Exactly ten years ago, I did a 75-minute seminar at the long-running Iron Sharpens Iron National Men's conference (St. Louis) called "DEPRESSION- THE SILENT KILLER OF MEN". This followed a couple other teaching workshops I had done at Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs on "LIVING WITH POWER" based on the first book I ever wrote, called TWO MINUTE WARNING. Both topics may seem completely opposite to each other and in a sense, they are. Both - living the life God has called His men to live and just barely breathing, after getting beaten down by everything ungodly is the opposite ends of the same slide rule of life. One way of living is natural and ordained by God. It does, however, come with a caveat. This way of life is the result of a personal relationship with God, through Jesus Christ as Lord of one's life. There is no other way. What results from this Father-son relationship is God giving us a huge measure of His power. Anyone of us who is born-again can testify it to be true. He says in John 1:12 (all Scriptures are NASB - New American Standard Bible) "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name". There it is - we, who have received Christ have the right/authority to operate in Kingdom Power - right here on earth. If this is done according to Scripture, we can have life and life abundantly.
The opposite is true. We already know that those who have rejected Christ can still have what they think is a perfect life, here on earth while covering up their emptiness with things and fun in the sun right up, until their last days. However, there are many in the middle who live lives of quiet desperation. They may appear to be normal on the outside, but then plaster over their wounds and emptiness with golf, all kinds of physical pursuits (including illicit affairs etc.) and alcohol. Some fall into gambling and pharmaceuticals, even those of an illegal nature. In the fall of 2017, I worked with a fellow member of the Gideon Bible Society as we handed out hundreds of college New Testaments, at what was once a Christian university. Three months later, I heard that this man, who was once a pilot of a big corporation, went into his garage, turned on the engine, sealed the garage door and took his own life. There was not thought of the effect on his young family (he was in his low 50's) or testimony. I later heard that he never recovered from being stripped of his job as a pilot and getting grounded. While he was a Christian man, his focus was all wrong - it was on what he DID for a living, not WHO HE WAS in Christ. Here is where so many men lose it. They may know somewhere in the back of their minds, that there is a purpose to life and it is not the 9 to 5, the mortgage or the college bills. It is preparing for Eternity. Too many ignore the warning signs and especially the Warning Signs from Jesus Christ and the Bible that it is appointed for man to die once, and then the Judgment. This is real. This is some real stuff. I am not a professional medical or any such thing as a psychologist. But I know how to study human nature and through the Grace and Spirit of God, I know how the Bible and the Lord has the answers for EVERYTHING which ails humankind. If we would just listen, trust, obey and pray. Amen. NEXT: WHY MEN DON'T PRAY
“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, as infants that never saw light" (Job 3:16) Every human being alive, since the Entry of Sin into the World and the resulting chasm between God and His creation, has suffered from Depression. It was not supposed to be this way, but it is. God gave Man dominion over all the earth and the ability to freely enjoy all Creation. Adam and Eve had communion with Jesus Christ daily as He walked in the "cool of the garden". After sin entered the world, Holy God had to judge in righteousness. Herein we find the seeds of what later became known as depression. Whereas God provided all for Adam and Eve for a long time as they went about their work, the stain of sin brought the following life sentence, which we still serve for all time, until the end of this age. THE INTRODUCTION OF PAIN, BECAUSE OF SIN: To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16) THE INTRODUCTION OF MAN'S DEPRESSING TROUBLES: 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19) After you let this sink in for a moment, there will be a realization of the origins of all our troubles as human being. In order, agreeing with a serpent - the representative of Lucifer (Satan) over the pure and freeing relationship with God brought (from Genesis 3:16-19): - Pain - Lust - The Origins of the corrupted Creation which led to natural disasters from then until the present day (earthquake, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods etc.) - Toil and labor for little or not return - Food and shortages of all the basic needs of life - The sense of life having no meaning and that all we do is grow up, get up, work, eat, sleep, get back up, go to work, pay bills. Then if we are fortunate enough to live long enough - retire, play with grand kids and then die. That alone could depress even the most focused and joyful of us, unless we stay planted in Christ and point others to Him....and especially the Lost. Then there is the pain of everyday or unexpected tragedy: the stunning loss of a child; a loved one with a fatal disease; the increasing instances of new and untreatable diseases and on and on. Without the biblical perspective on pain and how God can move through the pain of His people, many walk away from Him and blow it, close to the finish line. This is NOT the plan of God, even in a corrupt and perishing world, which was brought about by sin. This was not the initial response of Job either, when he lost everything - children and all his riches in one day and then was physically afflicted with sores and painful things all over this body. But as time went on and we get to Job Chapter 3, we see him first NOT listen to his wife, who wanted to him to "curse God and die", but go from having a good view of pain to opening wishing he was dead! Most of Job chapter 3 is a stunning turn for a man who was now regretting that he was ever born. These are some amazing words from Job: "“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, and the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ "(Job 3:3) "“Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?" (Job 3:11).....then Job goes on to wallow in thoughts of death (from Job 3:17-22). Then here are words of true physical and emotional depression, the kind which is treated with heavy meds in the USA and other western countries. This is precisely how a depressed person feels - Christian or non-christian: “Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in? 24 “For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water. 25 “For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me. 26 “I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.” (Job 3:23-26) Job's depression continues for a long time and all kinds of incorrect things were said by both him and his friends. God was so upset with Job's friends and their horrid advice, He would have taken them out of the picture, if His grace did not allow Job to offer a sacrifice for them. When someone around us is depressed and in a terribly messed up, the worse thing we could do is give unqualified and uninformed advice. PLEASE get that person to a biblical counselor in your church or one of your local churches which have professional counselors on staff, and then to a physician in case there is a chemical imbalance, for which medication will be needed. For the most part, accurate, pure and compassionate biblical counseling will go a long way because a qualified Bible counselor will be able to discern if a physician is necessary or not. The Word of God does have the remedy for depression. This verse from 2 Corinthians 1:8 tells us that even the great Apostle Paul was depressed: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life." (Emphasis mine) He was not the only Bible hero to be in despair. Read most of the Psalms written by King David. Most were written when he was on the run from King Saul attempting to kill him and he was severely depressed for years and years. Still he - David - found his comfort and hope and rest in the Lord. In these Psalms, he would begin depressed and then immediately switch to praying to the Lord and end in praise! Therefore, when you and I get depressed - let's start there! Let's to to the Psalms and find comfort and respite. Then let's be encouraged with the exhortation from the Apostle Paul who said the following in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 "8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body". MORE INFORMATION ON DEPRESSION & THE BIBLE IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO:
