Freedom from Depression

There is freedom from depression when you change your perspective and realize how much it makes you need Jesus. In a season of depression, you don’t have the ability to turn to the world to find fulfillment like everyone else, you have to turn to the Lord. We often hear, “rejoice in the Lord always,” but then we experience emotions such as anger, sadness or anxiety. Emotions that are all human but feel uncomfortable. We tend to be afraid of those emotions or cling to them, and then it makes verses like “rejoice always” impossible because we see rejoice as an emotion. But the truth is, we can feel an uncomfortable emotion and still rejoice in the Lord. God did not have to give us emotions, but He gave them to us as a gift. That also means we don’t have to obey every emotion and take it as truth, but it means every emotion is trying to tell us something. For example, when we express anger, it means there is something more vulnerable causing it, but anger is easier to express. Are your feelings communicating to you or controlling you? Let your feelings speak to you but be anchored in prayer and truth so God has the final say. Along with that, it’s time we break past the fear of vocalizing “I’m struggling.” When we identify with what we are feeling, it can be scary to share with someone that we are feeling a harder emotion because we think that is the lens by which they will now see us. But the truth is, the people who love you will not see you through a different lens when you share your feelings. We can expect ourselves to be more honest with God than anyone around us, but God gave us community to be honest with too. If you are not honest with yourself and others, you won’t be honest with God either. God wants to meet us when we are most vulnerable and in need of Him.