Dealing with Depression
The first way that God examines us is by His light. Light began with God, He said, let there be light and there was light, that is physically, however, the light that is spiritual began with Him as well, and it is by Him speaking the light into our darkened hearts that we are illuminated. The darkness of depression is a place without the light of God illuminating it, thus He must speak His light into such a place.
That doesn’t mean that a person who is in depression isn’t in the Word, but that God must illuminate His Word in them, the power of the Word of God is His Holy Spirit illumination of it.
Consider the following verses, Psalm 4:6 “There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” Psalm 36:9 “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” And Psalm 97:11 “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”
Wow, I like that verse. Consider the thought here, light is sown. We think in terms of sowing a seed, but God sows light, that meaning it is planted for a purpose, it is not just floating around aimlessly. Physical light is sown by God for the purpose of bringing forth the fruit of the ground thus making provision for us. Spiritually light has been sown as well, it was sown by Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. It was also sown in His Word, and it in such a manner has been planted for the purpose of bringing forth more light.
Just as things planted rarely brings forth only one of themselves, but much fruit is produced by the planting of one seed, so too much light is produced by the sowing of light. Psalm 112:4 says, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.” Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” And Psalm 119:130 tells us, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
God’s response to our obedience is to begin to shed His light into the darkness of our depression and illuminate our souls.
The next thing that God uses to judge us is His truth. Psalm 119:151 says, “Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.” Jesus said in John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” When God’s Word is sent out to our hearts, it reveals what is in error in our hearts.
We said before that the reason for depression is that we have believed a lie from the enemy. Only the acceptance of the truth can challenge the lie and correct it. Once we accept that God’s Word is truth, and begin to ask Him to judge us and correct our error by it, we must commit ourselves to obey whatever He tells us to do.
James 1:22-25 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
