read this!
"But how does one come to know Him?"
Through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.. what I mean is this. Because we could not free ourselves from our sins, God in His mercy provided forgiveness by sending His own Son to die in the place of guilty sinners, taking the punishment that they deserved for their sins. When they come to recognize their perilous situation before God, and are truly sorry for the rebellious lives that they have lived and depend upon Jesus' death on the cross, God saves (rescues) them from eternal punishment. God no longer holds them guilty for their sin and accepts them as friends. He is not merely their judge from then on, but also their loving heavenly Father. To those who come to know Him that way, He makes and keeps the promises that He has revealed in the Bible. But they do not pertain to any others.
You can find out more about this by reading the following passages in the Bible: Ephesians.2:8,9; John.3:16; Romans.4:4,5. If you still do not understand, consult the person who handed you this pamphlet or contact the distributor whose imprint appears at the end.
But let us assume that you have put your faith in Christ and that you know God as your Saviour and Lord. Yet, you are still plagued with depression. Remember, I said that knowing Him was a condition to victory over depression; I did not say that knowing Him itself would solve the problem. Let us go on then, to consider that question.
Although depression is a terribly debilitating problem that is far too widespread among Christians as well as among those who do not know God, it is not so difficult a problem to solve as at first it might seem to be. What you need to recognize is that depression comes as the result of a failure in self-control and self-discipline. One work of the Holy Spirit of God is to produce such discipline in those who, by faithful obedience to His Word, seek to please God by doing what He says rather that doing what they feel like doing (cf. Galatians.5:23). That is at the heart of the matter.
"Well, I don't quite see it. If you expect me to buy that you will have to spell it out a lot more clearly."
Of course, I was just generalizing about it before I got down to the specifics, because I wanted you to be aware of these basic facts as we move ahead. Let's get down to the place where the rubber meets the road, then, by pointing out that homemakers, preachers, and all those who must set and keep their own schedules are particularly vulnerable to depression. Someone whose daily work is routine and whose output is structured for him so that by 12 noon he must produce X amount of work and by 5 P.M. another X amount, rarely suffers from depression. That is because his work does not depend upon self control and self discipline. Others discipline and control him and his output. Consequently, he rarely gets behind in his work.
On the other hand, for the person who must learn to control and to discipline himself, in a day in which there is little emphasis upon discipline, often all that it takes for him to begin the descent into despair and depression is to experience a setback that tempts him to focus upon it and to forget his obligations. His schedule is broken, he gets behind in his chores, which then begin to mount up, and …he is by then already heading straight down the read that leads to depression. Stir together into one pot a setback (sickness, disappointment, guilt over an unconfessed sin, etc.), failure to handle the setback God's way, a tendency to follow feeling rather that to pursue obligation, and the willingness to participate in pity parties (or to soliquize in blue funks) and you have all of the essential ingredients for that tasting thick stew of depression.
God has so constructed us that when we fail to handle responsibilities properly, our consciences trigger bad feelings. These, if not heeded early, ultimately lead to depression. David looked at depression as a merciful warning sign from God intended to goad him to repentance and a change of attitude or behavior (When he had sinned he said, "Day and night your hand was heavy upon me, Psalm.32:4"). The guilt that underlies depression comes from the failure to handle the problem or setback God's way. Therefore, any failure to heed this warning, or any attempt to silence it by shock treatments, the use of antidepressants, by home brew etc., constitutes an additional failure that only compounds the guilt and increases the intensity of the bad feelings that stem from it. As a result depression grows and grows in a cyclical manner.
One good place to begin when considering God's solution to the fundamental failure that underlies depression is to take seriously the words of Paul in II Corinthians.4:8: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair." There were many times when Paul found opposition and difficulties hard to take; there were also circumstances in which for a time he did not know that to do next. He was afflicted and he became perplexed. But he did not become depressed. In these trying times, God at length enabled him to handle every difficulty without despair. He had setbacks, but he did hot allow these to keep him from continuing in the clear course of action that was at hand. He did not in despair, give up the tasks that he knew that God wanted him to continue. He was down, but not out. The depressed person is one who when he gets down also gives out.
Now, it is vital to understand the important difference between being perplexed, disappointed, blue, physically weak, or even feeling low because of guilt, and being depressed. All of us, with Paul, get down, we are all blue from time to time; we all become discouraged. But that is not depression. Depression comes when we fail to handle the blues, the disappointment, the perplexity, the guilt, or the physical affliction God's way. It comes whenever we allow the bad feelings that are associated with these problems to hinder us from carrying out our duties. When we do follow our feelings instead of following our obligations to God and to our neighbors we are guilty and this makes us feel even worse. When the feelings of guilt are added to the bad feelings that already plague us, that makes us feel far worse and therefore less like doing our work. If then we follow those increased feelings of self-dissatisfaction---and it is easier all of the time to do so-we trigger more, ad infinitum. Now you see what I meant when I said that depression is cyclical
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