DEPRESSION – IT’S WHAT YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT!

It hit me like a ton of bricks!  Suddenly I was lost in negative thinking.  I had no hope, and it was like a whirlpool was taking me down. . .down. . .down!  How could this happen to me?  I was a positive person, and full of hope and faith!  When I prayed, God answered my prayers!

I called my cousin, Jean, in Minnesota, because she had written to me about a terrible bout of depression that she had had last winter.  Minnesota winters are cold and long, and sometimes it seems that you don’t see the sun for weeks.  Jean lives on a farm and somehow, that winter, depression sneaked into her mind.  It had been so bad that she and her husband agreed that perhaps they should not live out on that remote farm for another winter.

Jean answered the phone when I called, and I asked her, “Jean, what did you learn about depression when you had it last winter—because now I’m depressed!”  She answered, “What are you thinking about?” I had expected her to say something like, “This is what I learned . . . .”  I didn’t expect her to ask, “What are you thinking about?”  Maybe she hadn’t understood, so I rephrased my question.  “Did you learn anything that will help me, because I’m depressed, and I can’t snap out of it!”  She said, “It’s what you are thinking about!  What are you thinking about?”

Suddenly I understood what she meant!  I told her about three bad things had happened, almost at once.  First of all, we had invested a lot of money, hoping for a return of double or triple—instead, we lost it all.  With that loss, went my hopes of a dream house on a mountainside.  Our money was gone, and that meant we were stuck in this little house we had planned to live in temporarily.  I didn’t like the neighborhood, and I did not like the house!  If only I had been content with what we had!  But I had wanted to double our money!  Too late!  It was gone!

Secondly, and worse, at that same time I found out that a loved one was suicidal! Because he was far away, across the country, I didn’t know what I could do to help him!  I hurt for him!  I mourned for him!  I feared for him!

Thirdly, I had spent a lot of time and money in a network marketing business that hadn’t worked!  It was a good product and company, but I hated selling, and it had been a huge mistake! How could I have wasted all that time? How could I have wasted all that money? If only I had used that time to call my loved one often!  How could I have been so stupid?

When Jean asked, “What are you thinking about?  It’s what you’re thinking about that causes your depression.” I knew immediately that she was right!  I was trying to help a loved one who was so down, he had no hope, and I didn’t have the answer!  I was thinking about all the money we had lost, and that there was now no hope for the house I wanted.  And I was thinking about all the time and money I had wasted trying to start a business that hadn’t worked.  I had been so busy, I seldom called my loved one.  I hadn’t known he was suicidal!  I was full of regret, frustration, helplessness, sorrow, fear and no answers! Everything seemed negative!  I saw no hope!

I thanked Jean!  She answered my question!  Now I knew why I was depressed.  So, I said to myself, “Depression go away!  Now I know what caused you to come!”  But the depression didn’t go away!  Even though I knew what was causing it, I was still in a spiral pulling me down, and I couldn’t get out of it!

I called three prayer warrior friends, who I knew would pray for me.  They wouldn’t just SAYthey would pray – if these people said they would pray, I knew that THEY WOULD DEFINITELY PRAY!  In addition, I knew God answered their prayers!  I asked them to pray for me.  I told them I was depressed, and I had found out the cause—it was what I was thinking.  I told them what had happened to cause me to be SO DOWN! I said I was caught in a whirlpool of negative thinking, and needed to get out.  THEY PROMISED TO PRAY FOR ME!

I prayed, they prayed, and three days later I woke up and the depression was gone! It had lifted, the sun was shining, and my hope was back!  Thank You, God!  You answer prayer!

It can happen to anyone!  Bad news can hit us from several directions, all at once!  God told us in Phil. 4:6, “Whatever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, THINK ON THESE THINGS.”  If I had prayed and given all my disappointments, fears, and regrets, to God, and then kept my mind on good things, I wouldn’t have gotten into a negative spiral of depression!

I’m sharing this with you, so that you can avoid depression and also so you will know that IT’S WHAT YOU’RE THINKING!  Father God, we lift up anyone who needs to get out of the spiral of negative thinking and hopelessness!  Help them find hope and get out of that spiral!  With You there is always hope!

Philippians 4:6-9 (TLB)

Don’t worry about anything; instead, PRAYABOUT EVERYTHING; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.  If you do this, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE GOD’S PEACE,which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.  And . . . . . . fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about the countless things that you can praise God for and be glad about, . . . . . . . and THE GOD OF PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.”