HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 93
page A91
• 2 C O R I NT H I A NS 1 2 :9 | “My power works best in weakness.”
When you are weak, you are more receptive to the Lord’s strength. When everything is
going your way, it’s easy to overlook God’s hand in your life. As God works through your
weakness, however, you learn to depend more on him and recognize and be grateful for
the good work that only he can accomplish in you.
How can I help someone who is depressed?
• 2 C O R I NT H I A NS 1 :4 | He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.
When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
• PR O VE R B S 2 5 :2 0 | Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking
someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.
• R O MA NS 1 2 :1 5 | Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.
The best way to help someone who is down is to model the gentle, caring love of Christ.
Those dealing with depression need comfort and understanding, not advice and lectures.
You can help people who are depressed by your quiet presence, your love, and your
encouragement. Telling them to “snap out of it” or minimizing their pain by false cheeriness
will just make them feel worse. There are also instances where you can lovingly suggest
they get professional help from a trained counselor. God often works through other people
to provide the help someone needs.
Becoming angry and outraged when you see the sin of a terrible crime can leave you
depressed about all the evil in the world. This is not a sin.
• J O H N 1 1 :3 3 | When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her . . .
he was deeply troubled.
• J O H N 1 2 :2 7 | “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this
hour’? But this is the very reason I came!”
When Jesus saw others grieving and when he faced the cross, he felt deeply troubled or
quite “low.” It is natural to feel low in the backwash of troubled times. Since Jesus cannot
sin, to feel low or depressed cannot be a sin. It can be a result of sin or become a sin if
you blame God, use it against God, or leave God out of your antidote.
PROMISES FROM GOD
• PSA L M 4 0 :2 | He lifted me out of the pit of despair. . . . He set my feet on solid ground and
steadied me as I walked along.
• MAT T H E W 1 1 :2 8 | Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Desires See also Addiction; Discipline; Lust; Motives; Self-Control; Sexuality;
Temptation; Vulnerability
All of us are created with a capacity to desire. Desire can be healthy or unhealthy, godly
or ungodly, casual or intense. We can desire something simple, like a home-cooked
meal, or develop a burning passion for a cause that eventually consumes us. Some
desires fuel passions to white heat, even driving a person to violence or crime to satisfy
those desires. The Bible tells us to develop a desire—to hunger and thirst—for the Lord.
It is good and holy to desire God, to long to know him personally, to come to love him
deeply. It is also good and holy to desire the best for our families and friends, to hunger
to share Christ with others, to help and bless the needy and oppressed, and to know
God’s Word. Learning to control unhealthy desires and nurture healthy ones is a lifelong
quest that has eternal implications.
HelpFinder
• I SA I A H 2 4 :1 6 | We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth, songs that give glory to
the Righteous One! But my heart is heavy with grief. Weep for me, for I wither away. Deceit
still prevails, and treachery is everywhere.
D
Are feelings of depression sin?