Depression's Ugly Face

By: Jessica Finney

I am sure all of us have either went through depression or know someone who has.  A deep depression is when the world keeps getting darker and you don't see anyway out.  You can't even see a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.

A lot of the time, you can see how it hurts the ones that love you but you feel helpless to know what to do and it just makes it worse.

The devil uses this as his playground, when we go through it because he doesn't want us to ever get the joy back that God wants to give us.  I think it is a taste of what hell will be like. Have you ever thought about that? If heaven is full of joy, happiness, and praising God. Then I feel like hell isn't just the lake of fire (although that will be bad) but also all the negative emotions we face down here but multiplied.

Of course one of the things you think about as you are going through depression is suicide.  Some feel that is the only way out and they feel they aren't strong enough to deal with it anymore.  When I went through it the devil kept telling me my family would be better off.  Sure they would grieve but eventually they wouldn't see me like that anymore and be able to go on with their lives. Thank God that He had a hold of me and I never even attempted it.

Even when we think we have made it through it sometimes it isn't completely lifted until years later, when all of a sudden we feel a huge weight lift off of our shoulders that we had carried so long that we didn't even know we were carrying it.  This happened to me when I was singing Above All and I felt the Holy Spirit cover me and let me feel an overpowering feeling of how much God really loved me that He thought of me above everything else.

Now sometimes when things are just not going right in my life, it is easy to see depression's ugly face coming again but this is when it is so important to pray to God for Him to take it away from you and tell the devil that he isn't taking your joy away from you again.  That no matter what I am going through that God wants me to have the joy that only He can give.

Psalms 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life, weeping may endure for a night but JOY comes in the morning.

Dear heavenly father, thank you for getting me out of the deep depression that I was in and reminding me that all I really need is you. Thank you for the ones that stood by my side and I pray that you give the ones that are going through it now strength.  I also pray that you will help us bring more people to you so that they don't have to go through the lake of fire.  Please give everyone that is reading this a touch of your hand that we may all feel your love and share your joy.  It is in Jesus, name. Amen.