Depression and Faith

[Rick-Parker]

I don't need your judgment. Keep it to yourself. I am insulted that you would question my faith and my relationship with God. You can think anything you want, but you are the one who will have to explain your ignorance to the Father. May the Lord open your eyes that He is incharge and He decides whom to do things for. (unless you discount the verses that I mentioned eairlier, through your superior knowledge). That's sarcasm.

[HopesDaughter]

"Depression, we are saying, is NOT a disease..." - J. Griffin & I. Tyrrell, Neuropsychiatric researchers, Human Givens Publishing

I recently read some statistics on depression and I was absolutely nauseated by how many suicides there are in the U.S. alone, simply as a result of depression and feelings of hopelesness. I've personally been through my own battle with depression and have helped others with it as well.

In case you know anyone who is dealing with depression, or if you are yourself, keep the following in mind. This helped me get through my bout with depression and has helped many of my friends as well. I'm not a psychologist or scholar; however, why worry about credentials, when results are what matters most?

It's a chemical imbalance...

We

[the_interactionist]

I don't need your judgment. Keep it to yourself. I am insulted that you would question my faith and my relationship with God. You can think anything you want, but you are the one who will have to explain your ignorance to the Father. May the Lord open your eyes that He is incharge and He decides whom to do things for. (unless you discount the verses that I mentioned eairlier, through your superior knowledge). That's sarcasm.

Yeah, you're right. I think Jesus was probably a pretty sarcastic guy, too. Wasn't there something in His commandments about "be sarcastic towards thy brethren, for this shall surely bring forth peace"? Maybe not. I don't remember.

Seriously... I apologize if I'm coming off too harsh here, but I remain steadfast in believing that God has pre-ordained healing for us by his mercy once we've accepted Him fully and our faith in Him is ready. I waited on God for a long time to heal me from my addiction (and its accompanying symptoms) but only received healing when I came to the point where I surrendered all of myself to Him and stopped relying on rationalization or "reason" to get me by.

I think what I'm ultimately saying here is that God does choose when He will heal us, but He chooses to heal us when we are totally and completely accepting of his healing through faith. That is the position of all the scripture I used earlier, if you read it. None of the scripture relies on the position that God must be ready or willing to heal anyone of the people in those accounts. God's mercy wasn't the determining factor, even according to Jesus. Faith was. Only once we believe, will he work through us.

According to the Psalms (145:9), God's mercy is already upon all his works. He does indeed choose whom He will bestow it upon, but that doesn't mean it's not already there for the taking, when WE are ready for it. According to David's Psalm, his mercy is already there, waiting for us to embrace it. He has already chosen mercy and healing for those of us who are ready to receive it.

That's my position on it. I believe your faith is adequate. Perhaps it's just not time yet. I still believe that it's "time" when we are ready to receive what God has promised us. Maybe it's because you believe it's not your time that you haven't received it? I hope that doesn't come off offensive to you, too. I honestly don't mean for it, too, but I can't really help how anyone perceives what I say. I'm really not trying to be judgmental, just objective. I know that in my experience (and I respect and realize our experiences are different), healing didn't come until I realized it was there all along, ready for me to take it. It was something that relied on my faith, and not merely on God saying, "Well, today is your day, because I'm feeling merciful on you."

Please forgive me if I've offended you. I didn't mean to. I only want peace between us. Bless you, my friend.

[Rick-Parker]

According to the Psalms (145:9), God's mercy is already upon all his works. He does indeed choose whom He will bestow it upon, but that doesn't mean it's not already there for the taking, when WE are ready for it. According to David's Psalm, his mercy is already there, waiting for us to embrace it. He has already chosen mercy and healing for those of us who are ready to receive it.

We are not talking about God's grace and mercy. We are talking about healing. As a matter of fact, God has completely healed me of Hepatitis C, and allowed my leukemia to go into remission. Apparently my faith is strong enough for God to work in me in regards to these two maladies. And guess what? God used doctors and nurses and medications to accomplish his will in my life. Now, he could have outright healed me, all I needed to name it and claim it, right? And have enough faith. Do you speak in tongues? If so, is there always one to interpret it for the congregation. If not, you must not have the right amount of faith, or God is withholding it until your faith is good enough.

Anyway......I'm not going to reply any more on this subject. You can sugar coat your words, but judgment is judgment and I reject yours. We are brothers in Christ, but I am not your friend. Friends don't judge each other, they love each other.

Rick

Edited January 17, 2008 by Brandon's Popo

[ladygirl21]

Depression is not always a chemical inbalance. Depression also comes from life being so down right evil! It comes when one loses a loved one, or when you feel like your world just came to an end. Depression can be spiritual. It comes and goes according to lifes ups and downs. I am only depress because I have experience death instead of healing. It is normal to be depress sometime. TO hate the world sometime. To want to kill yourself sometime. Cause the earth is full of crap that makes you feel that way. Plus why would anybody who watch God fail believe in healing? I will never believe in healing!

[Guest]