Ladies ~ Are you struggling with depression? Are you facing difficult times? Today in our Daily Bible Reading Together group we read Lamentations chapter three. There are valuable lessons that we can learn from Jeremiah on the subject of depression. This chapter has been helpful to me in MANY ways for counseling reasons. Let me share a few of them with you: 1. The first 20 verses describe lamentation and mourning. This chapter help us to understand what a person that is depressed feels like. (These are the exact same things that people express to me TODAY when they are in depression). Jeremiah strives to describe what is going on inside of himself as he watches the people sin and be judged by God. I like to understand how people feel and what they are experiencing so that I can best help them (and know what to look for in my own heart so that I can counsel myself in time of difficulty and sadness) – a. afflicted/chastened by God (1) (Jeremiah wasn’t being chastened but he felt it & took it to heart as he witnessed it…. Just like parents hurt when their children are suffering). b. feelings of ‘not light at the end of the tunnel’ (2) [ie. No hope]. c. perpetual negativity (3). d. stengthless (4). e. surrounded by hardship (5). f. feelings of everything being ‘darkness’ (6). g. inescapable hardship (7). h. feeling as if even God won’t hear [despair] (8). i. confusion (9). j. an accident just waiting to happen (10). k. hopelessness & despair (11). l. God is aiming calamities his way (12). m. penetrating hardships [unbearable] (13). n. ‘everyone’s’ against me [beguilement] (14). o. God did this to me (15). p. feelings of forced humility [yet not humble] (16). q. bereft of peace/no happiness (17). h. feelings of no hope (18). i. a plea for pity (19). j. continual mulling of woes (20). 2. Verses 20-24 show us what turned his depressive thoughts around. Our world does not like these answers – but they still work today. What happened? What gave that disparaging man hope?????? The answer is - HIS MINDSET. HIS FOCUS. “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:” (21) What happened - what gave this hopeless man hope? Remember that his mind was filled with despair and he had felt that he had no hope like that sad list describes (above – vs. 1-20). What did he set his mindset and focus upon that was powerful enough to conquer and fix his defeated heart? What gave this hopeless man hope? What brought him out of depression? Jeremiah tells us - “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD” (22-26). What turned Jeremiah around was his mindset. His focus had been on his difficult circumstances and upon himself. This was more than he could bear! Yet when he remembered God’s goodness and focused on God’s strength and faithfulness he had hope. Did his circumstances change? No, they continued. But his focus changed and therefore his depressive and disparaging thoughts turned to hope and praise instead of self-pity, blame, and despair. Jeremiah started walking by faith (focusing upon God) instead of sight (focusing upon himself and his difficult circumstances). It is important that we keep our focus on God, by the steady intake of His Word and making sure that we take time to be alone with Him in fervent prayer. Yielding our thoughts continually to the Spirit is medicinal to the soul. I love God’s Word – I love His answers! You can order my book “Woman of Virtue” - Applying Proverbs 31 to the Twenty-first Century Woman” by Susan Brackley Click this link to order yours - amazon/Woman-Virtue-Applying-Proverbs-Twenty-First-Century/dp/1490852778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413708004&sr=8-1&keywords=susan+brackley (Also available at - Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, Alibris, Barnes & Noble, or Westbow Press).
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 11:30:00 +0000
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