Depression: A refining process used by God

In this world depression is viewed generally as a bad thing even in the church.
The famous missionary such as Adnorium judson who had to dig the grave for his second wife got depressed the first american missionary.

In a work driven, money, greed driven society people who do not fit into the system are seen as lesser than everyone else.

I have a friend who liturally can not work, and because he cannot work he is seen even by church members as sometimes not being vaild.

William Cowper who wrote the Hymn oh what a closer walk with god was another man who was in a state of depression all the time.
Great friend of John Newton

I think I remember reading a quote that the missionaries worst nightmare is depression and I cannot find where the quote comes from.

I wish I could tell all the great things god has told me when I have been depressed. I also find that people who have been depressed look at people who are struggling in a lot more gentler manner than someone who has not been through depression.

Sometimes we are so busy that we do not get time to analyse things

Re 2:2 - Show Context
I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

Re 2:5 - Show Context
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.

Re 2:9 - Show Context
I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Re 2:13 - Show Context
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Re 2:19 - Show Context
I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.

Re 2:23 - Show Context
I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

Re 2:26 - Show Context
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations--

Re 3:1 - Show Context
"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Re 3:2 - Show Context
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

Re 3:8 - Show Context
I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Re 3:15 - Show Context
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

Re 9:20 - Show Context
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

Re 14:13 - Show Context
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them."

Re 15:3 - Show Context
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

Re 18:6 - Show Context
Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.

Re 20:12 - Show Context
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Re 20:13 - Show Context
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

People can be seen doing alot of things but whether they are inspired by the Lord is another thing.
It sometimes take depression to wake people up or even me up to the fact, god does not want me to be doing this.

Living by Works is sometimes hidden by the fact that People do not live by Faith such as in todays society. We should save the planet, reduce the carbon footprint , get rid of poverty, but not including or even asking Jesus must be in my eyes the worst.

A world which wants to solve its own problems without needing a saviour is probably the most proud you can get. I think God has a right to judge these movements.

Depression is sometimes a wakeup call and a realization that we need a saviour.

As this website is full of preachers who tell it like it is, with no holding back, forgive me if I do the same.

As Katy said, there [i]is[/i] a type of clinical depression which "needs" to be treated with medication. On this I can't speak with wisdom because I am not a doctor or psychologist. Even then, that doctor or psychologist would have to be a Bible-believing, walking with God Christian before I would take any of their advice on the matter! After all, you do not give pills to someone who is oppressed instead of depressed.

Depression, of which I have past experience, is selfishness. When a person becomes depressed, all of their thoughts are upon themselves and no one else. They are being ruled by their emotions and it can lead to sin. Emotions lead people astray.

The depressed person does not need to be molly-coddled or pitied. There are times to show compassion, yes, but not to the one who uses their depression to gain sympathy from others.

Americans are depressed and I can tell you why! It's as Brother Leonard Ravenhill says, "They're entertaining themselves to death!" There is a longing in the heart of every man, woman and child that only God can fulfill. Yet, America has tried to fulfill that longing with anything and everything else. Entertainment, devices, inventions, lusts, desires, money, other people... People become depressed when they realize that the great longing inside them isn't being fulfilled by these things, yet they still reject God.

Depression is nothing more than rejecting God, selfishness, not concerned for anyone else, wanting to be happy, thinking about nothing but yourself. It is of the devil and must be dealt with as such. Christians can get depressed, yes, but when it happens, the Christian should immediately recognize it as an attack and deal with it as one and not go along with it for awhile first.

Look at it as Satan in your ear, saying: "Poor you. When are things going to go right for you? Everyone else seems to be happy so why can't I be? Does God want me miserable, depressed, hurting and struggling [i]all[/i] the time? Why can't something good happen for me just once?"

We cannot stroke our emotions by playing along even for a minute! That will give the devil his foothold! We must combat it immediately with scripture. Be prepared! If you're prone to attacks of depression, fore-arm yourself with the scriptures you need to fight back! You will be held accountable for it! When you stand before the Great Throne on Judgement Day, the "rough childhood" or "depression" argument won't work with God like it does in our human courts. Don't doubt it!

Three verses in the Psalms state the very same thing:
Psalm 42:5 and vs 11 and Psalm 43:5 all say :

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.

In the psalmist despair, he chastises himself for being down but he's also wise enough to know how to get out of it. He knows that no matter how he feels, or what the circumstances around him may be, that he has his hope in God. Praising God will lift him out of it. He's being honest and saying that he's depressed and he tells God about it, but only to get it off his chest.

The cure for depression is prayer, Bible study and applying the Word. Especially when you don't feel like it. In cases where it's anger-related, get pastoral counseling and apply forgiveness! Have friends or church members there to support and pray for you. If they're worth their salt, they will. But be careful to not have to rely on them time and time again! Go to God and together you can fight and win this battle once and for all. Don't become self-absorbed but put your focus on Christ and others.

HE_Reigns wrote:

Quote:
SimpleLiving wrote:

As Katy said, there is a type of clinical depression which "needs" to be treated with medication. On this I can't speak with wisdom because I am not a doctor or psychologist.

Now I am depressed.

Dear dear brother - please, if you can, read more from those links I left. They'll give more links.

Believe me, I'm right there with you. That's why I put the word "needs" in quotations. Looking back, I don't believe I stated it well enough. Being that I have no experience with "clinical" depression, I didn't think it fair to completely disregard the possibility of it.

I am of the personal belief that depression, in any form, is overcome through prayer, the Word, the application of the Word, getting our minds off of ourselves and onto Christ and other people. If drugs are necessary, there's something far worse than depression going on.

"But God" ....

But God... indeed! Therein lies the victory!

Helping other people is - forgive the word - addictive, isn't it?!
I love serving other people. Knowing that you are serving people that God loves causes you to love them, too! And, oh, how it pleases the Father, which is our great joy! I believe the joy we feel while serving others is actually the Father's joy!

Aside from being in His presence, I am at my happiest when I'm serving! That certainly appears to add proof to our side of the depression question.

I've been there. I've been depressed. I couldn't function. A doctor told me I was depressed and prescribed Xanax for me. THAT was my cure! The doctor thought I was in such a bad state that I needed drugs to get better. That was the kick in the pants that I needed! Drugs give people an excuse to not deal with the real issues. They're an enabler, when it comes to depression. Once people start taking them, they begin to rely on their affects and trust in them. It's not what God wants for anyone!

I wasn't even walking with God when all this happened! I knew, on my own, that I was in the middle of big pity party and the cure was to stop thinking about myself. And I was right. I never even had the prescription filled. I walked out of that office cured.

I also find that people who have been depressed look at people who are struggling in a lot more gentler manner than someone who has not been through depression.

My heart goes out to those suffering.

I would like to recommend the article "A Look at Depression Through the Lens of Scripture" by Gary Gilley found [url=http://www.thepathlesstraveled.net/documents/122.html]Here[/url]

There are many, I'm sorry to say , well meaning Christians who can actually hinder then help, who present a crossless Christ.

Amen.

Katy,

I'm very grateful that you saw my post for what I meant it to be. Depression [i]is[/i] a horrible thing to go through. It's more than just "being sad." and it's not easy by any reasoning. I hoped I didn't come across as harsh and unfeeling because it wasn't my intention. I do have compassion for those who are struggling with it. It's easy for me to get angry [b]at[/b] depression because I went through it. It can be crippling if gone untreated correctly. Treating it with drugs adds to the crippling, like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. It's not really helping, it's just giving the appearance that it is.

Well meaning people whose only wish is that their depressed friend or love one feel better really aren't helping when they treat a worldly problem (depression) with another worldly problem (pity). Self-pity is only made stronger when its fed the pity of others. We must starve it, and not feed it, in order to kill it.

This is one of the reasons its important to be involved in a good, Bible-believing church whose members are walking with God and not playing at being Christians. Part of our purpose is to help each other with counsel and accountability. To lift each other up before the Lord and bathe them with prayer in His presence. But, first and foremost, I firmly believe that God ought to be sought first. He is our source, not people. If we are seeking the help of people, before we seek God, then those people become idols in our lives.

One thing I want to define is the difference between opression and depression. Opression is spiritual say that you have done something wrong like Saul I was say he was opressed rather than depressed because he had lost the spirit of the Lord. Job I say was depressed. This is a hard question. In our country we deal with everything with a pill or clinical. I do believe in clinical depression and pills can heal.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10
8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Elijah
1Ki 19:4 - Show Context
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 fathers!"

Job is an example in itselfs and the Psalms.

Job,Moses, Elijah, David and Others in the bible experienced depression.
I would say opression is
demonic.

Depression is nothing more than rejecting God, selfishness, not concerned for anyone else, wanting to be happy, thinking about nothing but yourself. It is of the devil and must be dealt with as such.

I would disagree as Job and Elijah obeyed god yet still got depressed.

I know depression from experience. For me it is God's agent to drive me to mortification of myself. A dead man has nothing to bemoan. I can recall many occassions where I went out into the dark of the night to seek God and came back with my burden lifted and overflowing with praise and thankgiving or swimming in a river of divine peace.

Philip