What does the Bible say that we should do when we go through depression? How should God's people handle depression?
Well, its a nice, bright day today. As I was preparing the sermon, I was wondering what the weather would be like. The sun is shining out there, which, of course, is a ...it makes you feel good. I noticed the temperature was pretty cold. This morning my computer was showing about 17 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Its amazing how those computers can even sense the weather outside of the window, but it was quite cold this morning. It was just up above freezing.
This is the tough time of the year, isnt it? Were about nine days away from the solstice, the winter solstice, which will be the shortest day of the year. That comes on December 21st and I noticed in our calendar that this Sabbath is the earliest sunset of the entire year. If you look closely at the December calendar, next Sabbath it goes back by about one minute. What that means, of course, is that sunrise in the morning is a little bit later for the next nine days or so because the days are still shortening.
But these are...this is the tough time of the year. Many of us struggle at this time of the year. We come back from the Feast of Tabernacles in October; we then have to face something which I detest, which is Halloween. Its, you know, its all over the place. Its become that big commercial thing, November 1, and then, of course, we get to the Christmas season and everybodys rushing around frantically spending money and most people not stopping to think about why they do it, and many people in Gods church complain this is the tough time of the year, as indeed it is.
Emotionally it can be tough as well. It can be a tough time emotionally as we get into the dark, darkest and coldest days of the winter.
Some people get the blues at this time the year, and many people suffer a little depression at this time of the year and at other times of the year. Thats the subject of the sermon for this afternoon. I did a little bit of study on this subject and I was surprised how much information there is out there on the subject of depression.
A few stats: Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8,000,000 American adults, or about 9.5% of the US population age eighteen and older in any given year, that includes depressive disorders and also bi-polar. Bi-polar is rather different from the more common variety of depression, but anyway, theyve included them all in that stat.
Everyone will at some time in their life be affected by depression, everyone, their own or someone elses according to Australian government statistics. The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding twenty-three percent per annum. Thats among children. Fifteen percent of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression.
Thirty percent of women are depressed. Mens figures are previously thought to be half that of women, but new estimates are higher. Fifty-four percent of people believe depression is a personal weakness. Is it? Well take a look at some Biblical evidence and discuss that briefly. Forty-one percent of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help. Eighty percent of depressed people are currently not having any treatment.
Heres another one thats rather shocking. Ninety-two percent of depressed African-American males do not seek treatment. Very difficult to seek treatment and admit these things. Fifteen percent of depressed people will commit suicide. And one thats really a shocker, depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by the year 2020. The second largest, according to this recent information, and studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease.
Depression results in more absenteeism that almost any other physical disorder and costs employers more than $50 - $51,000,000,000 per year in absenteeism. Thats a lot of money and lost productivity, not including high medical and pharmaceutical bills.
Depression is common in our society. People struggle with it. And going and doing a little bit of preparation on this, I was surprised to find out how many prominent people on the world scene today and through the twentieth century struggle with and have struggled with it, and how many of perhaps some of the most prominent leaders whove formed our world had to struggle with depression.
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln suffered depression. The sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, apparently had a real struggle with depression.
On January 1st, 1841, Abraham Lincoln broke up with Mary Todd, the woman he would later marry in November of 1842. Afterwards, later in January of 1841, he entered a period of depression. He was absent from the Illinois state legislature from January 13th to 19th due to illness which was most likely due to some sort of melancholy, probably due to his ending his relationship with Mary Todd.
On January 23rd, 1841, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to John Stuart, his first law partner. In the letter, Lincoln stated: "Im now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell," he says. "I awfully forebode, I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better, it appears to me." Pretty melancholy words from a very, very well-noted man, a great President of this nation.
On the other side of the Atlantic in the twentieth century, Winston Churchill, you may be aware of this, but hes actually become quite famous. In biographies of Winston Churchill that he apparently suffered with depression. Heres a little bit of information about Sir Winston Churchill; he was knighted late in his life. Churchill often suffered from fits of depression which could last for weeks, but these bouts didnt show him down. He acted as if he was driven and denied himself rest or relaxation. It was as if he was afraid to slow down or stop.
Part of his drive was to satisfy his tremendous ego. When circumstances forced him from his positions of power and activity, Churchill then fell under the black cloud of depression. This happened to him the admiralty in 1915, when he was out of office during the 1930s; when he was defeated in the election of 1945, and then again after his final resignation. He nicknamed his depression his "black dog." You may have heard that term Winston Churchill referred to his depression as his "black dog." The reason being a dog sometimes comes along and bites you at moments when you dont necessarily anticipate it, and he wrote about his "black dog" apparently in his autobiography in somewhat personified terms.
Theres a long list of people who struggled with this. Here are a few that we may be more familiar with: American humorist, Art Buchwald suffered depression apparently. Someone, I think hes still on TV, Drew Carey. I dont care for Drew Carey very much, but weve all heard of him at least. Agatha Christie, the British novelist, suffered depression. T. S. Eliot, very famous American poet and playwright. The singer, Billy Joel apparently suffers with depression.
Someone more recent in the pop culture, Beyonce Knowles. I didnt know that one, but it is reported she suffers depression as well. The late John Lennon did. The great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, according to his biography suffered from this. The great composer, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Lots of names here. Ive got a bit of a list here. I have to watch the time.
Someone you may not have heard of unless youre a Monty Python fan, Bill Oddie. You ever heard of Bill Oddie? Im from England. Bill Oddie was a zany, I think hes still around, a zany, crazy comedian and he was part of that Monty Python generation. He was the kind of people who could have people doubled over in stitches, and yet, apparently, he suffers from depression as well.
Marie Osmond, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling, Britney Spears, Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian novelist, and many, many more. If you got on the internet, youll be surprised. A whole long list of people will show up on your screen, people who have struggled with or do currently struggle with this affliction. Its a very common affliction in our society. It is all around us; it affects most people at one time or another.
When we look into the Bible, we may be a little bit surprised. At first glance, you think to yourself, well, you know, this subject, surely we dont get, you know psychological advice in the Bible, but indirectly, we do. And there are several biblical personalities that were all familiar with who suffered with depression at one time or another, admittedly, under tremendous pressures at times.
Did you ever stop to think about Abrahams concubine, Hagar? Poor Hagar, withdrawing, disappearing off into the desert with her son and very, very down and depressed, thinking that she and her son, Ishmael, are simply going to die there.
Job, not surprising, I think most of us would have been depressed had we lost everything and sat on a pile of ashes and scraped boils off our skin, but Job was obviously depressed.
King Saul of Israel, another example. Well look at a few scriptures from him.
King David, youve only got to read the Psalms closely and youll see that David suffered with depression at times. And we say, yeah, David, whats the first phrase we think of when we talk about David? A man after Gods own heart, right? But he had his very low moments.
What about the prophets? Elijah, the quintessential prophet; Jeremiah certainly went through times of depression, very low moments. Jonah, obvious example. The prophet, Habakkuk also probably suffered with this and others.
And in the New Testament, I think very likely the apostle Paul as well with some of the sufferings that he went through. So we have quite a list of people, servants of God in the Bible who had their very, very low moments at the time, at sometimes almost approaching suicidal moments and suffering a great deal and expressing their depression and finding their way out of it one way or another.
When we think of the church, we think, you know, were church members, Gods people. Surely not someone who has Gods spirit inside him or her never, ever suffers depression. Well, I think you know thats not the case. It doesnt work that way. It is in Gods church. It does impact you; it does impact me at certain times. There can be different factors that bring that about in our lives and cause us to go very, very low in our emotions. Its among the membership. I know of more than one of our ministers who has said publically that he has suffered from depression at certain moments in life.
What Id like to do in the remainder of the sermon is look at some biblical points about how to deal with depression. The title of the sermon is: "Biblical advice about depression." The Bible has a surprisingly large amount of information to give on this rather important subject that we probably dont like to talk about all that much, but that impacts most of us one way or another. If you are fortunate enough never to have experienced a moment of depression, think yourself lucky. Many people, probably most people have, or will. Youre very likely to be impacted tangentially by someone that you know, a family member or a friend who has had it, or will have it, or will suffer this at some point.
Now, I dont want to give medical advice. You know, I may be a doctor, but Im not a doctor of medicine, so this is not medical advice, okay? I dont mean medical advice. There are circumstances, of course, where people get severely depressed and in circumstances like that, professional help is needed, and sometimes needed urgently, even for the lighter and milder forms of depression professional help can often be very helpful; sometimes we need it. I would simply suggest that if you go through this, as many do, and you get, you know, medical advice, listen closely to what the doctor is saying, you know, listen intelligently. Not all medical treatment helps people, but sometimes it does.
If someone you know is suffering with severe depression, and there are such people, you need to arrange with that person, to put an emergency cord in their hand and make sure that person knows where the emergency cord is, and knows how to pull on the emergency cord. When theyre down and they can begin to intimate theyre thinking of suicide, you need to talk with that person and make sure that individual calls someone and does something. Dont just sit there.
Severe depression can be miserable . Its a very, very serious situation. So this is more to do with the somewhat lighter variety of depression that many of us go through from time to time. What does the Bible say that we should do when we go through this? How should Gods people handle this difficulty? For that matter, how should anyone handle this kind of difficulty that comes up so frequently?
Point number one: All good sermons are supposed to be organized in seven points, right? So Ive got seven points for you. It sort of fell into seven points. So, just naturally. It proves the sermon is inspired. No, Im kidding, but it is organized in seven points for those of you who wish to be note-takers.
Point number one involves the spiral that we can go into when we get into this kind of emotional mind set. The spiral is like the country and western song. You know the country and western song where everything has gone wrong - you lost your woman; you lost your truck; you lost your boots; you lost everything, you know. And if were not careful, we can all get into a spiral that draws us down like the country and western song. We begin thinking that life has done us wrong. We begin to focus on the bad stuff, the things that we dont have, the things that have happened in your life and mine that shouldnt have happened. Its not fair.
Why did this happen to me and it didnt happen to someone else? We didnt get this. We dont have that, money, good looks, you know, the man that we want, the woman that we wanted, the car that we wanted. Strange thing about that way of thinking. When we get into that way of thinking, its very difficult to find the way out, isnt it? Because what is it that Paul says in the New Testament - its not in my notes, but he says, "Comparing themselves among themselves, theyre not wise."
When you begin thinking that way, there is something in your life that you can focus on that you dont have, or didnt have, that other people do have. And then you get into this spiral, or this vortex and it draws you into it, and if youre not careful, you end up in a deep pit of self pity.
So, my point number one, I want to put this up front because I consider this very, very important is: Avoid self pity. Now, if you have the greatest temperament in the world, and you have complete mental and emotional health, and this has never been a problem to you, great! But for many of us, I think, it has been a problem.
Self pity can overtake human beings, and I would suggest to you, brethren, to all of us that it needs to be avoided like the plague. Avoid self pity as if it were cancer, H1N1 and heart disease all rolled into one. Avoid self pity at all costs. You know why? It draws you further and further and further down, and if youre not careful, you cant find the way out. Ive known people who got into self pity and breaking that cycle can be so terribly difficult.
"Oh, woe is me, look at my life, this happened and it shouldnt have happened; this thing took place, you know, whatever it may be, health, money, endlessly, just feelings, feelings, my feelings are not good. If your feelings are not good, you get into this spiral of self pity and it gets worse and worse and worse and it begins to take you downwards, you know, like the tornado or the vortex in the water. It drags you down.
A classic example of this in the scriptures is the story of King Saul. Id like you to turn with me to I Samuel 22, and Im just going to quote three verses here. Theres a lot more that could be said about King Saul. He is a study on his own. King Saul was a very, very sad, pathetic individual. You remember, at the beginning of the story it commented on how tall and good-looking he was, and he was. He was tall and tough and good looking and God was with him and the holy spirit came on him and gave him all these charismatic gifts at the beginning. King Saul is a classic story of an emotional mindset that you do not want to follow.
King Saul got himself involved in a toxic cocktail which involves self pity and envy and looking over his shoulder at King David, and here in I Samuel 22:6-8, the story is that Davids star is rising at this point. And Saul is beginning to figure out that David will be his successor. David, remember, from a different tribe in Israel. Saul was from Benjamin. David is from the tribe of Judah, of course. David actually is on the run at this point with a rabble. Thats what they were. He was really on the run. It was a terrible moment in his life.
And Saul wants to get him. Saul wants to nail that guy. After all, you know, Im still king. Shouldnt I be able to get him. But deep down, he probably knew that this was Gods anointed and he was the king in waiting.
I Samuel 22:6 - Look at this. When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered -now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him-
Verse7 - then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, "Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds?" Is he going to buy all of you off? Are you going to switch over to his side for political reasons? What about me? Dont you pity me?
Verse 8 - "All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse..." That really stuck in Sauls craw, Jonathan and David and this deep love they had for one another. "... and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day". Isnt anyone going to have some pity on me?
I find that terribly pathetic. There are several things that Saul did and said in the course of his reign over Israel that are terribly pathetic. This is arguably the most pathetic moment. Nobodys going to have any pity on me? He was the king of Israel; he became wrapped up in self pity; he became wrapped up in envy; he became wrapped up in worry about what was going to become of him, and eventually, of course, as you know, the story ends even worse, he ends up consulting a witch, spirits, demons, toward the end of the story because he did things; he was the master of his own destiny, but he got himself into the wrong mindset.
Avoid self pity. Avoid sitting on the couch thinking, lifes been unfair to me. Weve all had that thought, havent we? Lifes been unfair to me. Im no use to anyone. Depressed people very often feel useless. Depressed people, it gets them down and they feel they have no function in life and theyre no good to anybody, and this feeling of uselessness then will feed in with the self pity and you get more and more into that vortex that you cant escape from.
Well, the other thought that can drag us all down is: "Oh, if only, if only I had made a different decision at that critical moment in my life and done something differently." Ill bet theres not a one of us whos happy about every last decision theyve ever made in life. This is where we are, and of course, you cant change the past, and oh, if only - simply serves to drag us down into this unhappy vortex and if were not careful, feeds into self pity.
Lets take a look at the example from the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 15. In the book of Jeremiah, dotted throughout the earlier part of the book, theres a series of what scholars call "Jeremiahs confessions." Jeremiah 15 is where were going to go. Confessions is not a good word. Theyre actually laments.
Now Jeremiah had a lot to lament about, more than you and me. He had a lot to get him down. He was under tremendous pressure all the way through life, hated by his own people, went through some misery, thrown into a pit, left to drown in a bunch of mud, if you remember the story of Jeremiah; he went through terrible times.
Jeremiah 15:15 , look at the self pity in this. We can understand it, but it was self pity. I want to read verses 15 through 19 because God has something to say to him here.
Jeremiah 15:15 - Oh, Lord,You know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In Your enduring patience, do not take me away. Know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke. Because Im a servant of God, Ive gone through this. You ever have the thought - maybe my life would have been happier in this respect if I hadnt been a member of the church. This is what Jeremiah is expressing here. In your enduring patience, (do not) dont take me away ...
Verse 16: Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
Verse 17: I (did not) didnt sit in the assembly of the mockers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because of Your hand, for You have filled me with indignation. I did it for You, God. And now look where I am.
Verse 18: Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed?... And then 18, the second part of the verse, now he begins to get edge beyond just the blues and depression toward, getting close to even blaspheming God... Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream, as waters that fail? Those are actually very strong words. Jeremiah is turning back on his Creator and saying, "I cant rely on You. Youre like a river that flows but it doesnt do what its supposed to do; it doesnt provide; doesnt refresh. So, self pity as exhibited here, and certainly we can understand it, but it can become very dangerous. Sometimes self pity is something we just, you know, we cant find our way out of. Sometimes it can become so serious, it can begin to impact our relationship with God as it did here with Jeremiah.
Verse 19:Look at Gods response to him. Therefore thus says the (Lord) Eternal: This is in the singular, by the way. This is not in the plural, in these scriptures. "If you return,..." Jeremiah, and the word implies repentance here. "...if you return, then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth...." God tells him to repent. And sometimes, if were not careful, the cycle of depression and self pity can drag us down so much that we do in fact have something to repent of. If we begin to turn this against God, it can become very serious. We need to avoid that. Avoid self pity is point number one in the sermon.
So, whats the antidote? What should we do when we have these moments, and were down, and we feel depressed, and we feel self pitying? Id like to turn to another biblical example in I Kings 19. I Kings 19. Youre familiar with this example of the prophet, Elijah. Im sure weve all read it at one time of another, but there are little details here that we can read right over if were not careful, and they tell us something in the context of this discussion of this depression.
Elijah, the great prophet in a sense. You know, Malachi says, "Im going to send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the day of the Lord." Elijah, the prophet, comes before coming of Messiah.
Elijah was a great prophet but a very human prophet. I Kings 19:13. Heres Elijah down, depressed, understandably so. That nasty woman, Jezebel was out to get him. She was going to get him at all costs. She was determined that she was going to hunt down that nasty little prophet and have him strung up. She was going to get him killed, and of course, he ends up sort of away from everybody all by himself, and he goes into depression, is what it was.
I Kings 19:13: So it was, when Elijah heard it,...This is a still, small voice that he heard from God. ... he wrapped his face in his mantle and he went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.... Notice hes in a cave. This is interesting, too. ...Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Again, we could read right over that, that question. I want you to note the word - here. Well revisit that briefly. There was he? And was that the place he should have been?
Verse 14: And he said...Here, Elijah gives his little speech, his little claim to fame. ..."I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsakenYour covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life." And Im in a bad mood, and understandably so. He was very, very low, and perhaps we shouldnt mock poor Elijah; he was a very notable prophet of God, but hes at a real low point in his life here. "Ive served God, and look whats happened to me. Im down, and theyre out to get me."
Verse 15: Look at what God does here for him. And this is my point number two in the sermon. Then the Eternal (Lord) said to him, "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus;...Go Northeast of where you are to where the nation of Syria is. Damascus then was where Damascus is now. "... (and) when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.
Verse 16: "Also (you shall) anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place." What God does for him at this point is, He gives him something to do. When youre down; when youre depressed, do something. Do something.
Now, Im not going to go over all the geopolitical details here, but this is actually rather important what Elijah had to do here. Hazael later became an enemy of Gods people, Israel. Jehu was responsible for a blood bath in northern Israel later on. Elisha, of course, becomes Elijahs successor. But God gives him something to do.
When we are down, when we have those really low moments, we must do something. We must do something.
I was looking a little bit more at the life of Winston Churchill, and I saw something interesting about it. Now this man who apparently went through very severe depression, he was saved from the worst of it by the fact that he had something to do, something that was very important, something that probably saved his life, you know. He was the defender of the nation. They say about Winston Churchill that he slept two or three hours per night. He would call his secretary on the phone at four thirty in the morning and say, "Take a letter. Ive got to dictate letter." He had a purpose in life, as we heard in the sermonette. We have to do something. The way out of the worst of this is to do something.
Something? What should we do? Something that is fun, maybe? Yeah, doing a fun thing, an enjoyable activity helps, doing something that makes life for someone else a bit more fun, makes it taste a little better. In thinking about this, I came to realize that something fun is good, but just popping a Godiva chocolate into your mouth when youre feeling depressed is probably not the solution. Now, I like Godiva chocolates, but I'll tell you why, Ill tell you why its probably not going to solve your problem of depression. When you pop the Godiva chocolate into your mouth, it doesnt last very long. You go to the mall, it costs you I dont know how many dollars for a Godiva chocolate, it costs lots of money. Maybe youll get depressed about the cost of those things.
But when you pop the Godiva chocolate into your mouth and you make life taste good briefly, it comes and goes quickly. When we need to do something; when were down and depressed; we need to find something that is absorbing and gives satisfaction rather than just a very short period of fun. Fun is great, but fun often doesnt last. When were down, we need to have something that is demanding, that requires concentration, that absorbs us, that draws us in and gets our mind off things.
Painting. Nice example. You know, take up art. Composing music, maybe. Learning new computer software. I dont know whether that would improve your attitude or ruin your attitude. In some cases, it gets us a little lower. But some people are good at that kind of thing. Maybe some computer software.
Maybe writing. Perhaps reading a little bit more. I think we dont read enough in our society. Weve become too electronified, and we dont read enough. Were too slow to simply pick up a good book, and as people used to say, "Curl up with a good book." Maybe just curling up with a good book a little bit more frequently.
But we have to do something. A sport. A new athletic activity also can be very helpful, getting involved in something that we enjoy and something that gets our mind off our misery.
Volunteer work can also be very good, especially for people who are still in good health and theyve reached retirement and theyve got time on their hands. Volunteering to do something within the community can be very, very helpful.
So, point number two is we got to do something. Doing nothing makes it worse. Doing nothing makes it worse because when we do nothing, weve got that opportunity just to keep in the vortex, and keep going downwards, and were in the spiral and it gets worse and worse and worse. If we do something, something that satisfies, it will help us to break the cycle.
At all costs, we dont want to be self-pitying couch potatoes. No self pitying couch potatoes because self pitying couch potatoes become mashed potatoes and thats not where we want to be. So, point number two - do something when youre feeling down.
Now, all of this, I was going to go through these seven points, one thing important to notice on this subject of depression is that weve got to be a little bit tough with ourselves. With depression, we have to force ourselves. We have to push ourselves. It does require a certain amount of effort.
I had a conversation with Mr. Antion yesterday, and of course, he counsels a lot, and hes worked with a lot of people with a number of different problems, and he commented to me that unlike some of the other emotional and psychological difficulties people go through, like bi-polar difficulties where you must have your medicine. The medicine in those circumstances is essential, but with regard to this light to moderate depression, youve got to do something. Ive got to do something, and sometimes it requires a little bit of effort. We have to push ourselves and prod ourselves to find our way out of it. It requires a little bit of mental self discipline.
Point number three - as I already alluded to, where was Elijah when this took place? Back in verse 9, same chapter, I Kings 19, he comes out of the cave. Notice that. And God says to him:
I Kings 19:9 ..."What are you doing here, Elijah?" Why are you here? Okay, in the ancient world, sometimes people lived in caves. You know, a lot more people lived in caves, but it was the wrong place for Elijah to be. This was not the right place for Elijah to be.
Have you ever been to Mammoth Caves in northern Kentucky? I dont think Ive been there. Ive been to other caves where you take you and they switch the lights off? You know with that sensation, that really heavy, dark, dark, total darkness. Because when the light go out, you know, the pupils of our eyes seek light. And the pupils of your eyes will open up and get bigger, and when youre in an environment like that, it is completely blacked out. The pupils get bigger and bigger and bigger and you cant bring in any light. Darkness like that, I dont think most people could put up with it for any length of time. Darkness is tough to take. And look in Verse 11:
I Kings 19:11 ...God says, "Go out,..." Get out of there. Go out ... and stand on the mountain before the Lord..." Its dark in a cave. Natural light makes a huge difference to our mood. Did you every notice that? Natural light today, well, its gone gray, hasnt it, since Ive been speaking. I hope thats not anything to do with the fact...well, anyway, it was a nice bright sunny day when we came in for services, and we feel good, you know. And sometimes here in Cincinnati, Ohio, it can go cloudy and it can go dark, and it gets you down. You dont feel good. You dont feel energetic. Light has a huge effect on our mood.
I dont have to look out of the window when Im up teaching at ABC to see when its become overcast outside. I dont mean that all the students go into depression. Thats not my point. What I mean is that people get sleepy, including myself. Sometimes when Im in my office back there, and, you know, Im doing something at my desk and its very cloudy outside, I involuntary end up doing that eyelid check, you know, check the interior of the eyelids. I dont intend to, you know, but sometimes...now maybe that doesnt happen to the rest of you, but anyway, my point is simply this. Light, natural light, has a huge effect. Not only does it keep us awake, but it makes us feel good. It makes us feel good.
A number of years ago, I knew someone in another part of the country, and this particular person was going through some very severe difficulties in his or her life and really struggling. And this individual had a house in a part of the country further south of here. There was more sun. But this individual kept the blinds drawn the whole time. Shut out all the light. Shut out all the people, and then eventually began to take these large black plastic trash bags and tape them to the windows to shut out all the light entirely. And I thought, This is exactly the wrong thing to do." Shutting out the light is not the right thing to do. Theres something about the light hitting the retina or the back of the eye that cheers us.
So, light, is my point. Enjoy the light. Take a walk. Enjoy the sun when the sun is out there. You know, go out and enjoy the sun. This time of the year, it can be very cold but there are times, of course, when its a nice blue sky day out there. You can see the sun. It makes you feel good. It lifts your mood a great deal.
Have you ever heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder, the acronym, SAD. Im not great with the acronyms, you know, the researchers, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. People in parts of Scandinavia where in the winter, they barely see any light at all, suffer with this a great deal, they suffer with greater depression, they suffer with being down emotionally especially in places like Finland.
It says, this quote that I found, "Sunlight is believed to effect the production of endorphins. These hormones play a role in giving us a sense of well being and happiness. Researchers are studying the link between lack of sunlight and the effects of melatonin, serotonin," thats one of the hormones that make us feel good "and other hormones as well as the lack of sunlight and its effect on the bodys circadian rhythms."
So if the lack of sunshine effects those hormones to produce a type of depression sometimes called Seasonal Affective Disorder, sunshine and the proper exposure to it would reverse this and allow our bodies to produce these hormones naturally and give us happy feelings.
Even changing light bulbs in your home can sometimes help. Some of the light bulbs that you can buy in the store. Theyre not expense, but theyll give you a broader spectrum of light. And a spectrum of light, you cant do it with a florescent, Im not a fan of fluorescents, but some of the old fashioned light bulbs in your home, you can buy light bulbs that imitate the spectrum of the sun, and again, its amazing how much of an effect it will have on your mood. When youre feeling down, change a few light bulbs. Make sure your home is properly lit.
God tells us to be in the light, to dwell in the light and to be in the darkness all of the time doesnt help. Natural light.
Its one of the problems, by the way, people who get depressed, sometimes they dont want to get out of bed in the morning. You know, if you dont get out of bed in the morning, you allow yourself to stay in bed because you dont feel like getting out of bed. You know, you got up very late, the suns going down. The sun goes down today at 5:16, I think it is, right around then, youve shortened the day. You see less sunlight, and that in itself makes you feel down. Getting out of bed in the morning, especially in the winter, because the sun is up and you want to take in some of that wonderful natural light that God has given us will make you feel better. So, again, this can become part of the cycle if were not careful.
So point number three is about natural light. Dont dwell in darkness. Go somewhere where its light. Simply go for a walk, you know, when the sun comes out, go for a walk. Take advantage. It may not last very long. The sun may disappear behind a cloud in this part of the country once again. So, you know, grab your coat and go out for a walk quickly and enjoy the sunlight.
Point number four, and I want to tell a story on myself here because I will never forget my own experience with this whole difficulty once I resigned my employment at Ambassador College in 1996. It was a very difficult time in my life. In the space of a few months I had my credentials as an elder revoked. I resigned my employment. I had to sell my house because I wasnt going to stay in east Texas much longer. I lost a lot of my friends, a lot of the people I associated with. I was working a job that I wasnt enjoying very much. Thats an understatement. I really wasnt enjoying it at all. And I got very, very low. I got very low, and I knew I was depressed. It wasnt severe depression. It wasnt to the point of feeling suicidal, but it was enough that I knew what I was going through and I didnt know what to do about it. I really didnt. I went through this for a number of weeks for I think it was two or three months, and I was stewing over this.
I would get home at the end of the day and some of you will identify with the thought. How early can I be in bed? Its not a good thought when you want to go to bed. Youre a normal healthy person; you want to be in bed at six oclock in the evening, that is not a good state of mind to be in. And yet I was in that state of mind, and I was very troubled by it; I knew what I was going through; I could self diagnose; I knew what the problem was, but I didnt know the way out. And eventually, I thought to myself, Ive got to do something here. This is not a good situation. Ill tell you what I did.
It involved exercise, and thats point number four. When I worked at Ambassador College, I used to exercise fairly regularly. In fact, I played fairly regular racquetball with some of the other members of the faculty there. But my exercise program had essentially gone.
And so after a few months of this, I thought, well, Ill try joining a gym. There was a little gym there, a nice little gym. It was very clean, small gym in Longview, Texas. And I joined the gym there, and they had some classes which involved a combination of aerobic exercise and weights. I began to do their classes there at the gym, and I will never forget this experience. Ill tell you what happened because I didnt expect it.
I worked out in that gym for about two or three weeks, and all of a sudden, I went, "Whoa, what happened? I feel better." For me it was unexpected. Exercise is a tremendously powerful mood lifter. Tremendously powerful. Id never heard the word - endorphins. I thought maybe it was some kind of fish you ordered in a restaurant. A plate of endorphins and French fries, please.
But Ive certainly heard the word since then, and you should, too. Endorphins are the natural hormones that God has put into our body that we generate. Light gives us endorphins. Exercise gives us endorphins.
The research indicates that the endorphins which God gave us naturally, and the body will produce naturally, are a much more powerful antidepressant than many of the chemicals that doctors will prescribe. Now Im not saying that prescription drugs never have their place. I am saying that the lift you get from a regular exercise program can make a big, big difference in your life. And I try very hard to this day to make sure that I exercise regularly because I know I dont feel good if I dont exercise. And I think that it impacts all us.
Had a conversation recently with a doctor, a qualified doctor, in the church who gave me a bit more information on this particular subject. We were discussing the very same thing, and this lady is a lady doctor in actually Latin America. And she said to me you get more endorphins from the exercises that involve fast movement of the body. In other words, you would get some endorphins from lifting weights, but you get a whole lot more from running or jogging or swimming or aerobic exercise, or racquetball, anything which causes you to move your body quickly, fast, will give you more of an endorphin rush.
So, those of us who are young and in good health, we should have as part of our way of life something, something. Some jogging, some tennis, racquetball, whatever it may be, you know, something that you enjoy doing. It should be part of your life. Walking is a much underestimated exercise, very, very valuable, brisk walking, also has the same effect, helps you to burn calories, keep some of the weight off, but also helps to boost the endorphins. If you cant go out and jog, personally, I detest jogging; I cant stand the thought of going out on the street and going running. Id rather get my exercise some other way.
Anyway, how you get the exercise is not the point. The point is do it because it will make a big difference in your life. As your health allows, do some exercise and it boosts your mood. Its tremendously powerful.
I Timothy 4:8 -You can probably guess where Im going. Theres not a huge amount in the Bible on this particular phenomenon, I think probably because people even in the first century, the Greek world, people moved more. You know, we get in our cars, and we drive. We sit in front of a TV, too much, and as a result, we lack activity, and we need to include it in our lives. We need to include bodily exercise.
I Timothy 4:8 - For bodily exercise profits a little,...not just for getting muscular and buff. Most of us probably never will get to that point, but simply for keeping us healthy and helping us to feel good. Bodily exercise helps. So, point number four is exercise. Exercise can be very, very helpful just for regulating the mood.
Point number five Id like you to turn with me to the book of Jonah, if you would please, the book of Jonah 4. There is another striking example here of a prophet of God who got very, very low.
Jonah 4, you remember the story, I wont recap the whole story of the book of Jonah. Jonah didnt like Ninevites, and he wasnt pleased about the fact the Ninevites repented. You would think anybody would be pleased anyone would repent, but Ninevites were nasty people and very cruel, and Jonah didnt like them and they repented and that did not make Jonah terribly happy.
Jonah 4:3 - Look at what he says here after hes told God, "I told You so, God. I knew they might repent. "Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" Jonah got suicidal in this case, very low, or at least he expressed that desire.
Verse 4 - Then the (Lord) Eternal said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" This mixture of emotions often comes together with some measure of anger. They tend to fuse together, anger, sometimes suicidal thoughts amplified by something that Jonah is going to exemplify very clearly here.
Verse 5 - (So) Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. (There) And he made himself a shelter and sat (under) in it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
Verse 6 - And the (Lord God) Eternal prepared a plant...a castor oil plant, I think the old versions quote, whatever that is. The Hebrew name is Kikayon. Nobody knows exactly what it was, but God made this plant for Jonah. ... and made it come up over him (Jonah), that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Hes certainly having his emotional ups and downs here.
Verse 7 - But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
Verse 8 - And it happened, when the sun arose, (that) God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonahs head, so (that) he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and he said, "It is better for me to die than to live." Again, hes way down in the dumps expressing his desire for suicide once again.
Verse 9 - (Then) God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" It didnt dig him out of his mood, did it? Even having God as his counselor.
Verse 10 - But the (Lord) Eternal said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you (have not) didnt labored, nor made it grow, which came up in (a) the night and perished in (a) the night.
Verse 11 - "And (should I not) shouldnt I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left - and much livestock? The commentators note something that you may have just noted about the book of Jonah. Look how abruptly it ends. It just ends. Strange note to end on. Shouldnt I pity Nineveh in which is all these people who dont know the difference between their right hand and their left hand. They dont know any better and a bunch of animals. You get the livestock mentioned in the very last word in the book.
But the point being here is, and this is point number five, we need to get our minds off ourselves. We need to get our minds off ourselves. When were feeling down, thinking about ourselves, makes it worse. Again, its all part of the spiral. It can all too easily happen. We get to feeling badly, self pitying, life has done us wrong, we sit there and were thinking about ourselves. Ive seen this happen. It can happen very, very easily. You get into this vortex, and it gets worse and worse and worse, and youre just thinking about yourself. Everybody is shut out of your field of vision entirely.
Somebody sent me an email recently. It was a beautiful little email; I think I probably deleted it, but the thrust of the email was - you think youve got problems? And they showed a brief power point presentation of a young boy who had both of his legs amputated at the knees and had these prosthetic legs, and he was involved in one of these special Olympics kind of things. He was out running. He was out running on his prosthetic limbs with a giant smile on his face. And I looked at that and I thought, "Okay, yeah, this time of the year is hard. Its hard on me; its hard on a lot of people, but Ive got my legs, and here is this kid out running and just having, having a whale of a time."
We get our minds off ourselves and we feel better. When we pray for other people, we feel better.
Okay, I said pray for other people, and youve heard it said in the church many times before, pray for other people. But, no, what Im saying is - PRAY for other people. Now those may sound like the same words, but Im making a distinction here. Dont just pray for other people. PRAY for other people.
What Im suggesting is that we should do what we dont always do, and what Ive not always done, really PRAY for other people. I mean take time. Think about the person. Get into that persons life. Think about...you know, it gets so confusing...giant number of emails about the sick...I dont know about you, but I sometimes, at the end of the day, I feel guilt-ridden because I didnt pray for everybody. So sometimes, Ive "prayed for other people." I get down on my knees; I go down a big, big list of people, and I say, "God, bless the list and heal everybody on the list."
Okay, thats fine; that has its place. What Im suggesting is that we need to PRAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE!! One of the healthiest things we can do for us and for the other person is think about the other person who is going through a serious trial and really PRAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE. Ive done both. Ive prayed for other people. And Ive PRAYED FOR OTHER PEOPLE! You get the distinction, right?
Im suggesting that we should all at times PRAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE. Switch off the cell phone; switch off the TV; switch off the computer; put aside everything else in our minds; close the bedroom door; get down by the side of the bed and really pray for that individual whos got serious health problems. Really pray for that person. Really pray for the young person whose handicapped terribly by some chronic sickness. Really pray for whoever, you know. There are plenty of causes. You dont have to think very hard to come up with them, but its tremendously beneficial because God hears our prayers, for one thing. The other part of it, of course, is it gets your mind off yourself, and when you begin doing that, and then you realize, you know, look what Ive got that this other person doesnt have. Pray for others. Really pray for others. Philippians 2:3 & 4:
Philippians 2:3 - Were always so busy these days, arent we? Were always so busy, weve got so much going; there are so many things that force us to rush off. I dont think we should feel guilty if we dont pray for the entire list every day. I do think we should feel guilty if we never pray for one person, really, with our hearts, with our time, with our minds, with the desire that God would truly intervene in the life of that person. Philippians 2:3 Paul says, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself". Stop thinking about yourself. Think about other people.
Verse 4 - "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others". So many people in the church, in society, are suffering so badly. When was the last time you prayed about people suffering in some distant part of the world like North Korea? I know we have no churches in North Korea. When did you last pray for the people in Iran, whove been thrown away in the jail because of the recent political problems? Or other parts of the world. We dont have to list them all. But its good to include those things and really pray. It gets our minds off ourselves.
Last Sunday I had the opportunity and the privilege of going to downtown Cincinnati with some of our ABC graduates, some of whom I see here today. We really had a ball. We enjoyed it, and I was very glad that this all got organized through several of our graduates, our alumni. We went to the Ronald McDonald house. If youve never been to the Ronald McDonald house in downtown Cincinnati, go sometime. Theyve got a very, very nice operation there where the kids are coming to Cincinnati, young kids, because theyve got to have surgery. And the parents are away from home, and so they take care of the parents. They accommodate people; theyve got rooms there, and they feed the people there.
Anyway, there was a lot of work involved, and I wont mention her name but one of our alumni in particular was very active in getting everything organized. We went down last Sunday. We were asked to be there by four oclock. Id never been there before. Its very nice. Its brightly lit and nicely decorated, and people are helpful and so on. We had quite a good group of people; I think about fifteen, right? Roughly fifteen, and began preparing food at around four oclock. It was all out there not exactly on the dot of six. It was about ten minutes after six, wasnt it? We got all the food out, and they were very pleased, by the way.
Anyway, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. My point, I think everybody else who went enjoyed it as well. My point is simply this: when you do things like that for other people, volunteer projects, it can be very enjoyable. It can be very satisfying, and again, it reminds you - Ive got it good! Ive got it good.
I talked with one lady while I was down there; we got to chit-chatting as the food was being prepared, and I walked over to one of the lounges, and there was a lady there, I think this is the grandmother of the boy, two and a half year old boy. And I got to talking with her, and she was telling me about her grandson, and she said that the grandson was born and the doctors thought he had no vocal chords. The doctors believed he had no trachea. And apparently here in Cincinnati, and this surprised me, here in Cincinnati there was a specialist who knew more about these things than the doctors in Denver, Colorado.
So they brought this little boy over from Denver, Colorado, to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a series of surgeries. And this specialist had discovered that, yes, in fact he did have the vocal chords, and he did have the trachea, but they were wrapped up in a membrane or sack, those are the words that she used. They were wrapped up so he couldnt use them. He couldnt speak and he couldnt swallow normally, and this lady told me this two and a half year old little boy had had one surgery every month through his life. Can you imagine that?
You know, I got to thinking, my, you know, Ive got my health, you know. Ive got my health. To have your health is a wonderful thing. To go through that that early in life is really, really tough. So, its good to do that kind of thing, and its good because it reminds us...we begin comparing ourselves on the positive side, you know, and then we can pray for the people, for the little boy who has had one surgery every month, and I told her that I hoped he would be better after this. I think he had more than one surgery yet to go.
But this kind of thing, volunteer work, doing things for other people, getting our minds off ourselves, this kind of thing can be very, very beneficial.
Point number six involves our social circles. Our social circles. One of the reasons people get depressed in countries like the United States of America, especially in the advanced, wealthy, industrialized countries is that the society is alienated. What that means is we dont have enough people; we dont have enough people. Its one of the causes of depression and isolation.
One doctor pointed out that in some cultures, depression is virtually nonexistent. These cultures are primitive by our standards, but they place community at the heart of things.
Our culture, by contrast, focuses on the self and social isolation. The global village is merely an illusion, he said, as no one from the global village is going to pick up your kid from soccer practice. You cant do that over the internet.
In 1990, USA Today ran a survey that found people saw each other socially six times a month. In 2000, that figure was one and half times a month. Now those data are out of date, obviously. That goes back almost ten years, but it does tell us about trends in our society; people are too busy; people are too separated; people move a lot; I think for many of us in Gods church weve been impacted not by just geographical moves. Ill bet most of you were not born in Cincinnati or Kentucky. I wont ask for a show of hands. Some of you were. Some of you are close to your families and thats a wonderful, wonderful blessing.
Many of us have had to move many times. Frankly, weve also been impacted by the division, more accurately the divisions in the church. This has taken a big toll especially on people who work for the church, but on the church generally. Its been very, very difficult because every time these things have happened, weve lost friends.
Sometimes I go back in my mind and I think about all the people I knew in California, and all the people I knew in Big Sandy, Texas, and all the people I knew in Dallas, Texas, and I thought what if I could put them all together and bring it all back together again, you know. Thered be an awful lot going on, but people have gone in different directions sadly. This has caused people to feel alone.
I Kings 19:18 - Back in I Kings. Elijah felt alone. Elijah felt totally alone. "Im the only one," said Elijah.
God said, "No, youre not. No youre not." "Yet," says God, "I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal; and every mouth that has not kissed him."
Elijah felt he was the only good guy. "Im the only non-Baal worshipper in town."
God said, "No, youre not. There are others." Sometimes were got to open our eyes to see were not alone. Yeah, Im aware were a little flock, but were not completely alone.
Did you ever think about Jesus Christ and His social circle? Did you ever reflect on this? Think about Jesus disciples, and the structure of Jesus Christs circle of friends? You know how this worked, remember? In the transfiguration, who was there? Peter, James and John, three of them. Jesus Christ, our Lord, had three very close friends. Then he had twelve disciples or apostles in an outer circle. And outside of that there was yet another circle of seventy. Its a very good model for our circle of friends.
If youve got three close friends in whom you can confide your private things, youre doing well. And then youve got a dozen people you go to dinner with, thats great. Go to a movie with and then seventy people in your outer circle, you know, whom you talk to and maybe make some of the small talk with, its a nice arrangement and probably would serve all of us well if we had circles like that.
Isolation makes us feel alone. Sometimes when you talk to people who are going through depression and feeling down and you say to them, "Why dont you pick up the phone and call someone?" And theres a sense of shame, well, if I pick up the phone and call someone, I feel ashamed and I feel dependent, you know. I feel as if its making me weak. I dont feel good about doing that.
Okay. Now if the situation were reversed, and a brother or a sister in Christ called you on the phone and said, "Im not feeling good, can we go for coffee?" What would you do?
Oh, yes, of course, Id immediately go for coffee. See how oddly that works out? Sometimes were ashamed to admit that we need people, and yet on those rare occasions somebody says, "I need you."
Oh, yes, of course, the old Christian instincts come to the front.
Proverbs 12:25 - Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. To make somebody feel better, you dont have to say a lot. You probably dont want to say, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Whats wrong with you." You know. Thats Jobs comforters. No. You dont want to be Jobs comforters. But simply being there, a little word of encouragement, and just a little bit here and there helps people to feel better. So, sometimes we have to reach out. Acknowledging this is what the church is for.
Point number seven, and this is the last point, and this is what Im going to end up with. It is very important when we have these low moments and we go through depression to maintain our relationship with our loving, caring Father in heaven. We know God cares about us; we know God loves us; we know it theologically, but sometimes we dont know it emotionally. Sometimes we overlook it emotionally. And heres one of the areas where we have to force ourselves; heres one of the areas where weve got to fight the depression and do something here because we may think, "I dont feel like praying. I just want to stay in bed. If I pray and I talk to God, Hell know Im feeling depressed. And I certainly dont want Him to know about that. "I dont feel like studying the Bible. I just dont feel like it.
There are times in our lives where weve got to push ourselves and prompt ourselves to do the things that we dont feel like doing. When were really low emotionally, a little bit of toughness with ourselves helps a great deal. It can jolt us out of that vortex. It can break it.
"I dont feel like studying the Bible. I dont feel like telling God that Im down. I dont want to pray about it. I dont feel like praying." Have you ever done that? Okay, maybe Im the only one whos ever been through that. I dont think so. "I just want to stay in bed."
II Corinthians 12:9 - The apostle Paul had his low moments. God knows youre not a superman. God knows youre not a superwoman. God knows you have your difficult moments. Paul talking about a revelation he had from Christ. And He, Christ, said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Sometimes when were weak, God is strong. We need to remember that about our God. Sometimes when we have our problems and our difficulties and our sins, and we think, "I cant talk to God because Hell find out about it." He knows anyway. Sometimes when were depressed, thats the moment when we need to force ourselves to get down on our knees and talk to our Creator. He knows. He knows if its chemical. He knows what it is. If its simply that we need some help, a lift from someone, He can cause the phone to ring. Somebody calls you and says something on the phone and lifts you.
King David understood this. Psalms 6. Lets go to the sixth Psalm. King David of Israel, a man after Gods own heart. He never went through a depression. How could a man after Gods own heart possibly have ever been down? Well he was. He was.
The problem with the Psalms is that sometimes we read them and we say, "Oh, thats just poetry." We dont take enough time to really read them, and I include myself in that. We should really read the Psalms. They tell us a lot.
Psalms 6:1 - A Psalm of David. O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Verse 2 - Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;... If you ever feel weak, youre in good company. This is the man after Gods own heart. ...O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. If youve ever needed healing, youre in good company. This is the man after Gods own heart.
Verse 3 - My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O (Lord) Eternal - how long?
Verse 4 - Return, O (Lord) Eternal, deliver me! (Oh) save me for Your mercies sake!
Verse 5 - For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks? "I cant worship you if Im dead," David said to God. Look at verses 6 and 7.
Verse 6 - I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. Do men cry? King David did. He cried so much that his pillow was drenched. Thats how much he cried before God.
Verse 7 - My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies. If this wasnt a moment of depression for King David, I dont know what was.
Verse 8 - Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the (Lord) Eternal has heard the voice of my weeping.
Verse 9 - The (Lord) Eternal has heard my supplication; the (Lord) Eternal will receive my prayer. Sometimes when we hit bottom, thats the time that God really intervenes for us.
Verse 10 - Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly. David understood that, that God intervenes at our weak moments when were down; when were at our weakest.
Somebody sent me a message, just today, actually. It was a nice little saying which I want to repeat to you. I thought it was rather well put.
"Dont tell God how big your problem is. Tell your problem how big God is." Isnt that neat? "Dont tell God how big your problem is. Tell your problem how big God is."
Weve got to fight it; weve got to fight the blues; weve got to fight depression; we have to make use of everything at our disposal, our relationship with God; our relationships with one another that perhaps could be tighter, more supportive at times. These are the dog days of winter, the gloomy days. Winter will come and go when every emotional afflictions we ever have will end. Well look back on them at some time and feel much better and feel much more lifted.
One scripture Id like to end with is Isaiah 61. And by the way, youd be amazed at how much material there is out on the internet on this subject. This particular scripture, I teach the book of Isaiah but it prompted the thought. This is a good one to end the sermon with. Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 3. This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord (God) Eternal is upon me, because the (Lord) Eternal has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He (has) sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. This is very good news.
Verse 3 - To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
