I was watching a television program when a commercial break began explaining all the signs of depression. Without even knowing what was happening to me I felt myself being pulled into the description of hopelessness and fear. It was like a huge life-zapping suction cup that grabbed my attention and pulled at the very fiber of my thinking chaining me to everything that was wrong with my life.
Moments later the voice that directed all of my emotions and bunched all my pain into one massive ache explained why I needed to deaden the pain with anti-anxiety medicine. I was in the throws of depression; it was if the writers of the advertisement knew exactly how I was feeling. Suddenly a Spirit light entered my thinking and pulled me out of the depths of pain and instructed me that Depression was my master and I had become its Slave.
The voice of depression gnawed at a young mother’s conscience pulling every thought of negativity and demanding a repeat performance of everything that she did wrong as a mother. Her three and a half year old daughter was still not potty trained. Her son was surfing the net and was looking at a pornographic site. Just yesterday she found out she was pregnant and now the list she had composed over every failure she felt as a parent surfaced and wrestled her to the ground in tears. She couldn’t be a mother again!
An elderly man had been alone for years and he was desperate to find someone to love him again. In his anxiety he played with thoughts of who would want him now. He was old and worn out and even his family didn’t have time for him. How could he find someone who would want to share his life with him? Every waking thought pulled at his mind and brought him to his knees reminding him constantly of his loneliness. Depression had captured him and brought him to despair with thoughts of suicide.
A woman sits before her computer and tabulates a pile of bills that are waiting to be paid. She looks at her bank account and then once again at the bills and realizes that no matter what she paid, she wouldn’t have enough. Her head bounds low and a darkness of depression spreads engulfing her thinking with thoughts of hopelessness. No matter how hard she works she will never find enough money to pay all the bills.
Satan captures the minds of those who refuse to acknowledge there is a God. There is no hope for people who don’t have faith. There is no future for those who depend on themselves alone without God. When you are not aware that you are fighting a spiritual war inside your head then you are mastered by Satan and held captive to negative thinking and depression.
Matthew 13: 14&15, “So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: ‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see, because their minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.'”
Too many people today are unaware of the unseen spiritual realm of heavenly beings surrounding our present day world. Beings that are talking constantly in your subconscious telling you that you are a loser. Voices condemning your every thought and telling you that you will always be a failure. These Demon voices relish pushing people into the darkness so they can make them slaves to hopelessness and fear.
When you place your faith in God then you begin to see the truth about the voices that captivate your mind. The Bible has story upon story of people who have been influenced by demons. God sent his only son to save people from these demonic forces. Jesus died for our sins so we would have the Holy Spirit who fights for those who surrender their lives to Him. People who have the Holy Spirit know it is a voice of positive thinking. A voice that gives inspiration, guidance, and wonder working power.
When you understand what you are fighting then you are able to break free and win the battle over your mind. Your eyes begin to see and your ears begin to hear the voice of love.
Matthew 13: 16, “As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear.”
Jesus brings us to a new light of understanding. He lifts the veil covering up the game of life that teaches us the difference between right and wrong and shows us the evil we are fighting against. He tells us about how temptation can lead us to over spend. He sets us free to believe in miracles by promising that He will divinely intervene on our behalf to help us meet our financial needs. He gives better paying jobs and promotions.
He inspires parents on how to teach their children. He helps them not to keep a list of wrongs of what their children have done and to never give up on them. He lets them enjoy their families by living one moment at a time. He inspires a love that surrounds a family and gives them the strength to face each problem.
He gives hope to the elderly. He inspires older men and women to teach Bible classes. He gives them hobbies that they enjoy. He takes the hand of the aged and guides them down paths to help them mentor the young. No one is ever alone because God surrounds each single person’s life with love and a friendship that will never end. He loves people and He wants them to win the battle over evil that conspires to separate them from the joy of following Jesus’ plan for their lives.
Matthew 11: 28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”
People today allow depression to rule their lives. They go to doctors to deaden the pain. They curl up in a ball of protection trying to hide from the demands of everyday life. But with God’s help everything changes.
Romans 12: 2, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let ‘God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind’. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and pleasing to him and is perfect.”
Depression is a selfish act. To give into the darkness of hopelessness is to give up on God. To allow a demon to influence your life and make you give up is to lose your game of life and to give victory to evil. When depression makes you its slave you are defeated by simple problems, like a child potting in his pants, a bill that you forgot to pay or a son who didn’t show up to take his elderly father out because his job called him away suddenly. Depression is a prison that allows a person to feel sorry for themselves.
2 Corinthians 10: 4&5, “The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every ‘thought captive and make it obey Christ’.
Depression gives us permission to feel bad. It robs you of your joy and sentences you to a prison of helplessness and fear. God tells us to fight against it and make our minds think according to the knowledge of God. Whenever we are fearful we must sing praises. Whenever we are feeling alone or abandoned we must read our Bibles and apply the light to our lives. Whenever we face difficulties with children we must pray and believe that God will give us the strength to win the battle with unconditional love one moment at a time.
Philippians 4: 8, “In conclusion, my brothers, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you.”