Tip # 17 - Be thankful.
Grateful people are happy people. And happy people are grateful people. Without exception. Cultivating a spirit of gratitude is a potently positive action. It changes our perspective, our feelings, our responses, and our behavior. Oh, and it has a marvelous effect on our surroundings, too!
I recommend making it a habit to not only frequently list things for which you are thankful, but also to thank God for His generous gifts and to thank other people, too. First, thank the Lord. Then express thanks - in person, on the phone, and, my personal fav, in a note, to someone else. Powerful, absolutely powerful.
Try it. Today.
Be happy - tip #16
Do you ever have those times when you just feel like crying? Maybe there's seemingly no basis for it but there wells up within you a thundercloud of tears. Usually at a time when you can't hide and cry! Those emotions need an outlet. It doesn't have to be via a sob but they need an outlet. The expression can be in a positive way instead of stuffing it into depression or exploding into destructive outbursts.
Tip #16 - Just do something.
I think it was Elisabeth Eliot who said "When you don't know what to do, just do the next thing." That's sort of the same point I am making here. When we can't shake the blues, do something productive. Doesn't have to be big or impressive - just get something done. Sweep your kitchen floor. Write that Thank you note that should have been written 2 weeks ago. Bake a batch of cookies (just don't eat the whole thing by yourself - you'll be even more sad! Take a plate to your neighbor!) Finish that report at work (even though it is an exercise in futility and you know it - your boss wants you to do it anyway so just do it!) Get the bills paid. Wash some windows. Make that doctor's appointment.Weed the flower bed - if you don't have a flower bed, plant one! Resist the urge to sit down and "veg". The key is to do something productive, preferably something that doesn't indulge yourself.
I keep a pad of paper by the phone in my kitchen and I use it as a running to-do list. All sorts of things that I need to get done. Some short term (buy stamps). Some long term (refinish that table for the breakfast room) A perpetual menu of errands and projects and chores! I check it many times a day to jog my memory...and my motivation...to get things accomplished.
When I am tempted to retreat to the couch, I remind myself of that list. And I remember how satisfying it is to mark something off it. So I make myself do something - anything - just for that sense of accomplishment. Yes, I have been known to add things to it that I have already done --- just so I can relish the feeling of marking it off!!
Procrastination is fuel for the fire of depression. So is slothfulness. Annihilate them both - get something done.
Be happy - tip #15
Today's "Be Happy" tip is also this week's Wednesday's Word. It's powerful. This may very well be the cure for every spiritual and emotional ill. It's that powerful.
Tip #15 - To know the love of Christ.
Wait - don't gloss over this. I know it sounds simple, especially if you are a seasoned follower of Christ. Hear me out. I believe that the foundation of despair, of hopelessness, of pretty much all sin, is a lack of embracing this truth.
When the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church at Epheseus, he knew he was communicating with folks who were already believers. He addressed them as "faithful saints" in chapter 1. So these folks were obviously not unfamiliar with the love of Christ. And, yet, in chapter 3, his desire for them was that they be bold and confident and not lose heart...and his prayer was "that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (vs. 17-19)
Knowing that we are loved is a powerful force. God created us all with a need to be loved - that is not a weakness nor a handicap but rather a God-given need. Just like we need air, we need love. And just like we will fight and struggle against something that blocks our air intake, so we will also strive and wrestle to be loved. To feel loved. And, just like our physical bodies can pass out when air is withheld too long, so our spirits can become weak, listless, despondent when we don't feel loved.
The problem is not that we are NOT loved - we are!!! It's that we don't KNOW it enough. That's why all the way through Scripture, God tells us over and over and over again that He loves us. He loves us so much that we cannot even comprehend it. And He loved us before we were worthy of being loved. And here's a most amazing truth to me - He doesn't love me because He made me....He made me because He loved me. Did you get that??? He dreamed me up and loved the idea of ME, so He made me. He orchestrated all the details of my birth and my time in history and my coming to Him, just exactly in the way that pleased Him, in the way best assured the development of my relationship to Him. Same for you. He loves you...so He made you...for Himself.
Knowing we are loved gives us confidence and joy. We can withstand rejection and disappointment and pain because we are enclosed in the arms of the One who loves us without limit. We don't need circumstances to line up just right or people to treat us just so in order to be happy. We are loved. Absolutely. Completely.
So, what if you don't feel like you are loved? Well, first thing, God's Word says you are and His Word is true-er than your feelings. You need to repent of believing a lie and turn towards the truth. And then, run to Him with your heart. Ask Him to cause your heart to respond to His love.
That 3rd chapter of Ephesians ends with great assurance of His desire and ability to help you know His love. Vs 20-21 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Be happy Tip #14
Sometimes people ask me "Isn't my depression spiritual warfare? Isn't Satan attacking me?" Well, I certainly believe in spiritual warfare - because Scripture tells us in Ephesians 6:12 : "For we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the kingdoms, against the powers, against the world leaders of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in the high places". And the Bible also warns us that "your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8)
So, is everything undesirable that happens to us a casualty of this battle? I don't think so. Yes, we need to be sober and vigilant (I Peter 5:8a) and yes, we need to be armed and able to wage war successfully (Ephesians 6). But we don't need to fear and we don't need to always chalk all our problems up to The Enemy of our Souls. I like how John Piper puts it "Give the devil his due, but no more".
Use the offensive weapons that God has designated for this purpose (The Word and prayer). Keep your armor on (helmet of salvation, shield of faith, a heart protected by right-living, belt of truth and feet that are prepared to go and live the Gospel wherever He leads). Absolutely.
But let's remember a few very important points.
1. Satan was defeated at the Cross. Not only did Jesus pay for our sin, He disarmed the rulers and authorities of darkness, ridiculed them, triumphed over them (Colossians 2:14,15)
2. We who are in Christ are filled with this same power. I John 4:4 assures us that "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world".
3. Yes, Satan is powerful and we shouldn't forget about him. Yes, he wants to steal our joy and he actually wants to destroy us. But he has already been defeated. We can be victorious in our battle with him if we apply Scripture.
4. Sometimes, we need to acknowledge that our own flesh is at least as powerful an enemy as Satan. He would love to take credit for our depressed state because he loves the attention and he knows that will keep us from focusing on our personal responsibility. If we fight the wrong enemy, we will continue in defeat.
So, yes, sometimes we are attacked by spirits of despair and despondency. Absolutely. But we don't have to yield to them. We can fight back because of Christ's victory over them. However, let's don't attribute more to the Defeated One than necessary. Sometimes, we need to deal with our own sin.
Amen.
Be happy - tip #13
Let's review the tips so far:
1. Check out possible physical problems (fatigue, hormones, illness)
2. Acknowledge God's command to be joyful
3. Don't blame others - accept responsibility for your own joy
4. Confess sin
5. Address systems errors (ways to do things better/more successfully)
6. Accept the unchangeables.
7. THE WORD - get in it.
8. Pray. And listen.
9. Talk to yourself - but be sure and preach the Truth!
10. Monitor music and media
11. Immerse yourself in God's creation
12. Don't go to the extreme of over-activity or of isolation.
Tip #13 - Serve others.
This is honestly one of the most effective tools to combat depression. Come to think of it, serving others combats lots of undesirable things - selfishness, boredom, insignificance, apathy, on and on the list goes. Serving others is absolutely a great idea.
Especially serving those who are poor and needy....and cannot repay you in any way.
The prophet Isaiah instructs the people of Israel how to find happiness, to be free of burdens this way:
chapter 58:6-8 - Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 ¶Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
Check out that passage - feeding the hungry, showing hospitality to the poor, clothing the naked is inextricably linked to joy (being free from wickedness and burdens and oppression...LIGHT breaking forth, HEALTH (!!!), and seeing the glory of God).
This may very well be the MOST powerful tip of them all.
Don't miss it.
p.s. - if you live in the Athens GA community and need somewhere to serve like this, message me. I have lots of suggestions for places that need you.