Depression and Anxiety versus a Life of Connections.

Brethren, we've completed a lovely feast. From all the information that I hear, the feast was lovely for everybody. We are excited about God's plan. We are on a high. But we have now come back to this evil world. We probably encounter the same old problems and challenges and difficulties, and maybe even worse, because the days are getting worse. And as was mentioned earlier on in the sermon, we are encountering a spiritual winter of six months, in which we will not have the usual God's holidays, but we will have a whole bunch of pagan holidays in the middle to cause us frustrations and difficulties. And so it is possible that some people may get a little bit of a down. You know, we've had a high off the feast, and now you get a down. Maybe you get a little sad. Maybe you get a bit anxious. Maybe you get a little depressed. Now depression and its related anxiety is a great illness in today's society. It really is growing exponentially since COVID. And because we know, as we read in Matthew 24, 8, that we are at the beginning of sorrows, this is going to get worse. This year is not going to be easy. It's going to be a tough year. And therefore, I would like to, as it was mentioned in the sermon, to encourage, I also would like to encourage you to focus on what we can do with God's help to overcome any sadness or worries or any possibility of becoming depressed by striving to maintain or rebuild three types of connections. And I'm using the term connections specifically because I'll show you in a moment why. But of them, particularly the first two, is really meaningful relationships.

Now during a lot of time over the past years, the scientific community has believed that the main factor, the main factor which causes depression and anxiety is a chemical imbalance in the brain. I came across an author, Johan Hari, and he wrote a very interesting thesis, let's call that study. The title of the book is Lost Connections, and he suggests that the main causes of depression are not a chemical imbalance. I'm not saying, and he does not say, that that could not be the problem in some cases, but he's talking about the main causes are not internal as a chemical imbalance, but they are external.

In this book, Lost Connections, he shows that he himself was a person from an early age, around about 18 years old, he suffered depression, and he went to a doctor, and he was medicated. And as time went on, he needed stronger and stronger medication. And so you wondered why, number one, seeing that he was depressed, and he did everything the doctors told him to do, why was he getting more depressed as time went along?

And two, why there's so many people in the world, in the Western world, that felt the same as he did. And so with the help of Harvard professor Irving Kirsch, he came to the conclusion, and Brethren, he's got very, very deep studies and researches that shows that some of the scientific conclusions are rather biased. It's very interesting to read that. But anyway, he came and he showed that some 65 to 80 percent of the people using anti-depressive medication have, again, further symptoms of depression at least a year later.

And so he said, well, even though the medications had a temporary positive effect in some people, he said it cannot be the only solution because we still are ill. And so he started looking at the causes which are commonly accepted for this illness and to determine the main factors. And he realized that it is far more than just a chemical imbalance because he realized that it's actually related with the way we live or the way other people live, and now that affects us.

You see, the more he investigated, he says, the illness is a symptom, not a cause, but it's a symptom of things around us. He says, for instance, if you find yourself without a job and if you feel that you don't have any control of your life, you will be more susceptible to be depressed. For instance, then he says, if you find yourself alone and you can't trust on other people, you will have more chances of being depressed. If you don't have hope in the future, the same thing, and so on. You see, sadness, brethren, is a natural feeling, but it goes away.

But when it lasts for a prolonged amount of time, without periods of joy, it becomes a symptom of depression. In other words, depression is a long period of sadness and discouragement. Joy looks like something lost that we don't have. It's very difficult to have a positive life. Symptoms of depression can be loss of self-motivation, excessive feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, constant negative thoughts, desire to isolate yourself from family and friends, lack of concentration, over-sleep, and suicidal thoughts.

In this book, Hari details that a lack of purpose in life, to feel that one's life has got no purpose, are the real causes that bring one to depression. Therefore, he says, we need to find alternative ways to resolve our depression and crisis of anxiety and not look at the situation purely as a chemical imbalance. He then says, we need to address the real causes and not the symptom.

He addresses, and therefore the title, Lost Connections, he addresses various situations where you lose the connection with things around you causing depression. For instance, you become disconnected with a meaningful job. Your job is repetitive and boring, and you lose that connection of it's something creative and constructive. You lose a connection with other people. In other words, you don't have relationships, meaningful relationships with other people. You lose a connection with true values, or you lose a connection because you had some type of family trauma.

For instance, as a child, maybe you were abused or whatever, and you have that trauma, it leads to depression.

You could feel disconnected that you feel unworthy. You don't have any status, or nobody respects you, or you feel disconnected from the world at large, or from a future with any hope in this life. This type of disconnection can create a fear of your future because you don't know what it's going to happen tomorrow, or you think it's going to be like this forever, and therefore it's going to give you a fear of where is, for instance, the capability of supporting my family coming from, because I am in deep trouble. Let's call it that way. And so then anxiety, which is another symptom from this depression, can become so strong that it can affect your health in a number of ways. For instance, it can affect your heartbeat, it can affect your muscle tension, it can cause you to be sweating, it can affect your ability to act and to think and to express yourself, it can affect your capability to deal with day-to-day situations, it can cause you to be apprehensive, uneasy, fearful of dying, and in fact, it lowers your immune system so that your body cannot fight disease. So there may be various symptoms, but one needs to look at the cause behind those symptoms. Now, granted, there could be times where there could be a biological or physiological imbalance, and in those times, you need to seek professional help for those disorders. So please do seek professional advice if you need to. This sermon is not intended to discourage that, but the point is there are situations in our lives that we feel that we've been trapped and we can't change them. For instance, you could have made a serious mistake just once, but because of that serious mistake you did, you're going to suffer the rest of your life because of that one serious mistake. Maybe you're 15 years old, and you think you're Superman, and you do something real silly, and you become disabled for life.

Or you're involved in an accident. Maybe somebody broke a law, you're just quite happily driving, not breaking any law, but there's this accident, and you're now impacted for the rest of your life. Something happened around you, or happened to you, or to your body, that now things will never be the same.

So we can't change that situation. That's going to cause a psychological impact in your life and my life. Right. We'll never be able to be because of this mistake, or accident, or could even be sin. I'm not saying it is a sin, but something has happened that we have been damaged in some way, emotionally or physically. Things will never be the same in your physical life, until you die. And you, therefore, what you dreamt, what you hoped that you would be able to achieve, will never be able to do. Fact! Fact! That makes you depressed. But you can come to a point that says, all right, what can I do with what I got left, rather than looking at what you have not got? And that is a key to that solution. Is that easy? No. When you or I or somebody, one of our friends, one of our brothers or sisters, or our relatives, finds himself or herself in a situation like this, that something changed their life situation, which they cannot wind the clock back and make it right. They cannot.

We have to work with what we got. Is that easy? No.

Now we know God will help us in doing what we can.

And you and I know that God sees and He allows it, because in the end, He is for the best. We can't see that. We can't see that. We just ask why. But God wants you and I as a son and daughter in His kingdom, completely healthy, and He can turn this around for the better. Maybe not now, but He will do it in the resurrection. And it will be for the better, because the character and the lessons you and I have learned are so valuable.

So, brethren, I want to encourage you with a few things that we can do with God's help to overcome any sadness or feeling of depression or anxiety that we may have, and to build these connections, rebuild these lost connections. And so, the first one is that we need to maintain and improve our connection with God. That is not addressed in this book, but that is the first one. We really got to work. I'm going to change the word now from connection to relationship. We got to work in our relationship with God to be at one with Him. Remember the day of the town? To be at one with God.

And that's why Satan is put away to deceive us so that you and I can be at one with God. We got to maintain and improve that connection with God. And you and I know there's things like prayer, Bible study, occasional fasting, meditation, and you're already doing these things, I'm sure. Continue doing them. Don't give up, because when you are sad and depressed, the first thing you feel like is just, well, I'm not going to pray today. And it's just the wrong thing. We must maintain a close relationship with God. In the book of Psalms, David, as you and I know, encountered many challenges or situations which would be rather depressing. Try and put yourself in David's shoes. Sure, he made many mistakes, but he also got into many depressing or discouraging situations. And he, God inspired him to write for us some very encouraging songs that will help you when you are depressed. Paul. You and I know Paul lived through many difficult situations. Look with me in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And he says he encountered all these problems. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 8. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. You know, these difficulties, these pressures, came from every angle and every corner, but he did not allow himself to be destroyed or crushed or completely depressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We kind of say, how can this be? But he kept the faith. We are persecuted, but not forsaken by God. We are struck down, but not destroyed.

Brethren, do we have that gut to say, all these things have happened to my life. I have these problems. I have these difficulties. I have these health issues, whatever. But I am gonna stick the course. He focused, Paul focused, on the positive and did not allow these situations around him to destroy him. You know the story of Ruth. Ruth, in chapter 1, we have Naomi, Ruth's mother, or rather, mother-in-law. And in Ruth chapter 1 verse 20, she says, hey, don't call me Naomi.

Do not call me Naomi. In her words, don't call me happy or pleasant, but call me bitter. Call me mara, bitter. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty with nothing. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty as a fleeked knee? But you know, she remained faithful. She walked away. She walked the way, and she did not give up. And through her, Ruth, Ruth, a Gentile, became a mother of, in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Look at God. Out of a lemon made lemonade. God knows how to turn it around.

You just have to read Jeremiah. You read the story of Jeremiah. He was badly treated. I mean, when you read the story of Jeremiah, you can say, I'm glad I'm not in his shoes. He was badly treated. Why? Because he obeyed God. And because he prophesied against Jerusalem because of their sins.

But look that through Jeremiah, God used him to fulfill an important role in taking the king's daughters to another area, another country, as we know, so that God's promises of keeping David's throne to today will still continue. And so there's many cases. So the moral of the story is that you and I are not alone. There are others with serious problems and probably more serious than you and I have. And they're remaining faithful. And we've got many in the Bible here to show us they remain faithful. You just read the 5th chapter. Oh, many were rescued. But you read towards the end of the 5th chapter and it says, some were sown asunder. They were not rescued. They were sown asunder, but they remained in the faith. So those could be depressed, but they remain strong in the faith.

Look at the case of Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. Elijah was being persecuted by Jezebel, and she wanted him dead. I mean, just a great miracle had been done. But now, you know, just like he was on a high, and now that high was over, it's like the feast is over. We're back on real life, and now Jezebel wants to wipe him out. And so you read here in 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 3 and 4. When he saw that, here was that Jezebel wanted to wipe him out, by tomorrow, as it says in the previous verse, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs 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 broom tree, and he prayed that he might die, and said, It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's. Take me. I don't want to live anymore.

And so he was sustained by God through an angel for 40 days. And we read a little later in verse 10, and he says, So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets of the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.

And then we know in verse 12 that God starts talking to him, but it wasn't God when God talked to him. He was not in an earthquake, was not in a fire, but it was a still, small voice.

When you and I are down, and when we talk to other people that are down, we need to talk to them delicately with a still, small voice. They're fragile. We need to talk to them with loving care, delicately. That's how God spoke to Elijah. We need to treat people delicately. Why? Because their spirit is wounded. Their spirit of man in man is wounded. Turn with me to Proverbs 18 verse 14. Proverbs 18 verse 14. The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit? Oh yeah! When you're physically ill, you can just, well, I'll keep going. But when your spirit, your feelings, your emotions, your being is broken, that is not easy. That is not easy. Who can bear a broken spirit? God can. God can heal it. God can intervene. But it requires a relationship with God and a trust in God. It requires a connection with God.

For instance, in the first chapter of Luke, we read the story about Mary, that Angela told her that she was going to give birth to a son. You read that in Luke 1 verse 37. And Mary said, how is it possible? I had no relationship with a man.

And Angela says, with men it is impossible, but with God nothing is impossible.

Nothing is impossible. God can turn this problem that you have in a positive. Maybe not today. In his time, he knows better. He definitely will be able to use that handicap to help others in the future. We don't know how God is shaping you. He is the master potter. He is molding you with something. And this trial, this firing of the clay in this fire area, where the clay is fired and matured and readied. We don't understand it, but God understands what he knows, what he's doing with your life, and with my life. You look at the story, for instance, of Luke 18, where there was Christ talking about, yeah, rich men, rich people, it would be very difficult. It would be easier for a camel to get in through the eye of a needle than a rich man. And then people say, wow, how is that possible? And then Christ said, with man, it's impossible. But with God, everything is possible. God can turn it around in his own time. We want it today, but God's got a different thought about the day that he will fix it up. He will. He will fix it up. Turn with me to Matthew 17. In Matthew 17, there is a situation in which the apostles could not get some demons out of some people. Matthew 17, verse 20. And he says, in verse 19, he says, Why could we not cast it out? And so Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For surely I say to you, If a man have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you.

The mountain that you and I may have to move could be a depressive situation that we counter ourselves in. And God will move it out for us. We just have to have faith and trust in him that in his time, he will do it. In James chapter 1, verse 2 through 4, in James chapter 1, verse 2 through 4, My brethren, counter all joy when you fall into various trials. Counter all joy when you have this depression. Well, it's a trial, isn't it?

Knowing that the testing of your faith, you see, our absolute confidence and trust in God is being tested. Do we believe him and we have faith? In other words, do we trust him that he will fix it up in his time? This produces patience or perseverance, produces perseverance.

And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So there's something that you and I don't have.

And for God to make us that as a master potter, putting it into that clay oven, he's going to turn that fire on and cook that plate of clay until it becomes that beautiful, perfect masterpiece that he wants it. You and I have to trust God that he's doing it and that in the end you will be perfect, lacking nothing.

But when you and I are depressed, that's not going to be easy, is it? Of course not. But that's where our faith is being tested, and that creates perseverance, patient perseverance, stick to it-iveness.

So in the end, brethren, whatever God's got in mind for you, it will not be held back. He will do everything for you to achieve what he wants you to be. And this is what Job realized right at the end in Job 42, verse 2. Job 42, verse 2. Job 42, verse 2.

I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. What is God's purpose for you?

He says, I'll never leave or forsake you. He's going to bring you to that goal.

The only thing that can hold you back from getting there is you turning your back on him. So the very first thing you and I need to do when we are depressed is bolt, maintain, increase that connection with God.

And the second point is very much in line like when that manna came to Christ and said, let's look at that in Matthew 22, verse 36.

Teacher, what is the great commandment of the law? Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. Basically, Christ is saying that first connection that I just talked about that you and I need to maintain close to God is the great commandment. That's what we're going to maintain. And then he says the second commandment says in verse 39, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And so the second point I want to emphasize today is that you and I need to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Now, it does mean we need to love ourselves, but we love the neighbors as ourselves.

Yeah, we see a balanced care for others, but also for ourselves.

So we have to care for ourselves, but not neglect the others. You see, when one is depressed, what happens? You struggle with simple chores. When you are depressed, you struggle with getting out of bed. As simple as that. You're so depressed, I don't want to get out of bed. You struggle with simple household chores.

And we've got to look after ourselves. It says, love yourself, but love others as you love yourselves. You see, the pain can be so intense and so profound and deep that we lose the energy for meaningful relationships, meaningful relationships with other people.

We need to be at peace with all men, but Paul said in Romans 12, verse 18, if it be possible, within your means, live at peace with all men. Sometimes it's not possible, but within your means, you do your part. You know, it takes two to tango. You can do your part, but if the other person is not tangoing, you're not tangoing. I mean, you could be doing one of these modern dances, but that's not tango. Modern dances, you need just one person to be there in the middle of the flow and dance, but a tango needs two people. It's different.

And so, sometimes you can't be at peace with everybody, but you do your part.

You do your part. And so, how do you do that? You set specific little goals. Look at what you can be grateful about. Go out to serve others. We really have to go out and serve others. It gets the mind of me, myself, and I.

Look at Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 through 6. Rejoicing the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. That is like the opposite of being depressed.

You know, how do you get a cup not to be empty? You fill it up with water. You have to do the opposite.

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. Oh, but depression leads to anxiety, right? It says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. We've got to look for what we have and not for what we don't have.

So we've got to redirect ourselves.

And then it says, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. When you are depressed, that's not peace. But yeah, when we get close to God and we start putting positive thoughts in our mind, there is an inner peace that passes human understanding. And then it says, verse 8, think on positive things. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, etc. positive thoughts have positive thoughts. And then a little later, it says in verse 11, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. You've had this huge handicap. You've had this huge problem in your life. You'll never be the same again.

In whatever state I am, I am content. It's easy to speak, isn't it? It's easy to speak.

And then in verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It is an amazing bit of Scripture. You know, brethren, we've got to remember we are in a war, in the war of Satan, the war with enemies, we are in a war. But we've got to push forwards. And the last point is we've got to be connected with a job. We've got to be actively doing something. You know, we lose a job, you get depressed. Well, I can't support my family. I'm going to start, I'm going to get stuck. How am I going to get out of this problem? You know, there's a man called Rob Mendes. I don't know if any of you heard of him. He was born without limbs. You know, it was no arms, no hands, no legs, because of what they called Tretra, Tetramilia syndrome. Now, imagine that you've been born without arms, without legs. Imagine the mental trauma and depression that will cause. Do you know that on the 10th of July 2019, he won the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award? He won the Excellence in Sports Performance Award, an annual award. A man without arms and without legs. You see, you've got to redirect your thinking. God gives you talents. You know, the scripture, you know, there's 10 talents, five talents. Okay, you've lost 10 talents. Now you only got one. What are you going to do with it? You're going to bear it? Or are you going to use it and produce? The problem is we think, oh, well, I had 10 talents, now I only got one. Poor me, I only got one now. But we've got to say, I've got one. God left me with one. Let me use it. Let me use it. You see, brethren, yeah, we have three important points. You, you and I need to have a relationship with God. Be solid. We've got to have meaningful relationships with other people. And we have to work positively, have positive thoughts and work. You know, this writer suggests that the main cause of depression is external. It's all these factors that come upon us. But he says for us to overcome it, we have to reconnect. We have to make an effort to reconnect. Yes, we've got lost connections, but we've got to reconnect. And that is what we can do instead of looking at what we can't do. I pray, brethren, that these few points I've mentioned today may give you a sense of mission and purpose with the little bit you have to push forwards. And remember, God will help you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Let us therefore focus on what we can do with God's help.