Instructions to Glory

Victory Over Depression, Part 1 - R Desjardins

Victory Over Depression, Part 1
By Ruth Desjardins

[Editor's note: This article was originally written for a group of women but is applicable to men, as well. Enjoy it. And be blessed.]

Living free in Christ. That's our theme. It sounds wonderful. But what is the scriptural basis for the desire to live free? And what does it actually mean for the Christian? And can we walk free of depression?

We as women have work to do – inside and outside the home. We have jobs that begin in the morning that may go on well into the evening. Laundry, groceries, child care, food preparation, cleaning and tidying. One researcher said that the modern woman works in her home only 20 minutes less daily than her grandmother did in her day – despite the many time saving devices.

We may have elderly mothers and fathers to look after. We may have work outside the home. We have constraints as members of a secular community: bills to pay, taxes to pay, PTA meetings. We have responsibilities as members of the Christian community. Where is the freedom in all this busyness? Where is the liberty found among all the things we have to do?

First let's look at the Scriptures that promise us freedom. Do we have a right as believers in Jesus Christ to expect freedom? YES, YES, AND YES!

In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon Me to preach the gospel (good news) to the poor (which also carries the meaning of "miserable", "hopeless"). He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed (the amplified says "those who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity")."

Jesus was reading this passage in the synagogue from Isaiah 61. Then he did a startling thing. He handed the scroll back to the attendant, sat down, and with all eyes fixed on him announced, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus was proclaiming to the Jews assembled there that He was their long awaited Messiah because everyone there understood that scripture in Isaiah referred to the Messiah.

Jesus was also giving us His job description. His plan for us. He wants to set us free from the wounds and bruises of hurtful circumstances, calamities and disappointments of life. He wants to set us free from a wide range of painful conditions.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul picks up the theme "...because creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:21)

In II Corinthians 3:17, Paul says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (The amplified version has it "emancipation from bondage, freedom.")

Jesus, at this point in history is seated at the right hand of the Father, but as walk in obedience the Holy Spirit gives us the liberty that Jesus promised.

Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

In John 8:31-32, Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him: "If you abide in My word you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." Jesus later says, starting in verse 34, "Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but if the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

Paul in his letter to the Romans, wrote, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)

Therefore we are free in two ways: We are free from the pain of wounds and bruises in life and we are free from the law which was always a reminder of how we fall short. Notice that we do not avoid the calamities of life (we live in a fallen world), but rather we can be set free from the effects of the hurts we have suffered.

As long as we are trapped in our pain, we will find it impossible to move into the victorious life that God has planned for us in Christ. We say "yes and amen", God intends for us to be free. I believe that, but why do I feel so bad?

James says "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25)

It is not enough to understand the concepts, but to hang in there, do the work, fight the fight, appropriate what Jesus has done for us in His death and resurrection.

This weekend I want to explore with you what the Bible says about depression. What causes it? and what promises, what truths, can we appropriate to get out of its grip?

Having looked at the scriptures that show that God's intention is indeed for us to walk in liberty, what does living free in Christ mean to the busy career woman, homemaker wife and mother? What would it look like?

When I was a teenager, I thought being free was not having to go to school. Being free meant riding my bike up into the Gatineau, swimming, hanging out with friends and siblings, reading novels, camping and babysitting to earn some money. But you notice that virtually all those activities use up just as many calories as going to school.

The only difference lay in the fact that with school, I had no choice; I had to go. The summer activities were my choice. So freedom for me represented those activities which I chose – the things I wanted to do. However if to get to school I had to cycle up one of the hills in the Gatineau, then THAT would become a chore, because I HAD to do it. There would be no pleasure in it. In other words to feel free I had to know I had chosen to do whatever it was.

With this notion of freedom, you can imagine that I ran into some difficulties when I became a wife and mother. I liked my job as a newspaper reporter (I chose that). I also chose to become a wife. I chose to quit my job to rear my children. But hey! I hadn't read the fine print. Babies that wouldn't stop crying or teenagers who wouldn't stop eating, a house that always needed cleaning and a husband that stubbornly refused to be perfected, despite my best efforts. Every minute of every day was taken up with things I HAD to do. Even prayer and Bible reading when I got to them felt like something I was forced to do – in case, on top of everything else, God would be annoyed with me.

"There is no liberty here," I complained to God. Where is the freedom I'm supposed to have in Christ? I had made free-will choices, yes, but they had led me into a non-free state, hemmed in by depression, duties, disappointment, weariness.

Over the years in search of answers to my dilemma, I would pick up books about Christians who had been imprisoned because of their beliefs. I figured if one can find freedom in Christ in prison or in a concentration camp, one can find freedom anywhere. I read Corrie Ten Boom's book. She was imprisoned by the Nazis during their occupation of Holland because she hid Jews in her home. I read how God gave her the grace to forgive her sister's murderer.

I read Richard and Sabina Wurmbrands' books. He was a Romanian pastor who was imprisoned first by the Nazis and then by the Communists because he refused to compromise his Christian faith. He was incarcerated for a total of 14 years and his wife also was in prison for a shorter period.

What better examples of loss of freedom than in a Communist or Nazi prison? People were deprived of their mobility, of friends, family, food, sleep, medical attention. They were subjected to physical and psychological harassment and torture. Pastor Wurmbrand gives some examples of the cruelties suffered by him and others as prison guards attempted to make them promise full allegiance to Communism.

He writes, "Any methods that would produce results was permitted: severe beating on the soles of the feet and on the genitals, breaking teeth with gravel; forcing prisoners to ingest feces and urine; sleep deprivation; forbidding them to go to the toilet and any other degrading measures."

What would freedom in Christ mean for a person in such a situation?

Well, Wurmbrand recounts a time when he and a few other believers were sitting together on the damp stone floor in a dark underground prison. They were dirty, hungry, in pain. They were fastened to the walls with chains from their ankles and wrists. The chance that anyone of them could be dragged out of the cell and tortured and executed always hung over their heads.

Yet Wurmbrand tells how he and the other believers sang hymns together and clinked their chains in time to the music. There were times like these, he writes, when the presence of God was so real to him that he would not have traded places with a king!

Now that's freedom! Freedom to enjoy God's love, sense His presence, praise His Name in the worst of circumstances.

Wurmbrand writes, "I once saw an impressive scene in a circus. A sharpshooter set out to demonstrate his skill. In the arena was his wife, with a burning candle on her head. From a distance he shot the candle so that it fell, leaving his wife unharmed. Later I asked her, 'Were you afraid?' She replied, 'Why should I be? He aimed at the candle, not at me.' I thought about this when I was under torture," relates Wurmbrand. "Why should I be afraid of the torturers? They don't beat me. They beat my body. My 'me' my real being is in Christ. I am seated with Him in heavenly places. THIS – my real person – could not be touched by them.'"

Now that's freedom. The ability to see ourselves as God sees us. To lay hold on the larger picture of God's love and mercy when every word and circumstance around us and even our own fears try to tell us something different.

There are Biblical examples of those who found freedom in the midst of adversity. Job is one. In Job 19:25, he cries out triumphantly in the midst of his loss and pain. "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God." (Even in this ancient book we see an affirmation of the bodily resurrection of believers.)

Here was a man who had not only lost his sons and daughters, his worldly goods and his health, but who had three "comforters" who were trying to tell him it was all his fault. Some sin of his had brought this on his head. Yet, talk about seeing the bigger picture: Job saw himself redeemed before God at the end of time! That's freedom!

What are the challenges to freedom in Christ in the 21st century? Here we are beset by every wind of doctrine: feminism, secularism, humanism, false religions. Our Judeo-Christian belief system is being hammered in the media and in the universities. Abortion on demand, fornication taken for granted, sodomy touted, marriage has been demeaned, the sex act has lost its special status within marriage and has become the moral equivalent of eating a Subway sandwich.

There are groups of individuals who want to sexualize children through pornography and other means. They talk with glee about how the promotion of intergenerational sex will demolish the last taboo.

On the other hand, we are beset by rules of political correctness. I call it secular legalism. People in the world used to scoff at the restrictions some denominations placed on their members; no lipstick, no mixed bathing, no movies etc. But these are nothing compared with the myriad of restrictions some segments of our society want to impose on us.

We as Christians are often intimidated into not speaking out against the sin in our land. Those who do (and it's not just Christians) are labeled "judgmental", "intolerant", "unloving", "unrealistic", "unjust", "homophobic" and so on. Good has become evil and evil, good.

Against this background of unbelief, antagonism and confusion, we live our lives struggling with personal issues – disappointments, doubts, worries, resentments and, as I mentioned before, we're busy: washing clothes, washing dishes, washing children, often bringing home the bacon and frying it, too. We counsel our children, encourage our husbands and try to be a good neighbour. It's easy to get caught up in all the details and feel trapped. In fact, one article I read claimed that as may as one in five people suffer from depression. And the problem is in the church as well as in the world. It's called the common cold of mental afflictions.

Now if I was talking to a group of unbelievers I would only be able to present the opinions and strategies of the world which really aren't putting much of a dent in the problem since more and more people are complaining of depression. But since we, as a group of Christians, accept the authority of scripture and believe that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, then we can attempt to find God's answer for depression in His word and know, as we walk in obedience to it, that it will do the job.

Solomon says in Proverbs, "It's the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2) We're better than kings, we're a royal priesthood. So let's search out this matter over this weekend.

What would freedom in Christ look like for the modern woman? Here are some suggestions and you probably have some of your own. To be free in Christ means that we don't have to carry resentments, we don't have to rehearse angry confrontations in our minds. No matter what others have done to us we are free to forgive and set them free. God gives us the grace to do that.

To be free in Christ means that we understand he is walking through our pain and grief with us, comforting us and we know it is a journey of healing during which we learn how to lean on Him. To be free in Christ means that we are free not to worry. I know some women who feel that as a mother it is their duty to worry – there would be something unnatural about them if they didn't. In fact, something bad might happen if they didn't worry. (Worry is a perverse kind of control: if I worry about it, it won't happen – I think it's an Irish superstition.)

To be free in Christ means we can be free from perfectionism – that little voice that tells us whatever we do isn't quite good enough.

To be free in Christ means we can say no as well as yes.

To be free in Christ means we have the grace to love in word and deeds those around us.

To be free in Christ means we walk in assurance that God hears our prayers and He will answer.

To be free in Christ means we can chose to be discouraged or encourage ourselves in the Lord.

To be free in Christ means we are free to be grateful for whatever comes our way because all things (not just good things) work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose.

View Comments | Add Comment

Unless otherwise noted in the article itself, permission is granted to republish articles found on the FCET website as long as they are published in their entirety and proper credit is given. A link back to www.fcet.org is also required. If you have any questions or comments regarding our publications, please feel to contact us using the Contact page. If you would like to submit an article for publishing, you may do so as well using the contact form.

Fellowship of Christian Engineers and Technologists is an outreach to individuals from all walks of life. Most of the articles are written by those in fields of engineering and technology but all are encouraged to participate. Enrollment to our receiver list is free. We have currently more than 1000 publications.

Subscribe ...

Subscribe to receive Instructions to Glory for free!

You may also wish to read ....

Next article by date ...

Victory Over Depression, Part 2 by Ruth Desjardins

Other publications by Ruth Desjardins ...

Body Ministry by Ruth Desjardins
Shortcuts to God? by Ruth Desjardins
Deception by Ruth Desjardins

Other articles belonging to these series ...

Caring & Sharing Series
Comfort & Consolation Series
Forgiveness & Reconciliation Series
Healing & Wellness Series
The Father's Love Series
Uplifiting & Encouraging! Series

Mail to a friend   Printer friendly   PDF document  

What is a Christian? Christians are those who have trusted in Christ as their Lord and Savior. Christians should not be surprised at the events that are currently happening in the world today. In 2014-15, a series of eclipses will be occuring which point to the Lord's return in the very near future. Our opinion is that the rapture of the church will happen prior to this, in 2012. If you are not aware of these eclipses, you must read He is Coming Back Sooner than You May Think which is fully backed up by the data. Not sure you're ready? Find out why and how to know God. Your time is running out!

 

© 2010 FCET

Home :: Contact Us :: Site Map

Powered by Web Chancellor