Today’s devo is from Shiann:
I shall never likely forget my feelings in response to the first time someone I respected and generally believed told me that my depression had a direct link to my pride. He was speaking in a lecture setting and didn’t state this directly to me, but the Holy Spirit made sure it cut deep (Job 3:17-18 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.”).
Though it may not be true for the whole of everyone’s depression, I now believe it to be a part of all depression. We could easily debate all day as to what might start or finish it. However, somewhere in the middle, pride lives and the Deceiver propagates evil intent. Oh, and have I let him!
I have frequently had the thought grow into a poisonous, gnarled tree in my head “I am not what God says I am.” I have ingested the fruit of that tree, producing thoughts and then behaviors that indicate He is not the holder of Truth. My version of the story must be true. Because it feels, thinks, tastes, looks, smells as if it were true. That, friends, is pride. I am right, not the I AM.
As I have worked to allow God’s story to be the version I believe, this truth has jumped out to me in the Scriptures repeatedly. God’s desire is for us to manage our thoughts and He give us so many ways to do this. Read with me one from the Easy-to-Read version of Scripture:
Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.
Philippians 4:8
We get to choose if we allow the Evil One to work our thoughts over or not. It may not feel like we are choosing. We are choosing nonetheless.
The temptation to think about the negative is so strong. Yet God beckons us through the pen of our brother Paul, look at the good stuff. Focus on the beauty of nature, the laughter of children, the improvements our boys have made, the feel-good story of someone's sacrificial living.
The truth is I have the power to choose. Will I believe that God says I'm enough/not too much? Will I believe that there are good things going on even when I can't see/feel it? Or will I give up my choice and let another choose for me? Will I do the work required to allow God to change my thinking? Will I allow the pain of change to overtake my desire to have change happen or will I look to the future and believe that God has a work to finish in me?
May you believe the Truth of God's words today and may it be the filter you use for other information you process.
Shiann
Showing posts with label depression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label depression. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Keep moving ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die:
"It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat."
He looked, and there at his head was a cake
baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.
He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came a second time,
touched him, and said, "Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
For many reasons, Elijah is done.
The depression that has plagued him for so many years
has nearly mastered him, nearly become his god.
Which is ironic considering Elijah’s record on idolatry.
Yet still he can hear and respond to the voice of God’s
messengers; he rises to eat and to drink.
Sometimes life with God brings great power
and passion and joy – and then at other times
that same life brings the need for perseverance
and obedience and faithfulness, all in the face of
the great grief that we share with God
when we walk with God.
When we see the world the way God sees it,
when we think thoughts that are like God’s thoughts,
when we feel feelings that mirror our Master’s,
then there are going to be days of great joy,
and days of great grief.
However much grief God expects us to endure,
his awareness, and his share is infinitely more.
yet he keeps moving toward the end of the story.
On the tough days, even on the toughest days,
that is precisely what we need to do.
Keep moving toward the end of the story,
because that is where the real purposes of God,
and blessings of God, and joy of God
are going to be revealed to us,
and experienced by us.
We won't have to ask when we've come to
the end of our story; we'll know.
Keep moving toward the end of the story.
Ron
1 Kings 19:4-9 – NRSV
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die:
"It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat."
He looked, and there at his head was a cake
baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.
He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came a second time,
touched him, and said, "Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
For many reasons, Elijah is done.
The depression that has plagued him for so many years
has nearly mastered him, nearly become his god.
Which is ironic considering Elijah’s record on idolatry.
Yet still he can hear and respond to the voice of God’s
messengers; he rises to eat and to drink.
Sometimes life with God brings great power
and passion and joy – and then at other times
that same life brings the need for perseverance
and obedience and faithfulness, all in the face of
the great grief that we share with God
when we walk with God.
When we see the world the way God sees it,
when we think thoughts that are like God’s thoughts,
when we feel feelings that mirror our Master’s,
then there are going to be days of great joy,
and days of great grief.
However much grief God expects us to endure,
his awareness, and his share is infinitely more.
yet he keeps moving toward the end of the story.
On the tough days, even on the toughest days,
that is precisely what we need to do.
Keep moving toward the end of the story,
because that is where the real purposes of God,
and blessings of God, and joy of God
are going to be revealed to us,
and experienced by us.
We won't have to ask when we've come to
the end of our story; we'll know.
Keep moving toward the end of the story.
Ron
1 Kings 19:4-9 – NRSV
Monday, February 16, 2009
More than a pleasant dream ...
Our devotionals last week led us to consider truth, and the virtue and practice of truth-seeking and truthfulness. For centuries, these virtues have been central to Christians. The trouble is, sometimes an awareness of truth, and the reality that truth makes harshly clear, bring us to despair. Truth can be troubling. We understand what God’s truth requires of humanity. We understand what kind of humanity we are. The difference is enough to overwhelm us.
How about an example? As Christians, we understand that Jesus prayed for us to be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). Paul tells us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Yet it does not take a very sophisticated analysis to reveal the truth that the church is far from united, no matter how you define church. Those of us who have worked toward even uniting a relatively small group of people can tell you that the challenges involved with this task very quickly bring one into an encounter with the temptation to despair. Those who don’t have the heart for despair tend to become cynics.
Why do I say that considering despair is a temptation? Because despair is denial. It doubts the victory of Jesus. It questions the love of God. It ignores our status as favored children. Christians are to continue faithfully, even when “we are afflicted in every way.” We might be perplexed, but we ought not be crushed. We are “not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Despair is a sin. Despair practiced is a vice. Despair is depression gone to seed and raised to the second and third generation. Despair is not a godly practice for any Christian.
Instead, Christians ought to practice hope. Practicing hope leads to hope. After all, we have been called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Hope is more than some pleasant dream, some fond wish, or even a hard-worked for desire. In the Bible, and in our faith, hope is the reasonable, even unshakable belief that God will do what he said he will do. God is not ignorant of truth. God is Truth. God knows the reality of his hope and the realities of humanity better than humanity knows itself. Yet this God of Truth acts toward making our hope reality. To deny hope and take up despair or cynicism is to slap the God of Hope in the face.
If any Christian was ever tempted to cynicism or despair, it would have to have been Paul. Yet hear the good news about hope that pours from his pen:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25
As we explore the practice and virtue of hope this week, may we see that it is not blindness to reality, simple optimism, or a delaying tactic. Instead, let us practice hope and see that it is the key that opens up a new godly reality in our world today. Today.
May God stir in us a powerful hope,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
How about an example? As Christians, we understand that Jesus prayed for us to be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). Paul tells us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Yet it does not take a very sophisticated analysis to reveal the truth that the church is far from united, no matter how you define church. Those of us who have worked toward even uniting a relatively small group of people can tell you that the challenges involved with this task very quickly bring one into an encounter with the temptation to despair. Those who don’t have the heart for despair tend to become cynics.
Why do I say that considering despair is a temptation? Because despair is denial. It doubts the victory of Jesus. It questions the love of God. It ignores our status as favored children. Christians are to continue faithfully, even when “we are afflicted in every way.” We might be perplexed, but we ought not be crushed. We are “not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Despair is a sin. Despair practiced is a vice. Despair is depression gone to seed and raised to the second and third generation. Despair is not a godly practice for any Christian.
Instead, Christians ought to practice hope. Practicing hope leads to hope. After all, we have been called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Hope is more than some pleasant dream, some fond wish, or even a hard-worked for desire. In the Bible, and in our faith, hope is the reasonable, even unshakable belief that God will do what he said he will do. God is not ignorant of truth. God is Truth. God knows the reality of his hope and the realities of humanity better than humanity knows itself. Yet this God of Truth acts toward making our hope reality. To deny hope and take up despair or cynicism is to slap the God of Hope in the face.
If any Christian was ever tempted to cynicism or despair, it would have to have been Paul. Yet hear the good news about hope that pours from his pen:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25
As we explore the practice and virtue of hope this week, may we see that it is not blindness to reality, simple optimism, or a delaying tactic. Instead, let us practice hope and see that it is the key that opens up a new godly reality in our world today. Today.
May God stir in us a powerful hope,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
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