4. Depression

Slide 5 of 5

Maybe it isn’t a fear that plagues us, but a deep sadness that slowly chips away at your will to even move towards God. This is the torment of depression. You may be able to identify what is wrong but be convinced of the lie that you don’t have the will to do anything about it. The great news is that even if you do not have the will to move, the Spirit within you, even if you’ve been resisting him, does. If you give full reign over to the Spirit he will show you the way in which you should walk to once again find hope and life abundant. 

What great hope there is in the presence of our Savior. The psalmists rightly remind themselves of this when they preached to their own souls. Look at this passage from Psalm 42 by the Sons of Korah:

“My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you…” (Psalm 42:3-6)

Here the psalmist even during his feast of tears finds a way to remember God. A slight shift of the mind, a directing of the thinking patterns is all that happens here, but it is enough to move him from despair to hope. When we remember what God has said to us and begin to hope that we can repent and return to his will, we will begin to experience the supernatural energy that comes from obedience to the Spirit of God.

Remember “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). The Spirit of the Lord is a gift to us. Jesus himself said, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [the Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). It is a dire situation indeed to be resisting the Spirit. Not only will it most likely lead to destruction, but disobedience takes us captive and stunts our growth as people who bear the image of God. We fight for freedom when we choose to surrender to the Spirit and the Spirit leads us towards ever-increasing glory in Christ (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18).

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