As you travel life’s journey, you can take the road from depression to fullness of life.
Elijha was a man of God who stared depression in the face. He saw the symptoms in his life and was well on the road to full depression. His story is a great example to show there is a way out of your depression that will lead you to living in the fullness of life.
Elijah gathered the false prophets of his day, prophets his own people followed instead of following the True God, and challenged then to a contest to see which God would respond. But, no matter how loudly they shouted or no matter how often they cut themselves, the false prophets could not get their gods to response. Elijah then gathered the people, called on the name of the True God, and saw the Lord bring fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. The people saw the foreign gods exposed for their falsehood and saw the awesome power of the true God. Sadly, the king was so displeased by this event that he swore an oath to kill Elijah.
Elijah was afraid of being killed by his own king and ran for his life. He was exhausted emotionally from the contest and exhausted physically from running. He had gone without food and water and had become easily agitated as a result. He was so overcome by his feelings of hopelessness because of his king’s response and the people’s refusal to follow the True God that he felt useless, empty, alone and lifeless. He was so captivated by his despair that he could feel sadness no longer. He was apathetic towards his calling to the point that he felt his only recourse was to self harm and then face death.
It was as if he was in a pit of brokenness, alone, in the dark, and captivated by the feelings of emptiness and fear. You may be feeling that you are in that same pit. You may feel that the pit is so deep and your problem too difficult that you have given up hope of being rescued. Your anxiety, shame, or guilt may have led to your depression. Maybe you are depressed because of an intense feeling of insignificance. But, know that God has not forgotten you. He sees you right now and He loves you. All you must do is to turn to Him, as Elijah did, and give Him control of your life. He will restore you to experience fullness of life that you never dreamed possible.
God reached out to Elijah and brought had an angel to touch him and bring him food and water. Elijah then turned to God and explained his situation one more time. God responded by telling Elijah to stand outside of the cave where he was hiding and to stand in His presence. Here is what the Bible says happened next: “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (I Kings 19:11-12). The Lord’s voice was that gentle whisper. See, the change you need is not an awesome display of raw power that eliminates your enemies and forces your desired change.
The way out of your depression, and onto the road to fullness of life, starts by you entering the presence of the True God; Almighty God. God is in the pit with you right now! He is ready and willing to speak to you, to bring His change to your life, and to give you hope. If you look for Him, He will be found by you. He was there all the time.
God wants you in His presence so much that He gave Jesus Christ, His one and only Son, to pay the penalty for your sins … the sins that keep you from His presence … so that you can enter into a loving relationship with Him. Jesus will help you right now. All you must do is to ask Him to help you. He will take you from the solitude of your darkness and bring you into the light of His love. Once you accept Him, you will discover that you are on the road to recovery. Your journey to healing may be instantaneous or it may take time to throw off the old mindset and learn a new way of thinking and living. But know this: if you give him control of your heart and mind right now then He will walk with you and take you into a new season of your life.
Let’s talk with Jesus right now and ask Him to take away your depression and emptiness and give you fullness of life …
“Dear Jesus, I do not want to be in depression anymore. I surrender my heart to you and ask that you take control of all that I am. Thank you for replacing my depression with hope and purpose, and for giving me fullness of life.”
Jesus loves you!