Depressed? What’s the Solution?

“I’m taking my anti-depressants, but I’m still feeling depressed!” 

This is the beginning of a commercial advertisement I heard this morning stepping out of the shower. Then the “doctor” says that’s not abnormal. "In fact 2 out of 3 people taking anti-depressants are still experiencing symptoms of depression."

Wow! So a chemical solution usually doesn’t work. Then I listened with my mouth ajar as they listed the dangers:  thoughts of suicide, high fever, stiff muscles, or uncontrolled muscle movement which may be permanent, confusion, and an increased risk of death or stroke! 

Now seriously, if you’re already wrestling with depression, do you need a chemical assistant to increase thoughts of suicide? Do you really want to add the risk of permanent disability or stroke or even DEATH to your list of burdens? 

That wasn’t all! While the pretty red-haired actress packed food containers for a bright white van for GOOD WORKS KITCHEN, the narrator continued to list other life-threatening risks:  decreased white blood cells (which is your immune system), trouble swallowing, dizziness while standing, seizures, impaired judgment and motor skills, increased blood sugar, cholesterol, weight gain, and unusual or compulsive behaviors!  

Sign me up! As if the five big ones in the first list weren’t bad enough, or didn’t kill me, any one of these symptoms would have me running to the ER!  

But the music kept playing and of course at the end of the ad, the woman stood proudly in front of the van and says, “I’m glad I talked to my doctor about adding Rexulti. Now I can stay on my current antidepressants and add Rexulti!”

The voiceover concludes, “Feel better about facing your world. See details at Rexulti.com.”

Are you serious? I’m depressed after listening to the commercial! It’s hard to believe that anyone would want to test a product with all those horrid side effects and risks of worsening the problems they already have! 

The best solution the world offers is to invite you onto a tight rope of juggling death-defying symptoms. Which ones do you choose? Pick your poison. I think I'd rather get drunk and jump off a cliff if those are my only options. 

OR! Why not talk about the things that are making you depressed and get to the root of the problem? Are you grieving? Alone? Going through divorce? Fighting illness? Have you been abused? Aren’t there better ways to navigate through these troubled waters without adding the risks of taking life-threatening drugs? 

There is a healer, a helper, the lover of your soul, who bore the stripes in his own body, and paid the price of your sin with his own blood. He is our Redeemer and He shows no partiality, accepting all who come to Him for forgiveness! This is such Good News, we are tempted to doubt it. But God is not a liar. 

Like a breath of fresh air, Jesus welcomes everyone with open arms, no matter what you’re facing and says, “Come unto me all you who are weary or heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Mt. 11:28-30

Yeshua was referring to coming to him in saving faith and following God and His instructions for life in the teachings of the Torah. That yoke is not burdensome, he said, but will save you in every sense of the word and ensure a long life of blessing for you and your children.  It begins with an overwhelming sense of his PEACE, unlike anything the world can offer. (John 14:27) Go ahead and read the incredible BENEFITS and other promised “side effects” listed in Deuteronomy 28! 

I should point out that these are followed by the sobering predictions of what to expect in life if you don’t follow God’s truth. In other words, life will only get worse if you ignore God’s solution, the offer He already paid for with promises for both immediate and eternal blessing for you and your family. 

A couple pages later (and in many other places in the Bible) it's repeated and summed up in the words, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live… For the LORD is your life…” Deut. 30:19

It's a simple solution based on the eternal Word and promise of God!  

If you really want to feel better about facing this world, and the world to come, try this! I’m so glad I did! 

Return to God, your Maker, Creator of the universe.  Come before Him with words of repentance and a readiness to follow His teachings and you will be forever changed. Remember, He is gentle and humble, and invites you to learn as you go. You will find real rest for your heart and soul as you follow Yeshua the Messiah. 

   

Three dreams on Easter morning and their Interpretation

Easter morning I dreamed that I was living in a shelter, among a mix of families, on an upper floor. I sat on a large swivel chair comforting little children on my lap while their parents were grieving on the staircase.  People were coming and going and it seemed there was going to be an event starting but nobody had plans. Everyone was just waiting around with forlorn expressions, as though they were helpless.

While I was trying to entertain the children, I overheard that their mother wanted a DVD player for them. I got up and went to the stairs to my upstairs room and there was a big box with my name on it. When I opened it up, there was a brand new DVD player. “Oh! It already came!” I said, and brought it down for the kids.

Then I had a dream, within the dream. Strange how that happens, but then I was stranded on an island. It wasn’t a deserted island because there was a dock and a small marina before me and there were big houses behind me. One I particularly was aware of although covered in shadows, was the kind of house I would have loved under ordinary circumstances, with a large wrap around porch lined with Adirondack chairs. But I was in trouble and alone, hiding in the dark. I searched for a vessel to steal so I could escape, but all I could find was a very small raft. When I tried it, it started to sink. How could I make it across the water to safety on the other side? I groaned in despair.

Somehow that dream ended and I was back indoors, looking out of a large window that gave me a lovely broad view of the sky.

I watched as a beautiful current of cloud floated by. It was moving fast and strong, yet slow enough that I could study some of the tiniest details in the swirls. I realized that there were lovely silvery birds enfolded in the cloud. They were tucked within its movement, and resting in its power. They didn’t even need to flap their wings. So beautiful to watch, that silvery picture of elegance made me long to join them and go where they were going.

As they passed, I noticed other birds fluttering beneath them. These flapped their wings beneath the cloud but were either unwilling or unaware of its ability to help them. They wanted to travel in the same direction, but they were fighting against it, resisting the current. They made me feel awful and I pitied them, wondering how long they would be able to continue. Their meager efforts weren’t going to get them very far, since their tiny wings weren’t made for the distance they hoped to go.

Then I realized I was back in the shelter with the children and the grieving families and it hit me. “Oh! These dreams are for them!” And I woke up.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's amazing how God weaves the passion of his heart through ours. Yes, he uses dreams and imparts truth to our souls in diverse ways. (Job 33:14-18) For me, whether trying to comfort children, feeling their despair, searching for a way of escape, or watching the current from the sidelines, it is the same story.

It is God's heart breaking for humanity. HE longs to comfort. HE feels our pain. HE is watching like so many little birds who don't know there's a current that can carry them!

Consistently throughout Scripture and in all his workings, God's heart is for people!
He is the calling God! He wants to warn us!  Come to me all you who labor and are weary and I will give you rest for your souls! 

Some have entered into his rest and are being carried by his grace. But many are still struggling on their own. They resist entering the current of his love and truth for whatever reason... a lack of understanding, a lack of self-worthiness, a lack of trust? 

What will it take for people to receive the great invitation? 

The good shepherd wants to lift our burdens and comfort us as little children.

Just as I saw the birds beneath the current, mankind struggles in futility but will not achieve the end they hope for in their own strength. 

Life is passing! We must look up, beyond the hopelessness of our circumstances. God is able to provide all that we need. He has the perfect answers we seek. He has already sent it in the person of His Son.

This is the message of Easter.

When we feel stuck He knows the way. When we feel stranded or alone He is there.  But we have a broken relationship with God until our offenses are paid for. 

When Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary, He paid the penalty in full, for all mankind, finished! But the only way to get that gift is to receive it.

Maybe you've heard this a hundred times before but have never actually asked God to forgive you and guide you into the truth. Who are you trusting right now? Yourself, or God? 

How you answer will determine the rest of the story of your life.