| February 10/11, 2007 | Moving Toward Wholeness: Depression |
Psalm 73 |
Do you ever find yourself confused by what is happening?
Once a father was sitting in his living room. He was wondering what time it was getting to be. Then he heard his son out in the kitchen. So he called out, “Hey Bobby, what is the little hand on?”
After a short pause, Bobby replied, “A chocolate chip cookie.”
Bobby didn’t understand what his dad was talking about. He didn’t realize that his dad simply wanted to know the time of day. Bobby was confused by what his dad wanted and it ended up getting him in trouble.
Unfortunately, Bobby is not the only one who is confused. There are many people in our world today that are confused. They are confused not just by what is happening in the world around them, which is mind-boggling enough. More importantly, they are confused by what is going on within them. Something within is different. They are confused by the overwhelming feelings of sadness they have. They are confused by the way in which they become irritable so quick. They are confused by loss of enjoyment of things that used to bring so much delight. They are confused by the loss of energy that they are felling. They are confused by how tired they feel, even though they have a hard time really doing anything. They are confused by how hard it is to get to sleep. Then once they do, how early they wake up. They are confused by the restlessness they feel. They are confused by how hard it is to make decisions. They are confused by how worthless they feel. They have started to think that maybe this world would be better without them. Maybe, the people they love would be better without them.
They are confused by the symptoms of depression that I have just described to you. Depression is scary. Depression is overwhelming. Depression is not easy to deal with.
Today, we are continuing our sermon series called Moving Toward Wholeness, Overcoming Life’s Hurts by talking about depression. For anyone or any family that has lived through it, you know how overwhelming it is. For anyone or any family that has lived through it, you know how scary and painful it can be. For anyone or any family that has lived through it, you know how hopeless it and lonely it can be. If you are here today and you are either living through depression or you know someone who is, I want to tell you that there is hope for you. There is help out there.
One thing I want to clarify, I am not talking about those moments when people feel a little blue or a little off. That is a normal part of life and of living.
Depression, serious depression is an illness. It is more than just feeling a little blue. Having lived through it as a part of two families, the one I grew up in and in a previous marriage. I have experienced first-hand the destructive nature of these symptoms. I have experienced first-hand how overwhelming they can be. I have experienced first-hand, how tough it is to deal with.
If you are here today and you are dealing with serious depression, I want to say thank you for being here. I know how hard it is for you to some days do anything more than just crawl out of bed. I know how you want to isolate yourself. I know how embarrassed you are feeling. And the very fact that you are here today is a step toward health. So thank you for coming.
If you or anyone you know and love is going through symptoms of depression like I outlined early, here are some thoughts. Begin by taking the symptoms seriously. Don’t blow them off. Don’t belittle the feelings.
By taking them seriously, you can become proactive, which by the way, if you are depressed, it is really hard to be proactive. That is why it is important if you see someone you love going through these things, that you be proactive for them. Ask them, what is going on? Ask them if they have seen a doctor? Ask them if you can help them make an appointment to get to a doctor?
You see, if you take these symptoms seriously, then you can do things like get to a doctor or a counselor, who can help you get the help you need. Almost one in five people face serious depression at some point in their life. That means that if 150 are in worship at this service, somewhere between 25 and 30 people in this room are suffering from serious depression right now.
If you take these symptoms seriously, then you might understand that the illness can be treated. Over 90% of the people who have serious depression are able to be helped through medications. Medications along with counseling are able to help people live a life that is normal. Personally, I have come to see depression as a chemical disorder. It can be treated by drugs just as effectively as diabetes or any other ailment. But it needs to be recognized and treated.
Now you might be sitting here and saying, “Scott, all of this information is really nice. But we are a church. How does faith play a role in this if any?”
I believe faith can play a role in our healing. But for people that I know who have serious depression, the illness caused by the chemical imbalance needs to be recognized and treated, so that our thinking can be adjusted to allow God to make a difference for us.
In our scripture for today, the Psalmist comes to understand that his thinking was out of whack. It was off base, because he was focusing on others. It was leading him into a depression and a funk.
It wasn’t until he was willing to re-evaluate his priorities and give God priority that he began to experience healing. If you are here, and you are facing depression, you can’t even begin to re-evaluate your priorities, until you get the medical help and the counseling help you need, so that you can begin to prioritize God back into your life.
Maybe you have heard that old story about the farmer’s donkey that fell into a deep well. The farmer looked at his donkey down there so deep. He knew that he couldn’t get him out alone. But he also knew that if he didn’t get him out the well would go bad.
Then he got an idea. He decided that since his well would go bad with a dead donkey down there and he would have to dig a new well, he started digging and throwing the dirt down on his donkey, to bury him in the bottom of the well.
At first the donkey made such a noise down in the bottom of the well. But after a time as more and more dirt came piling on, the noise quit. Finally, to the farmer’s great surprise, the donkey stepped out of the well, when there was enough dirt thrown in.
What happened is when the farmer threw dirt in, it landed on the donkey; he would shake the dirt off, and step on it. And that is how he made it out of the well, dirt would land, he would shake it off and step on it. Instead of letting the dirt overwhelm him and kill him, he used it to help free him.
If you are here today, and you are overwhelmed with life and fighting depression, don’t let it kill you. Take it seriously; get the help you need, one step at a time, one day at a time. Then turn to God, place your hope and your life in the hands of the one who will not let you go. May God help us live a life of faith that helps us overcome life’s hurts.
Amen