Tag: Depression

Choose Joy

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A.B. Simpsonby A.B. Simpson

I will joy in the God of my salvation —Habakkuk 3:18

The secret of joy is not to wait until you feel happy, but to rise, by an act of faith, out of the depression which is dragging you down and begin to praise God as an act of choice. This is the meaning of such passages as these: Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4). I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice (Philippians 1:18). Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (James 1:2). In all these cases there is an evident struggle with sadness and then the triumphs of faith and praise.

This is what is meant-at least in part-by the sacrifice of praise. A sacrifice is that which costs us something. And when a man or woman has some cherished grudge or wrong and is harboring it, nursing it, dwelling on it, and quite determined to enjoy a miserable time in selfish grumbling, it costs us no little sacrifice to throw off the morbid spell, to rise out of the mood of self-commiseration in wholesome and holy determination and say, I will rejoice in the Lord (Habakkuk 3:18); I will count it all joy (James 1:2).

by A.B. Simpson

Taking the Initiative Against Depression

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Oswald Chambersby Oswald Chambers

The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

by Oswald Chambers