Quote from Forum Archives on February 17, 2003, 8:57 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I pray that each of you has had a good weekend. We certainly
did, though we seem to be getting the double hit this week:
stormy weather and the next round of sore throats and colds in
the family. One of my personal prayers for my own family is that
God will guide us safely through this week and provide His
healing and strength for our bodies. I pray that God gives each
of you the strength that you need in the week ahead, too.

This message may be timely for some of you, especially if you
have to dig snow when you're not in the mood (though I suppose
others of you may be elated at the prospect of extra skiing and
other winter sports).

This message has to do with a practical issue - a healthy
response when we find ourselves facing times of depression.
Oswald notes that all of us face such times. He also notes that
when the Spirit of God leads us out of depression. Naturally,
earnestly seeking God at all times, though it will not eliminate
moments of depression, it will certainly abbreviate the duration
and depth of such times, bring us hope, and ultimately draw us
and hold us close to Him.

My own experiences bear that out. I've had quite a few events in
my life that have attempted to send me on an emotional roller
coaster. The steadying influence (though I have certainly
wavered and faltered) has been the Spirit of God. The more I
cling to Him, the less shaky my response has been, regardless of
the severity of the situations I've found myself in. I've also
found that when I've faltered, that's just what it's been - "I've
faltered". God has never, ever, failed me in any way. It is I
who have wandered. Thanks be to God, for He has forgiven me,
directed my paths, given me new hope, new life, and new
opportunities to seek Him. His faithfulness never ends.

I urge each of you to earnestly seek Him this week.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

February 17

Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat --1 Kings 19:5

The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or
explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He
simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get
up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be
alive--only material things don't suffer depression. If human
beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity
for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are
designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated
with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into
account your capacity for depression.

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious
visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things
imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday
things of God's creation. But whenever God steps in, His
inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we
would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find
Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an
initiative against depression. But we must take the first step
and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do
something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen
it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do
something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon
as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

www.gospelcom.net/rbc/utmost/
Authorized By The Oswald
Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.

My Utmost for His Highest
Daily Devotional is provided
by RBC Ministries

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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