Shedding Light On Depression

[petrospetra]

Greetings - this is my first post on this forum,

Latish last year I began a new blog, in which I use extracts from my diary back in the early 1990s, to share how the Lord gently lead me out of one of the blackest pits we can fall into, clinical depression, also called major depressive disorder. My life was a mess, in every sense of the word, but the Lord helped me through that darkest time and then showed me from a variety of sources, how to recover to have a full life again.

It breaks my heart when I see others suffering in the same way, bewildered, confused, not knowing where to turn. Hence the Lord has lead me to start my blog, in the hope that others stuck in that miry pit can find encouragement , help, and the way back to living a life full of hope and Christ's presence.

Note that I do not profess to have any specific qualifications, I am merely sharing my testimony through the use of my diary entries and commentary, by sharing how the Lord lead me to recovery.

The Blog - When I Am Weak, I Am Strong
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/

The posts so far:

They Could Have Been the Worst Four Years
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2008/12/they-could-have-been-worst-four-years.html

Ignorance is not bliss
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2008/12/ignorance-is-not-bliss.html

How do you support someone suffering from depression?
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-do-you-support-someone-suffering.html

Why Won't God End my Suffering?
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-wont-god-end-my-suffering.html

Dealing With Self-Hate
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/01/dealing-with-self-hate.html

The Importance of Counselling
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/01/importance-of-counselling.html

Depression, Christians and Anti-Depressant Medication
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/01/depression-christians-and-anti.html

Understanding Depression to Cast off the Confusion
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/02/understanding-depression-to-cast-off.html

Breaking the Fear Cycle
http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/2009/02/breaking-fear-cycle.html

God bless
Peter

 

[Ivy]

Hi, Peter. It's great that you want to reach out to others with your testimony, and that you are. It's one of the ways the internet can be used for the glory of God. I'll check out your blog!

I have a heart for Christians and depression, too, but from a different avenue: intercession. I experience depression, despair, self-hate - all that good stuff - as an intercessor. The Holy Spirit will press upon my emotions feelings of others He wants me to bring before His throne; people either too weak to pray for themselves, or, ignorant of God's love for them. It is a calling, a difficult one - but worse when a Christian doesn't understand they are called to intercession. As Oswald Chambers taught,

"Intercession means getting the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray, that is what is meant by 'filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ'; and that is why there are so few intercessors."

Christ was a "man of sorrows, well-acquainted with grief," not because He suffered from depression Himself, but because He bore our sorrows. Some of us are called to be intercessors to the extreme; "making up of that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." It breaks my heart when Christians don't understand the great privilege we have in intercession; to bring broken hearts and confused minds before the throne of God in prayer, for Him to intervene and heal. And we need to understand, if we don't feel it, we won't care, and we won't persist in prayer, much less pray with knowledge and sincerity.

I know you created this post to share with others about your testimony regarding Christ's Spirit, which is able to deliver - and I wanted to add this second aspect, which is largely untaught in modern Christianity. For some, intercession can lift some heavy emotional and mental burdens. "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."

 

[petrospetra]

Hi Ivy,
Thanks for the encouraging words, for sharing your heart for prayer for those in need. I agree whole heartedly that the ministry of intercession is crucial in drawing others' burdens before Christ, so that they can receive help, comfort, and healing. Although the primary burden I have felt the Lord lay upon me at the moment is to share my testimony and His Word, each morning I pray for those who have contacted me through my blog or other writings regarding depression.

Revelation 12:11 NIV 'They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.'

God bless
Peter

 

[Ivy]

Absolutely. You're testifying and interceding, both - a double whammy! God bless you!