not abandon you. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus desired his disciples to stay awake with Him as a support during His greatest agony. Likewise, those battling depression seek the same thing, even if they are not willing to say so. If you see someone on the ground, defeated, hurting or lonely, don’ t try to fix them, but rather sit with them and hold their hand. Tell them you love them and let them know that Jesus is with them even if they cannot see Him.
In this imperfect world, everyone will run into some type of difficulty. The Bible has many examples of strong faithful people who faced seemingly hopeless situations. It is commonly thought that,“ God only gives us as much as we can handle,” but the truth of the matter is God only gives us as much as we can handle in Him. Joseph was sold into slavery, Moses was surrounded by the Egyptian army, Daniel was thrown into the lion’ s den and his friends were placed in a furnace. Peter was a coward and Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. Jesus was crucified and all our hopes were buried with Him. But they all called to the LORD in their distress, and He answered them( Jonah 2:2). We can see that their situations were seemingly hopeless and clearly too much for them to handle on their own. But with God— Joseph became second in command, the Red Sea parted, Daniel was not eaten by lions and his friends were not consumed by the fire. Peter became the rock, Paul and Silas’ prison doors burst open, and in Jesus Christ all our hopes resurrected on the third day. In this new year we can be encouraged in knowing that He will bear our burdens and free us of hopelessness, if we trust Him.
References
1
World Health Organization.“ Depression: Fact Sheet.” 2016. 2
Sansone, R., MD & Sansone L., MD.“ The Christmas Effect on Psychopathology.” Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. December 2011. 3
National Institute of Mental Health.“ Depression.” 2016.
4
Schrobsdorff, Susanna.“ Anxiety, Depression, and the American Adolescent.” TIME Magazine. November 7, 2016. 5 Harvard Health Publications: Harvard Medical School.“ What Causes Depression?” June 2009. 6 Nedley, Neil, MD & Ramirez, Francisco.“ Nedley Depression Hit Hypothesis Identifying Depression and Its Causes.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. November 10, 2014.
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