Hope is a hardy plant and able to survive in very arid conditions. It can flourish when all else around it dies, but it must have a root that goes down deep into the ground. Hope must ultimately rest on the promises of God. The believer by faith sees what is invisible and what he hopes for he does not yet see. The world may reject all that he believes and deny all that God says, but he holds on to the integrity of God and the unchanging nature of God’s promises. But when God appears to go against himself then the believer is confused. The most devastating attack that the devil can launch on us is to make us doubt the character of God.
Remedies for depression
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1. Don’t assume that depression is a spiritual problem. Don’t dismiss that altogether, but nine times out of ten this is not the case. Be prayerful about it; there may be some truth in the suggestion that it is due to sin, but don’t see it as a sure sign everything is wrong with your soul.
2. Don’t expect it to be immediately cured by these remedies. If what you want is a sure cure, you won’t have it. These are remedies we must take to help us ride it out. Sometimes it has to see out its course and we must take measures to help us ride it out.
3. We mustn’t let it possesses, eat us out, dominate us. To do so makes us self-centred, like a physical handicap. We must recognise this and stop it happening.
4. We mustn’t let the devil write the agenda for our thoughts, so that we give each terrible implication half an hour in our minds. Job could have stopped at every gloomy thought and said, ‘This isn’t true. I have all the power of God to help me.’ Practically every bad thought will be irrational and exaggerated and not entirely true.
5. Beware how it can damage your witness, as Job’s depression did. We will hurt our Saviour if we handle it badly.
6. Always the best remedy is to trust the Lord. The highest praise you can give is that given when the soul is down with no light. You must still trust him then. You then have the opportunity to give him the highest praise. ‘Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. 10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God’ (Isaiah 50:9-10).
7. Remember Christian friends. Share with them, lean on them.
8. Get a view of heaven and what you can expect. We will see all those before you, and those who will follow you. Let this world sink down in your estimation.
9. Let us never forget to work for the Lord. Set your affections on things above. Remember those who are seeking. Does someone need to visit this or that person? Emotional energy fuels the fire, so put it to a right use, rather than focusing it on ourselves. If we are sick, we can go to the doctor, but there is no sick leave in kingdom of heaven. Find something to do for the Lord.
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