me; therefore I
will remember you from the land of the Jordan Mount Mizar
*Before you begin, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you
as you study God’s Word.
My mother was being admitted to
the hospital for overnight observation.
“Hi, I’m Laura,” said one of the nurses.
“I’ll be your caregiver for the night.”
The comforting image of someone
ministering to one’s emotional and physical needs filled my mind. “Caregiver?
That sounds wonderful! I could
use a caregiver,” I laughingly told them.
The truth is we could all use a
caregiver at times. The accumulation of
the “pains of life” often piles up to become “the pain” called depression. If we let our minds wallow in disappointments
and despair, then despondency is bond to follow. We must choose to lift up our eyes to the
heavens and allow God to lift-up our spirits.
He is longing to give us mental wholeness.
Think On
These Things
Depression can be caused by a
chemical imbalance that we are born with.
At other times, living with too much pain or stress over a long period
of time brings on the chemical imbalance.
Stress tends to deplete the supply of serotonin in the brain.
Even though we are the ALIVE
generation of seniors, aging does open the door to changes that can affect our
mental health. Many medications for
blood pressure, heart, cholesterol, and others conditions, cause depression as
a side effect. Life changes may rapidly
occur as we lose a spouse, elderly parents, or friends. Our children and grandchildren may live
several states away, and we wonder who will take care of us when we become
physically impaired. We have no desire
to uproot from our church family and friends to relocate. We may also have to cope with vision and
hearing losses, which complicate our lives even further. We try not to think about it, but we’re on
the home stretch, and the years are speeding by. Loneliness and anxiety may threaten our peace
of mind.
Sometimes, an antidepressant may be medically prescribed for depression,
but it needs to be carefully monitored with other medications.
Our generation tends to
think any illness that affects the mind is a sign of weakness. Yet, this is not
true. Many of God’s chosen people
mentioned in His Word experienced depression.
Read 1 Kings 19:1-18 about one of God’s special prophets, named
Elijah. Elijah was a sensitive caring
person whom God loved very much. When he
was depressed, God did not ignore him.
Instead he ministered to him. We
can draw comfort and strength from this passage, which shows how much God cares
about our emotional pain.
King David, another of God’s
chosen, gives evidence of his bouts with depression in the numerous psalms that
he wrote. I have selected four for you
to meditate upon today:
Read Psalms 22, 42, 55, and 69—Note how David’s attitude changes as
he prays. At first he is consumed by his
feelings of pain and expresses a desire to escape is agony. But as David begins to focus on God, he asks
for God’s intervention, and ends by praising God. We see David’s trust reactivated as he
expects God to act, and his burden is lifted.
That is what prayer can and will do for us when we take our anxieties to
God.
Today, we are blessed beyond
measure. God in His wisdom has allowed
and enabled medications to be developed that will restore the chemical
imbalance in the brain. Another blessing
for our generation is the establishment of geriatric psychiatry. This specialty addresses the needs of the 50+
generation.
If depression hangs on, or if we
have resisted treatment for a long time, then medication may be needed. We may also benefit from Christian
counseling. We need to ask God to lead
us regarding these matters.
I know many resist taking
medications for depression, yet these same people would not hesitate to take an
antibiotic for an infection. This
resistance reminds me of a man who resisted rescue efforts during a flood:
When a flood was threatened,
officials told everyone to evacuate the area.
Buses were sent to each residence.
One man refused, even though the water was rising. He said he had prayed and God would rescue
him.
The water kept rising, and
later, some men remembered the man and went back to get him in a rowboat. Again, he refused, explaining that God is
faithful and would rescue him.
The floodwaters rose even
higher, and the man was forced to climb upon his roof. In another attempted rescue, a helicopter
flew over and threw down a lifeline.
Still the refused, saying he would wait for God.
The waters completely covered
the roof and the man drowned. Upon
entering heaven, he asked God why he didn’t save him. God replied that he had sent a bus, a boat
and a helicopter, but the man had refused all three of His rescue
attempts.
When we ask
God to heal our depression, we may be looking for the heavens to open. We may expect Him to literally reach down and
pluck us to safety—but sometimes God uses the ordinary to do an extraordinary
rescue of healing. God can choose to
heal with an instant touch. But
generally it’s a journey where He wants to grow us in some way. Always, He is with us each step of the way.
Sometime God
may use a medical prescription along with Christian counseling, but always He uses a spiritual
prescription.
We put faith
in God to save us, and we must continue to trust His promises. We can fight depression by:
1.
Make a list of affirming Scriptures
The Lord is close to the
brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 NIV
2.
Praise and Thanksgiving
My soul is downcast within
me: therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan Mount
Mizar
3.
Meditating on the Scriptures
The law of the LORD is
perfect, reviving the soul. Psalm
19:7 NIV
4.
Prayer
Be joyful in hope, patient
in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans
12:12 NIV
The heaviness
of spirit during a depression may make you feel like you can’t pray. During those times, hang on, and persist even
if the only prayer you can utter is “Jesus.”
There is power in the name of Jesus.
Remember, too, that we have a great High priest and the Holy Spirit who
are both interceding for us.
But because
Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those
who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them Hebrews 7:24-25 NIV
In the same
way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8: 26 NIV
If the
tentacles of depression entrap us, let us remember that we are not alone. God sees our suffering and will use it for
our good. He wants to heal us, for He desires that we become mentally
whole. The Apostle Paul tells us that Suffering produces perseverance: perseverance, character; and character,
hope. And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he
has given us. Romans 5:4-5 NIV
What I Have Learned
Depression can be caused by
1.
2.
3.
4.
Two spiritual giants that suffered
depression were ____________ and ___________.
When Elijah sought to run away from life,
what did God do for him?
How does David’s attitude change when he
pours out his heart to God?
God may use a medical prescription and even
counseling, but always, He uses a ________________ prescription.
Spiritually, we may fight depression by:
Making a list of affirming ___________.
______________ and thanksgiving
______________on the Scriptures
and_______________.
Suffering produces_______________:
perseverance, ________________
character,___________________
hope does not _______________us
because God has poured out his ___________
into our hearts by the __________ __________
whom he has given us.
Romans 5:4-5
I Will Apply What I Have
Learned
1. If I am depressed I will pray and ask others
to pray with me regarding my method of treatment.
I will seek direction from God’s Word.
2. If I have a friend experiencing depression,
I
will pray for them and encourage them to seek help.
3. To insure mental health, I will make a
personal list of
affirming Scriptures such as Zephaniah 3:17, inserting my
name in the selected verses.
I will praise and thank God
daily for His blessings. I will meditate upon a psalm per day. I will make prayer a daily priority.
Heavenly Father,
You are our caregiver.
When we are depressed, You minister to our needs, as You cared for
Elijah and David. You hear our heart
cries, and You do not waste our suffering.
You use our pain to draw us closer to You and to strengthen us in our spiritual
walk. You renew our hope. We are mentally restored because You have poured
Your love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Great are Your mercies toward Your children. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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