What Depression is Not

Depression is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you have been trying to be strong for too long. How many of us have been in this thing called depression? If that is you then you are not alone. So many times we get into that area in our life when nothing seems to go right and everything and everybody seems to be against you. You try to fight the tugs and pulls of depression but it finally becomes too great for us to handle and we succumb to it. We think that the battle is over and we have failed ourselves, our family and most important of all we failed God.

There is good news and the truth is you have failed absolutely no one, especially God. God knows our weaknesses and when we are weak he is strong. We just try to do it ourselves. We don’t want anyone know what is going on and we put on a false face and look good on the outside while inside we are struggling. How long do we think we can keep it up? For some they go on for weeks at a time and in all actuality we do not have to deal with it but only for a moment.

I know it is true because I have struggled with depression for years. I know everyone thinks that I have it all together because I am a pastor but that really has nothing to do with it. We hold things in so we can work it out ourselves and before too long we have gone too far and the pressure is more than we can handle. Millions of people struggle with depression at different levels and it took me a very long time to come to the realization that God wants us to put our trust in him. Even after I became a pastor, depression seemed to have a hold on me. I would battle it sometimes for days. One day God spoke to me just like I am about to speak to you and he said, “why can’t you just trust in me and let me take this burden from you and I will show you that what you are depressed about is nothing more than just a fleeting thought.” Those words spoke volumes to me and I realized that I go around encouraging others and yet I had my own battles that needed to be dealt with.

We cannot allow our thoughts to take us from that place that we know to be safe and sound. God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and what I came to realize he was there all the time. God waits patiently for us to come to him. We need to get over ourselves and make that sooner than later. To put it in understandable terms, right now. God is there and he is asking for us to just trust in him. He is standing there waiting patiently in line for us to get beyond the world and into his loving arms. Why not give it a try? The only thing you have to loose is your depression. Put a smile on that face of yours and let the SON shine out of you and through you.

I have realized that life is way too short for us to run around with our smile upside down on our face. Smile it adds face value. You will not regret your decision I guarantee it.