January 7, 2013
-
letter to a friend going through depression that may help some others too…
Please read this post carefully – I really sense there are words in here that the Holy Spirit wants you to receive deep within your spirit:
Don’t enpower any one of us to make you feel worse with our “advice”.
Please don’t withdraw!
Depression is DIFFICULT!! It can be physically based and/or from emotional wounds from the past (even moments of rejection in the womb!), demonically enhanced, a lack of certain vitamins/minerals/ sunshine/exercise, and/or it can be something negative we have to face (anger, unforgiveness, sin, etc.). NONE of us is in a position to say “Snap out of it”. I suffered depression for awhile in 1964, 1966–to 1968, and then again around 1971 or so. Actually, some again in 1975. I did literally get deliverance from some pesky demons and have not been depressed since, i.e., the kind of heaviness/gloom that lasts and lasts and you cannot see colors, beauty, etc.
There can be a genetic propensity too – WHO KNOWS all of the factors involved in each person individually (uniquely) other than our Lord.
I do know that listening to and agreeing with praise and worship music can help a great deal (“the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”) – sometimes we just plow through our listening to the music by faith because the heaviness is so very HEAVY.
Please, please know that the quick “faith” answers don’t always reflect the kind of faith God is looking for….sometimes it is our faith that has to WAR through for weeks and weeks with trust in God while the battle is raging and dark. The Spirit of Christ within our spirit does the work while we trust Him to deliver us.
I was actually deeply HURT by that “to a fault” “faith fad” that was raging in the ‘70’s when folks would respond to someone else’s , e.g., migraine with a “just confess your healing and move on”. IF the headache is still there after their prayer, I WILL take an aspirin! I will not sneak and take one just to please the person who prayed for me.
People used to literally throw away their glasses after being prayed for and I would say , “That is ridiculous – if God healed the person , the glasses will not work properly anymore and if He did not, they will still need the glasses”. We don’t have to say or do presumptuous stuff to keep from looking faithless. God is big enough to see where we are truly at – we will not hurt His feelings if we need a second, third, and fourth touch from Him over a long period of time.
I have faith in God even IF He chooses – for whatever reason – to allow things to linger. Or, like Job I can say, “though He slay me…” Ignore the ignorance of some “ faith teachers” who say it was Job’s own fault because “the thing he greatly feared” happened. Before it all happened God Himself told the devil Job was perfect in his behavior. The trial was a test to make Job’s testimony a blessing to us all to the praise of God. Job KEPT a good testimony through all his trials and God multiplied blessings to him afterwards.
Please stop beating yourself up and/or giving away to others the power to define what you need or are in response to your tribulation…just hold on to the Lord no matter what. You are a treasure of helpfulness to the body of Christ and the enemy wants to shut you down. Sort through all the advice and receive what resonants in your spirit as words from His Spirit.
Even if you make a Facebook post that looks like it came out of the lamenting portions of Lamentations, it is good for us Christians to FACE the fact the we do experience tribulation in this world (all the while remembering that (deep in our spirit) to “be of good cheer” because the Lord overcame the world) . Sometimes our spirit man is dancing while our soul and bodies are lamenting. Yes, I know that sounds strange, but that is the way it can be in the midst of the warfare.
I pray you withstand this new bout of warfare and even in the midst of it that you sense the Lord’s loving presence in spite of it!!!!!! He LOVES you! He is your Father!!! Unlike any earthly father ever could be….
Many die in their battle with, e.g., cancer not knowing WHY the healing did not appear.
There are simply things we do not understand and we think we are doing someone a favor when we have some simple, quick answer to “encourage” them.
Note to all of us when we make that mistake: I do know we do it out of a loving attempt to help and we do mean well….and sometimes we just share what we have been taught. Having never been through depression, we just cannot imagine what someone is going through so we say the standard things we hear everyone else say.
Once I told a friend after she complained about all the stupid stuff people said to her at her dad’s funeral: “Overlook the feeble, bumbling attempts of some of your friends to comfort you – just celebrate the love it took for them to show up to demonstrate their sympathy”.
I pray you have a testimony here and there concerning the victory in the battles and I also pray there come the day the overall war is over completely!!
