Going Muddin' 

      Through Depression

                                                                           

 

 

 

Depression. . .

                                              

In the worship service, my pastor, Ken Shaddox, preached on the reasons for and prevention of the epidemic of depression.

It’s fast becoming a top-five disease in North America due to things like:

• Stress
• Unmet expectations
• Losses in life
• Physical/chemical/hormonal issues
• You-name-it other reasons

A healer of depression can be “The Big Three”--

1) 7-8 hours sleep,

2) nutrition improvement,

3) exercise.

Not kidding. It’s a scientific fact that “The Big Three” fight back depression.

Another healer is the spiritual principle of possessing hope. Depression can spring a leak in our spirit and totally drain the hope right out of life.

Ken emphasized that such wonderful hope to combat life's hopelessness is found in the personality of God.

Wow.

I love that.

Don’t we all love to be around those personalities 

who embrace and embody hope? 

And so it is with God.

Or as Lamentations 3:21-23 says: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Ken opened up our eyes to three words in this passage that are life-giving when battling depression.   (Hint: they are highlighted!)  

 

Hope, God’s great love, and God’s great faithfulness can make a remarkable difference 

in a troubled mind, 

an aching heart, 

and in a mud-puddled life.

This afternoon I dropped by my hospital to check on a patient. In the process I reunited with a nurse-friend who I never get to see anymore because she only works weekends.  She and I hugged and laughed and hugged some more right there in the middle of the unit.

Then we got quiet, eye-balled each other, and asked each other: “How are you really doing?”

She told me she had fought with compassion fatigue.

"Me too," I said, "plus significant depression."

She, too, spoke of her fight against depression.

“I was under it. Really under it. But I couldn't figure out why.” She said. “And finally I saw myself for what was going on. 

I was DEPRESSED, and my constant depression was blocking me from receiving blessing.”

“What do you mean blessing?” I squinted at her and asked.

“You know. God’s blessing. His gifts and goodness. I was so focused on myself and my hurt and my sadness that I could not see anything else. We get stuck looking inward at ourselves.” She smiled that big smile at me and was looking deep into me. I wondered if she was reading my emotional mail.

“So how do you receive God’s blessing when the depression is at you so hard?” I had to know.

Had to.

“Well…hummm….” She smiled, thought a bit, and eye-balled me again with a warm love. That’s her style. "Well when you turn it around and try to keep your eyes more on God than on yourself, even when you are hurting so bad, then you and God can do things like . . . 

turn that ole depression
mud puddle 

                                into a mud facial—

                making you bee-uu-tee-full!”

We laughed and laughed.

I smiled to myself as I walked towards my car to go home.  Appropriate medicine and some incredible counselors have been healing gifts from God  for me. Yet no matter the struggle I might have with the blues and depression, I welled up with new inner joy at the thought that I am on my way to becoming a bee-uu-tee-full  “Cover Girl” in my soul and spirit.

It gives me life-giving hope

        that God can make
            mountains into molehills 

    and mud holes
                       into mud facials.

by Candace K Hardin