(Today’s post is a guest post by Rachel Newman about the revelation God gave her with respect to her experience with depression.)

Not long ago, I listened to a sermon about depression. I hadn’t recognized depression in my life and wouldn’t have consciously considered myself depressed. But I had just shared with my husband that lately I felt sad more often than I felt happy. When this timely sermon came on the radio, it targeted this emotional weight and began to tear it away.

The message was this: if you are struggling with depression (and it is not a result of a chemical imbalance), it is because you are believing a lie. The sermon focused on God’s great love for us. First John 4:10 tells us, “This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (KJV).

So often we focus on the first commandment, love God; but we forget that He loved us first. He gave Himself for us. He paid the highest price heaven could offer. You don’t pay a price for something unless you think it is of equal worth. You aren’t going to pay $50 for a purse unless you consider that purse to be worth at least $50.

Do you realize that God paid for you with Jesus? To Him, you are worth as much as the life of His Son. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 KVJ). Wow!

I had received great revelations about God’s love and grace in my life already. I knew I wasn’t believing a lie in that area. But obviously depressed, I had finally reached the point where I needed to find a way out. So I asked, “Lord, what lie am I believing?”

In His gentle and clear way, He showed me that I did not doubt His love, but I doubted my husband’s love. Certain areas of our lives were not going the way I thought they should go. My husband did not react to my needs the way I thought he should. I had begun to entertain thoughts that if he really loved me, he would behave differently. I judged his actions based on the way I show love. And the resulting reward was my new constant companion—sadness.

Instead, God reminded me of the ways my husband and I are different. He created us differently on purpose. My husband naturally shows his love for me in his own way, not my way. God brought back to mind all the things my husband does to demonstrate his love in his own way.

The moment I accepted God’s words as truth instead of the deceptions I had allowed, the blanket of depression vanished. Now when those pitiful thoughts tempt me again, I go back to that moment when God spoke His words of truth to me and it renews my strength and confidence that I am loved.

Have you been struggling with feelings of sadness? Pray this prayer with me:

Dear God, please show me the lies that I have believed and replace them with your truth. Give me a new revelation of your love for me. Help me to rest in you as you complete your work in me. In Jesus I ask, amen.

Growing in truth with you,

Rachel Newman

Freelance Editor and Indexer

Certified Paralegal

MrsMatthewNewman@gmail.com

 

I would love to meet you! Join me May 1–2, 2015 in Austin, Texas at PENCON 2015, the only convention for Christian editors. Learn how to enter the editing field (you love editing, so why not make some money at it?) or enhance an already established business. Network with other editors, and meet with the speakers one-on-one. Visit: http://thechristianpen.com/convention-2/

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(If you have a question you’d like Dr. B to answer, contact her here now. Your name and identity will be kept confidential.)

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A short brief about Hope Prevails.

Hope Prevails
Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey through Depression
Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Speaking from personal and professional experience, a neuropsychologist unpacks what depression is, shows how it affects us spiritually, and offers hope for living the abundant life.

Neuropsychologist Offers Hope to Those Struggling with Depression
-By 2020, depression will be our greatest epidemic worldwide

  • An estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from some form of depression
  • As with the bestselling My Stroke of Insight, the author experienced the same condition she treats
  • Helpful features include personal stories, biblical truths, prayers, and music recommendations

Hope Prevails Book cover vertical 536

In Hope Prevails, Dr. Bengtson writes with deep compassion and empathy, blending her extensive training and faith, to offer readers a hope that is grounded in God’s love and grace. She helps readers understand what depression is, how it affects them spiritually, and what, by God’s grace, it cannot do. The result is a treatment plan that addresses the whole person—not just chemical imbalances in the brain.

For those who struggle with depression and those that want to help them, Hope Prevails offers real hope for the future.

Hope Prevails is available now wherever books are sold. To find out more, see: https://drmichellebengtson.com/hope-prevails-book/.

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