Posted by kat on October 05, 2002 at 12:27:40:
In Reply to: Re: The War - Part 2 posted by jeannie on October 05, 2002 at 06:27:41:
: : News flash:
: : Last week or two we have battled efforts by the enemy to separate us through various offenses and misunderstandings. We faced the attack head-on and overcame. This week the attack is a bit more subtle. Depression is a huge factor in at least 5 lives I know of right now, and I am sure is it happening in many more that have not wanted to cloud the friendly skies by sharing it. While I appreciate the desire not to weigh down the festivities, we all need to realize that the real danger is in withdrawing--in trying to work out our personal embarrassment in private, trying to personally fight our individual battles so we can once again be part of the happy collective. But most you will not be successful in your quest alone. It's like the Watts quote that funkycat shared about trying to bite your own teeth.
: : A camera cannot take a picture of itself--not without some kind of mirror. We can not find ourselves or discover our identity in a completely satisfying way apart from the way our relationships with our loved ones define us. And for many of you right now, the quest is very much an identity issue. You aren't sure who you are, but you know you don't like yourself, and you feel like a colossal failure. You also feel like it is your fault, like there is something wrong with you, or something you have done that has resulted in this--that you deserve it. In the next moment, you may feel the opposite--that it is totally unfair. You may feel anger. You think perhaps God is behind this in some way. You question your position as a child of God, and search in vain for the remnants of your faith, for evidence of God's favor. You feel desolate. How can you not question your position in the body of Christ? And how can you not withdraw?--at least until you make some sense of the madness, of the guilt, unworthiness, worthlessness, futility, meaninglessness, and hopelessness. You know that the answer to your despair is found in the mystery of your identity and eternal destiny in Christ. But the mystery is largely revealed within the body and through the body. Just as a surgeon cannot operate on himself, you cannot prophesy over yourself, heal yourself, bless yourself, or "name" yourself (referring to the L'Engle concept we discovered to be powerful). This is really what is needed now--some truly prophetic naming and blessing, straight from God, through each of us--TOGETHER. The healing is inevitable. The transformation will be powerful.
: : We are not ignorant of the enemy's tactic to divide and conquer. Do not withdraw. Together we are far too strong for him. Together Christ is far too strong in us.
:
: thanks, as always steven, for bringing this up. depression is at times very painful as several (maybe many) of us know. however, there IS sweetness at the end of the journey. several times throughout the course of my depression i was reminded of some of the discussions we've had about "embracing your pain" and found it to be exhilirating and comforting. i also found the beginning passages in the book of james to be helpful. i'm not going to quote it here in the hopes that it will encourage people to read it for themselves and really ponder what is being said.
: the only thing i would like to add to what you said is that in my particular case i know i needed to go through a lot of the pain alone for reasons that are still being revealed to me. i've shared this a couple times on the board in the past without getting into specifics, because i don't think i would ever recommend withdrawing to a depressed person. i will only say that i know for me the lord had to make me STOP in order to get my undivided attention. once i started listening, i was on the path. the only advice i would like to offer anyone depressed, is to just give it up and get it over with. don't fight your way kicking and screaming to the inevitable death. just let the death come and then you'll begin to learn the wonderful things the lord wants to teach you. there is no truer friend than our lord, no one who loves us more, no one we can put our complete trust in. he speaks to us ALL THE TIME in so many ways if we only listen.
: keep the faith brothers and sisters! i love you all!
How true you are Jeannie!
I have been there I have actually been on anti-depressants, the hardest thing about being in depression is when you have loved ones. The plain truth is that while you arebecomeing someone you dont' want ot be, there are people who depend on you and love you that don't understand what is happenning to you. They will actually with dreaw from you and I actually had someone who professdto love me tell me that they couldn't take it and thought they might have to leave me if I couldn't be normal. That was scary; but it made me see what was going on with me and it froced me to take action. Now that I look back, it seems unkind and unloving but I think it was a catalyst to my mental health.
That's NOT what I am suggesting you healthy people do.
All I am saying is that it IS necessary to confront someone who seems depressed because they may not even realize what is going on inside of them. Now that I have been through that, I can recognize when i am on a downward spiral and I can seek the Lord for help, and I can seek my friends for fellowship when I need it.
Depression is like a black hole in that when you get sucked into the event horizom only a very strong force can possibly pull you back. I think that for most people , they just live with it or they take drugs. We that know the Lord have greater power available to us, let's avail of it.
James says, "count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2
One verse that I just held onto when I was sick with depression was Nehemiah 8:10 "Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Shalom
-kat