Thomas Adams -
He who reforms himself, has done much toward reforming others; and one reason why the world is not reformed, is, because each would have others make a beginning, and never thinks of himself doing it.
How true is this quote. We love waiting for other people to start something and in the process we fail to see how we can be the one to start it.
So many people are filled with fear. Whether it's the fear of the future, one's health, your job or life in general and to be honest most of us fall into that trap. The question we need to ask ourselves though is - do we believe that God cares for us and that He has great plans and purposes for us. He cares so much and it means there's nothing we have to fear.
1 Peter 5:7 tells us that we must cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us.
Bob Phillips has a great analogy which I will paraphrase. When flying and you are worried and scared you won't run to the cockpit to tell the Captain how to fly the plane because he is the professional and you are not. He knows exactly what he is doing. The same goes for God, He is God and you are not. He needs to be the Captain of your life because He knows what He is doing. He doesn't need our help or for us to tell Him how to manage our lives.
Nothing can be accomplished by us worrying about the daily issues of our lives. Give control over to God because He knows exactly what to do.
Furthermore, God knows exactly what you are facing and He is with you. He knows you are scared about the future but He's got you. He is saying to you "Peace, be still", He wants to quite the turmoil in your life.
God is not a stranger to people suffering from depression. We find many men in the Bible who suffered from it. For example: Cain, Moses, Elijah, David, Jonah, Judas and others. In fact, David experienced it many times. Some of his depression was caused becasue of guilty feelings as a result of sin in his life.
An interesting question to ask yourself is whether your depression has been caused by guilt? Have you done something you shouldn't have or maybe you haven't done something that you should have. When this happens our conscience won't let us rest until the matter is dealt with because guilt can morph itself into anxiety and depression which can eat away at you.
To get our joy and gladness back we need to seek forgiveness from God and people that we might have hurt. This is the only way that God can cleanse our hearts so that we can experience freedom. However we need to be willing to admit when we have done something wrong, don't allow pride to hinder you from admitting your failures, any wrongdoing or sin in your life.
Nobody likes being accused of being guilty that is why it is necessary to take responsibility and ownership for our words and actions and to admit our guilt. The moment you blame someone else you give up your power to change.
Each person has been given a unique item in hearts and it is called our conscience which is the still small inner voice that either accuses or excuses our thoughts, words and behaviour. As soon as the conscience accuses us we feel guilty and if we don't admit our guilt all kinds of fears and anxieties creep in and can ultimately lead to unrelenting depression.
So the question would be - how does one deal with a guilty conscience? Well, ideally there is 7 important steps to take, namely:
Take responsibility
Have regret - it comes in the form of sorrow
Have remorse
Show repentence
Seek restitution
The above will lead to release in your life
Finally seek reconciliation
Other reasons people become depressed are because of greed, hatred, pride and envy, stress, lust as well as anger and jealousy. In ourselves we cannot overcome this but by following Jesus' example we can. We need to remember that Jesus faced the same issues that we do and even worse at times. That is why we can go to Jesus with all our hurts and longings because we don't have to bear our anxiety and depression alone. Jesus will always come alongside us, lift us out of the pit of despair and He will place our feet on the solid rock of His love.
Jesus loves you and wants the best for you. All you have to do is turn to Him and ask Him for His help. Remember you are not alone, He is always with you.
Comments