Finding God In Your DepressionSample
Day 7
We’ve journeyed together for the last six days, looking closely at various passages of Scripture to not only help us cope with, but also overcome depression. Here’s what we’ve covered:
· Like the speaker in Psalm 42, we can lay bare our pain and anguish before God and lean on his constant love.
· We are invited to embrace Scripture’s challenge to rid ourselves of anxiety thereby lightening the heart.
· As happened for Job, out of our suffering we can come away with a fresh perspective about God.
· David praises God for delivering him out of dark despair. We can follow suit in anticipation of our own deliverance.
· Isaiah describes God in ways that challenge us to wait patiently for his help.
· We can all use some good news and Luke, a doctor, writes about the good news that Jesus brings.
Today we take another look at God’s love—a love that never lets us go. Many of us discover who really loves us only when we hit rock bottom. People sometimes leave our lives when it seems we take too long to recover or when our burdens become too much for them to help bear. But Paul the apostle says something worth remembering about God’s love, as we face depression or any other challenge that comes our way.
Pray
God, help me to wholeheartedly receive your Word that comes to lift me up and guide me into new and better days.
Read
Paul describes a love that nothing, including depression, can diminish.
Romans 8:38-39
Reflect
Paul speaks with full conviction about his subject matter—“there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord” (verse 39 GNT). What are your thoughts about this? How do you feel about the idea that God’s love is guaranteed, even when the love of others is not enough to get you over the hurdles that depression thrusts your way?
Respond
Write down Romans 8:39 and post it where you will see it often. Let it serve as a reminder of God’s love that stays, no matter what each day brings.
Scripture
About this Plan
The Bible may seem an unlikely source to turn to for answers, but there’s no mistaking the face of depression as a psalmist cries out to God in anguish or as Job laments the day of his birth. Amid their pain and suffering, they find hope in God. Their accounts and the encouraging words of others in Scripture can help you navigate the murky waters of depression.
More
We would like to thank American Bible Society for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: http://bibleresources.americanbible.org/