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Depression :'(
okay guys, i have a serious problem. i get depressed very easily. and its not over stupid things, its over big things that take a while to change. i tried to be optimistic and believe that God is gonna help me, but that hope fades away very quickly when another problem builds up or the problem becomes worse. i mean, i went throught this stage two years and let me tell u that i barely got through it. think extreme, i was almost a gonner. how do i stop this from happening? how do i change the way i look at life and God when at times of depression?
Comments
i dont think its a medical thing, although i do hope it is. that would be better than this :(
Thank you for your kindness!
Thats a tough one...
The best way to handle things like this is to remember the ways that God helped you in the past when you thought that there was no way out.
God knows what our weaknesses are so He very often builds situations and times like your experiencing to show you how He can perform miracluous escapes so we understand how much He loves us and how His love never leaves us. Always remember that everyone is in God's hand and no situation is too great.
I find that the majority of these problems are caused because we don't know how much God loves us and how he can manipulate even the worst situation to make it good for us. This is why St. Anthony had so much confidence while he being beaten was never afraid because he knew that God loves him and would never leave him.
The other thing to remember is that St. Anthony wasn't always like that. One time he was beaten so badly and he saw the Lord after and asked "Jesus where were you while I was being beaten?" and the Lord replied "Anthony, I was right there beside you but I didn't want to intervene because you were doing so well and would lose your crown." This shows us 2 things. The first is that even saints needed to build their faith in tough times like this and even though those times are bad and look terrible to us, God sees us struggling and is pleased because it is a greater show of love to pray when worried and troubled like Christ did before his Crucifixion than when things are easy and we find prayer emotional and ejoyable.
The other thing we have to know is like St. Moses the black when he got to the monastery, he was tempted severly and had to visit his FOC 11 times in one night! This is because the devil troubled him with all kinds of thoughts, the reason is the path to God, especially in the begining is very hard and we find it hard to enjoy the spiritual life and see God's love but over a period of time and suffering we start to undertand and realise how much God loves us when He continually comes and saves when we are suffering and its then we understand more importantly that He doesn't love us because we resist temptations, struggle or anythig like that because we keep falling over and over but because He is good.
It is for this reason that the saints used to thank God in times when things were bad because at the end there is always a reward and that reward is Him.
One of the great desert fathers once said that no man should ever expect perfect peace from temptations and perfect strength in time of trouble because its our weakness and knowledge of how much that we need Him that brings us to Him in the most potent way, but only if we understand that even if God zooms in to save us at the last minute, He will come and He does love us.
All these bad times happen so He can train us to have a more stronger and fruitful relationship with Him because He gives His strength to the weak no tthe strong and His teaching to the ignorant not the scholar.
God bless you,
CS
dearest Princess,
I feel the same way a lot of times ( u r not the only 1 ;) )
I know that a lot of times there seems to be way too many problems in our lives, more than we can ever handle, and it just seems overwhelming for us we dont know what to do.
But when you ever feel like there is just too many problems dont be depressed, because the Prince of peace grants you His peace, and you have to remember that you are not alone, your sweet Lord tells you that He will always be there for you, if you have any problem just come to Him "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
No matter how big or extreme problems in our lives are, remember that by your side is always a friend, a friend like no other friend, one that "there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" Proverbs 18:24. God will always help you, God never forgets His children, "I will never leave you or forsake you" Hebrews 13:5
habebtee Jesus loves you so much, and He said that anything you ask of Him in prayer ( if you have faith), you will receive, just ask Him to intervene and lay all your problems on His shoulders, and He will take care of them. Just remember that you are His child, and you are so precious to Him, He doesnt wish to see you sad or depressed, so cheer up, if the prince of peace fills your heart with His peace, "My peace I leave to you"..then how could we ever be sad?
remember the tarnema."when I am tired to whom shall I go..(2), You give me REST o my Lord...etc"..."when I am sad to whom shall I go ..you give me JOY" and also there is this 1 song that says ; mabtensash..mabtensash abaden ya rabee ilee etakaloo 3aleek...we la tansash...ilee beyemsek feek".... God never forgets those who depend/rely on Him and He never forgets those who hold on/cling to Him (im a bad translator)............" Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? surely, they may forget, yet I will not forget you." Isaiah 49:15
also remember - "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy- John 16:20"
Dont ever lose HOPE, Jesus is with u forever :)
I know what you mean and as strange as this sounds, thats the whole idea...
You'll hit lows so low that there seems like there is no way out and its at those times that God comes in to save us.
It sounds to me like your quite a self-concious person and God has to remedy that by teaching us to trust Him and the onus is on God educating us in faith rather than us struggling to believe in Him.
Fr Matta in his book on the Orthodox Prayer Life wrote: Its a very distinict spiritual stage and some have to sink lower than others but all of this is in view of God....
God bless,
CS
whose in the depression club.. raise your hands ;D jk
dear Princess and Youstina,
Ive been through a lot of bad times....times of depression and sadness are really hard times for anyone, but we cant let depression take over our lives, we are stronger than it! Whatever we are facing, we are facing for a reason, God allows us to go through difficult times and tribulations, but He doesnt leave us alone...."These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33.
He knows that we will be facing tribulations and hardships but He tells us that whatever we are facing, we will find peace if we seek Him
"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you." John 16:22
Dont let any problem take away your joy from you. just leave all your worries and whatever troubles your heart in Gods hands and He will take care of them.
Don't lose hope in God..as CopticSoldier already said...thats what the devil wants....so dont let the devil win...his main point is to make us, the children of God, lose all hope in Him..then we just start drifting further and further away from God
Remember one thing: the devil wants you to be away from the love of God and he will use depression as a wedge to seperate you from the Lord. When you lose hope in God's love, you have allowed the Devil to make you doubt in Jesus and that is indeed a sad thing. Pray for the courage to FIGHT!!! Fight depression! See depression as a real temptation that you need to resist. It does not happen overnight. It takes time, patience and persistence: like water drops on a rock. But pray with faith, open your heart and listen for God's whispers of love and mercy. He wants you to share in His joy and creation. Make every effort not to deprive yourself.
My prayers are with you. God bless you with his grace.
ML
ml is exactly right
hay dont forget life is a test, u r always being tested
God tests faith through problems, hope how i handle possesions, love through people
a very important test is how u act when u cant feel gods presence in your life
blessed are they who endure when they are tested. when they pass the test they will recieve the crown of life that god has promised to those who love him
and also God never tests people beyond your power
ill pray for u
GBU ;)
pray 4 me FROG
sleepy
God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He? Isn't it amazing how God works in
our lives! On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working
late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about
10:00 PM, but his wife didn't answer the phone.
The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she
didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few
minutes. When he tried again she answered right away! He asked her why she
hadn't answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their house.
They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which
was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with
wanted to know why he'd called on Saturday night.
The pastor couldn't figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man
said, "It rang and rang, but I didn't answer." The pastor remembered the
mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to
call his wife.
The man said, "That's, OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning
to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if
you're there, and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that
point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID and it said,
'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer!"
The reason why it showed on the man's caller ID that the call came from
"Almighty God" is because the church that the pastor attends is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!
GOD BLESS ALL! :-*
Lostegprincess---i can truly say i know wat ur talking aobut.. ive been through it so badly once before that i was almost a gonner as well... have u talked ot ur FoC?.. i did and it helped a lot.. but i know that while ur going thro it nothing seems to help and im back to square one again after being happy for a while... it just seems sometimes like the only goog thing aobut life is the fact that your still breathing and alive.. and yes.. sometimes we even lose hope in God... so yea... help needed here too.. pleasee
my FOC seems to never available during these times. either i cant see him, or he is sick or unavailable. things always take a turn against me. please pray for me guys.
I realize all these little details about how my friends dont care about me as much as i do about them.
I go out of my way to help people even out of my expense. i dont ask for anything in return expect that when i need u please be there. unfortuantely i dont find that i get really upset depressed and hopless. :'(
Mike
A lot of u said to turn to friends. friends choose this time to be not there. i become altra sensitive during this time, not that im not sensitive already.
I realize all these little details about how my friends dont care about me as much as i do about them.
I go out of my way to help people even out of my expense. i dont ask for anything in return expect that when i need u please be there. unfortuantely i dont find that i get really upset depressed and hopless. :'(
Just remember princess, I'm always here for you, and I will never forsake you. You have my number, and at anytime, just call. I'm here for you, never forget that.
sleepy
i have SO much to say.... just no way to express it :-\
first off.. ur friends are ALWAYS here for you, but as much as u may not know it... ur friends are going through some hardships and times too
im not gonna sit here n say that i know how u feel n i've been there before.. cause no matter how many times all of us have gone through 'depressions'... it's all been for different reasons and in VERY different situations and we have all dealt with them differently. some of us easily and openly talk about it cause we feel the need to do so, and others of us bury it deep inside of ourselves (which ofcourse isnt good for our mind and health, but we choose to do so at times to 'ease the pain' when the pain just really increases) but we should all have one desire in common when it comes to this kind of stuff, and that's to turn to God...
second, as several ppl already said, God will NEVER EVER EVER give you a trial or tribulation that u cant deal with
He gave you talents and gifts and wisdom, and you may or may not even know if u have them... but they r there, u just have to use them somehow. God loves you and would NEVER want to hurt you (duh!) but sometimes i notice that God gives us problems.. big problems... sometimes life traumatizing and changing problems.... and sometimes its for the better. God may take someone u love dearly away from you, so that u may turn ur attention to Him and go to Him for help now... u get the point? God may take a certain privelage away from you so that you go to Him and ask for it... main point i guess is, is that God does everything according to will and reason... so whatever happens is intended to bring you closer to Him... and don't resist that.
third... i dont wanna make this post any more personal than it already is cause everyones gonna be reading this... but theres SO much stuff going on in everybody's life now... SO much
ur not teh only one thats depressed... but some of us are still following that little trail of hope that Anba David told you about...
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet prais Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Psalm 42:11
^^^^ SOOOOOOO true!
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me." Psalm 138:7
now this is wat im talkin about:
"For hath he not despised nor abhorred the affliction of hte afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him but when he cried unto him, he heard." Psalm 22:24
i could go on FOREVER with these psalms...
Cast thy burded upon the LLord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55:22
k last few..... i promise (i know, i can be a verse freak!)
"For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." Lamentations 3:31
"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:14
they always say that theres a light at the end of a tunnel... let God be your light and candle and everything as u reach the end of that tunnel... with God's light, u can stop the oncoming train from hitting you ( i know, stupid analogy, but its all i can think of)
God allows us to be tempted and trialed at times... to get closer to Him
i can go on forever.... but ill just be babbling and ramble again... so until next time:
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. nahum 1:7
look up psalm 73:26... good stuff
Jesus loves you! ;D
:-\