How can shared experiences and compassionate guidance help us navigate through our own struggles with depression?
- Sister Janet K.
- Jun 10, 2024
- 3 min read
“He brought me into a spacious(large, broad) place…” perhaps this verse speaks differently to others depending on the word used. For me spacious depicts a freedom from having gone through a dark time that seemed to enclose and consume me. I remember a sermon series by Pastor Riggle at Grace about falling in a pit and trying to climb your way out in your own strength. It’s impossible as there was nothing to cling to and the walls keep collapsing as you grab on them. “He who digs a pit will fall into it".
Proverbs 26:27
Depression due to loss of hope is a pit we dig for ourselves when we have quit looking up to the One “Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion…”Psalm 103:4
King David was one who could find himself in a pit of depression over his losses. He loved and obeyed King Saul but found himself being hated and pursued by him instead for his successful military victories. Then he dug himself a pit of sinful actions by prideful lust for Bathsheba and sending her husband into battle. Until he confessed his sin and chose to not kill Saul in retribution, he was like one who went down to the pit ( death of his soul). Once he called out to God and asked for His compassionate guidance, he was able to praise ,”O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit…”Psalm 30:3
Then he could testify, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” Psalm 40:2
When we are in the pit of depression, we see nothing but the walls closing in. But like David, we can look up and say, ”In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears…He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop (of negative, depressive thoughts) ; with my God I can scale a wall (of the pit of depression). The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!” 2 Samuel 22:7, 17, 29-30, 47
When in a pit of depression, we are not able to see above the walls to understand how we are effecting others. For David, it took the Prophet Nathan to open his eyes and then suddenly, David became aware of his sin that blocked his ability to climb out of the pit of despair. God speaks through others to transform us from self centered to self aware. The difference is acknowledging our own part of remaining in the pit and then being able to be brought by a loving, compassionate God into a “spacious place” and see His perspective on our lives. We go from racing thoughts of confusion to being calmed by the “God who is not a God of confusion but a God of peace. “ 1 Corinthians 14:26
Today, Lord, help me to praise you as David did, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— “ 2 Samuel 22:2-3
Amen🙏👏👏❤️👆
Comments