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Depression
Finding Freedom in Christ
by David A. DePra
     Most people know what it is like to be depressed. It is a
condition into which most people slide from time to time. And it
is not a pleasant experience. No one enjoys it.
     Some of us get depressed only once in a while. Others of us
are always fighting depression. To us, emotional ups and downs
are a way of life.
     There are many factors which can contribute to depression.
Some of these involve chemical imbalance. Others of us are
equipped with an emotional makeup which seems to make
depression come easy. Perhaps our upbringing and
environment trained us to more easily slip into depression. But
whatever the cause, depression is no laughing matter. It is a
paralysing condition which can affect all we do. It can, in time,
become nothing less than an emotional prison from which there
seems no escape.
     Gladly, depression is not something Christians need to
accept. It has definite causes and definite solutions. And it is
certain NOT something which is too hard for God. Depression is
a condition from which we can find freedom in Jesus Christ.
 
The Root Issue
 
     The root issue behind depression is that life isn't going the
way I want it to go. So I am unhappy about it. In fact, I have a
sense of hopelessness about it -- a hopelessness that tells me
that things will never change.
     For those who suffer from chronic depression, this condition
is not because they are "having a bad day," or necessarily the
result of some truly terrible tragedy. It is a condition learned and
practiced until it has become automatic. It is a pattern which
governs them.
     Notice again the root issue behind depression: I am not
getting my own way. This is the cause even if my depression has
progressed to the point of being chronic, and is now something I
live in continually. It has become a pattern of reaction in me
because it is the way I have over and over reacted to not getting
my own way.
     Don't misunderstand. "My own way" does not necessarily
need to be sinful, in the sense of open rebellion. It is easy to get
depressed, for instance, if something GOOD doesn't happen that
should have happened. Or if something really bad happens. We
all get depressed from time to time -- not because we
demanded this or that -- but because we wished for the RIGHT
thing. And it didn't work out.
     It is also a fact that some people don't get depressed when
they don't get their own way. They get bitter, or angry. There are
even some people who remain happy. All of these reactions are
possible for Christian and non-Christian alike. We each have
our particular brand, or manifestation, of the flesh. We have,
through our own choosing, developed our individual ways of
reacting to life.
     Depression, then, is really only one of many possible patterns
we may have in this old creation. Thus, the principles of
bondage which keep us in depression, and the principle of
freedom to get us out, not only apply to depression, but apply to
any other bondage we may have in this life.
 
Personal Responsibility
 
     The suggestion that the root issue behind depression is my
not getting my way in life is easy to prove. Simply ask: Am I ever
depressed because things DO go my way? When my will IS
satisfied, when my agenda IS fulfilled, when my desires ARE
brought to pass, does it depress me? Of course not. When
things go MY way, I'm not depressed at all. Or, I am not as
depressed AS MUCH. Depression, therefore, is hardly the result
of things going my way. It is the result of them NOT going my
way.
     But it is here that we must be clear about something.
Depression is not CAUSED by the way life treats me. No. It is
caused by the way I treat life. In other words, my emotional and
spiritual condition is not CAUSED by what life does to me. It is
caused by how I choose to react to life.
     Note that again. In the final analysis, it is never the thing
outside of me which depresses me. It is how I react to it.
This is true even if the way we react isn't on purpose. Or even
if wish we could react differently. Indeed, none of us desire to be
depressed. Yet we have developed our patterns of the flesh.
Maybe we grew up in a family and were provided a certain
example. Or were born with a certain temperment, and over the
course of our childhood, we unconsciously and without malice,
developed a pattern of expression and self-assertion. Indeed,
none of us ever sat down and plotted out our pattern of the flesh.
No one ever chooses to be a depressed person. We simply
became what we are because we were lost and without God in
the old creation.
     God knows all of that. And He does not blame us for it. We
did not create the mess into which we were born. We did not
commit the original sin, nor did we ever decide we liked it. We
were born into it without giving our permission.
     So what then IS our responsibility? Just this: To surrender to
God. In other words, we are not responsiblity for being born in
Adam. But we are responsible, once we see the Truth, for being
born again in Christ. Once we see the way out of any sin, or any
condition of the flesh, we are responsible for allowing God to
deliver us from it. We can no longer plead ignorance.
     This is even the case regarding salvation itself. God never
blames us for being born into Adam. He never says it is our fault
for lacking salvation. No. He says, "Here is salvation in Christ.
Here is you way out." But then, if we refuse, we come under the
judgment of God.
     This is precisely what John writes in His gospel:
 
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be
saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned. But he that
believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And THIS is the
condemnation: That Light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (Jn.
3:16-19)
 
      If we could read this passage without getting lost in the
familiarity of it, we would see that it is plainly telling us that THIS
IS condemnation: That light is come into the world, but men
instead loved darkness. We would see that it tells us that God
sent His Son into the world NOT to condemn the world, but to
offer this light and salvation. It is only when we knowingly reject
the Truth, in favor of our will, and our evil deeds, that we are
without excuse.
 
Unbelief
 
     Herein we see THE sin: Unbelief. A refusal to believe -- that
is -- a refusal to embrace Jesus Christ. A refusal to lose MY
life. A refusal to let go of what ails me. A refusal of God --
despite having seen some light. It may seem incredible that
anyone would do such a thing. But the Bible reveals that many
will do so. Why?
     Because they want their life -- here and now. They want
their way. So they choose, perhaps slowly and gradually -- but
nevertheless deliberately -- choose to reject Jesus as their
Lord. They want something instead of Him, or perhaps in
addition to Him. Something which they cannot possess if they
are to be possessed by God.
     Unbelief is not just a sin which applies to non-Christians.
Christians can commit it as well. In fact, since Christians, by
definition, all have been given light, and have responded and
been saved, the danger of unbelief is somewhat greater. We
cannot "neglect so great a salvation." We must continually walk
in the light; continually allow God to have His way with us.
 
Freedom
 
     The key to freedom from depression, or for any pattern of the
flesh, is unconditional surrender to God. If depression, at it's
root, is caused by wanting to run my own life, then surrender of
that control will break the bondage. This means faith first, and
then, as God's gives grace, obedience.
     This does not mean that I will never "feel" depressed ever
again. No. If I have spent a lifetime training my emotions and my
flesh to act and react in a certain pattern, I am not likely to be
able to step out of that pattern in a second. But the control which
that pattern of the flesh has over me IS broken. In other words, I
may have a tendency to fall into a pattern of depression, but I do
not have to fall into it anymore. I am free. I CAN choose to
refuse it. I can instead choose to walk in freedom. And if I
choose to walk in freedom, then over the course of time, my
feelings and pattern of emotions will change -- be transformed
through this obedience to reflect the freedom I have chosen.
     Is this easier said than done? For some of us, yes. But that
fact is, it IS done! It is finished. And if we really want freedom,
we need to begin believing it and obeying it. Then we shall
experience freedom from depression and from any other pattern
of the flesh. *

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