Help! I'm Depressed - Part 2

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program, we'll tell you how you can get Dr. Graham's eight-message series, Help! But first, here's his message, Help!

I'm Depressed, part two. There's one other man in the Scripture in particular that I want us to focus on because he is a classic example of what we're talking about, depression. His name is Elijah, remember him? A mighty man of God. In fact, he was called the man of God. He was a powerful prophet, a godly leader, and he was serving God in a very dangerous time, a very difficult time in the life of the people of Israel because a wicked king was on the throne.

His name was Ahab, and he had a very wicked queen, even more wicked than the man was the woman beside him and her name was Jezebel. Elijah stood up in the midst of immorality and idolatry in the land. He called out the prophets of Baal, the idol worshipers, challenged them to a God contest on Mount Carmel and Elijah prayed. He let the, he let the Baalites, he let the idolaters go first and they're crying out to God and cutting themselves and Elijah is trash-talking them. And they get louder and louder, it's not happening and then Elijah prays and when Elijah prays, fire fell from Heaven and revival came to the people of God. He's on a mountaintop, literally and spiritually.

And yet in just one day, everything changes. And Elijah is plunged into a pit. First Kings 19 is where we find this story. The first four verses. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with a sword.

It was a bloodbath. And then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods, little g, do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as one of them by this time tomorrow. In other words, there's a contract on your life Elijah, you're gonna be dead by tomorrow. So what did the bold, courageous, believing prophet do? It says in verse 3, he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, that's about 18 miles out into the desert which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went another day's journey into the wilderness, and it was a wilderness physically but it was another kind of wilderness in his own life. And he came and he sat down under a broom tree, that is a juniper tree, and he asked that he might die, saying, it's enough now, oh Lord.

Finished! Oh Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers. He prays to die, but he is depressed, that's a classic example of depression, anxiety in the Bible.

The struggle is real folks. Let me give you several causes for depression, one is fear. That's what we have in Elijah, the anxiety, he was fearful for his life, he was so afraid that Jezebel was going to kill him.

He was under threat, under opposition, now he had stood up to all of this and more, but somehow now he had had enough, maybe it was just too much, it was the tipping point. And so he ran in fear, just to get away from Jezebel, and he prays to die. But he thinks he wants to die, he's lying to himself in effect, but it's fear and anxiety. There's something about stress and anxiety and if you push it and push it and the pressure builds, the Bible says anxiety produces depression. And in a way it's a gift from God if you find yourself depressed because you've just been so overworked, so overwrought, so over-worried, so overwhelmed that your body, your brain just kind of shuts down to keep you from going over the top.

I mean it's, it's a way to slow your body and your mind down. But what happens with all these chemicals in our systems in the brain? We're emptied of a brain chemical called serotonin. That's the feel-good chemical in your body.

God put it there. But if that's depleted by anxiety or fear or exhaustion or any other thing, then that's depression. It's a mental illness.

It's a physical illness. And it's rooted in anxiety and fear. That's why Jesus says don't be worried about anything because it's dangerous.

Can be deadly. That's why the Bible says over and over and over and over and over again hundreds of times fear not, fear not, fear not, do not fear. We're warned what fear can do. But not only fear, but fatigue. He'd gone 18 miles to Beersheba, out ran the chariot, and then deeper into the desert, into the wilderness, a day's journey, He is physically exhausted and fatigued.

So He sat down under this tree and just physically disabled and defeated, He prays to die. But it was exhaustion, it was fatigue. So when you're physically exhausted, depleted, mentally you become physically and bodily, it affects your body. Weird things happen. I remember my skin felt like it was on fire at times.

I asked the doctor, what, what is this? They said, well, that's your nervous system overreacting. But it felt like fire, and I was so exhausted. And here's the terrible thing about depression, when you're depressed, you can't — often you can't sleep. Now some people, it's the other way, they sleep all the time. But for many people, it's, you cannot sleep.

It's a cruel joke. The thing you want to do the most, I, I never wak-awakened in the night. I say never, mostly never. But would you sleep the night through? But now I'm waking up wide awake, 3 a.m. in the morning and waiting till the dawn, just trying to get through the night. You ever been there? For me, one of the most devastating effects of this thing was just the sheer exhaustion and fatigue.

Just couldn't get going. Then there's self-pity. The prophet was having a pity party. If, if you read the story, when he prays to die, he laid down, he slept under the juniper tree. And when he got up, God asked him in verse nine, what are you doing here, Elijah? So Elijah explains, he says verse ten, I've been jealous for the Lord God, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars.

These are terrible people and killed your prophets with a sword and I, even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. Self-pity. He thinks nobody cares.

He, he's thinking, no, no, God Himself doesn't care. So he tried to run away and he throws this pity party. The problem with a pity party is nobody wants to come to your party except I, me, myself, and my.

Not good company typically when you're in this state. Self-pity. Then there's isolation. He was all by himself out there in the desert, isolated from the family of faith, isolated from his friends. There was no support system, he was alone in the wilderness.

If you're a Christian, God will never leave you for or forsake you but the lie of depression says I'm alone, nobody cares. You're a single parent and you're going it alone. You're raising children, you're working multiple jobs, you're utterly and totally exhausted.

You don't know how you can keep going. You're alone and you may be depressed. Your husband or your wife dies and you're oh so lonely it aches because your heart is broken. Older adults battle depression. It's why it's so very important that we in the church have a ministry to older adults who are lonely.

That we make sure that we don't forget about people and throw them away. So, Elijah was alienated, he was isolated, he was alone and when you get yourself isolated, you become a target of the enemy. And that's when Satan's lies, lies born out of the pit of Hell, start attacking you because ultimately, here's what a depression does, it lies to you. Or Satan uses your depression to say you're worthless, you're wasted, you're finished, you're done, nobody cares.

You might as well die, people would be better off without you. These are the lies that come out of the darkness. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, help, I'm depressed, part two. So many people are crushed by the stress of life and are searching for help and hope. That's why we're excited to share that a generous friend has offered to double your gift of up to $150,000 to help us reach our hurting world with the perfect peace Jesus offers. As a thanks for your gift, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight message series help.

This resource will help you walk in the quiet trust that comes with knowing your security in Christ, even in uncertain times. So call right now to have your gift doubled and request your copy of help. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. That's PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, help, I'm depressed, part two. Anger. He was angry.

Elijah, he's blowing his top now. All this had happened and now it looks like it's going to get worse and he's just so angry with God because God didn't do things the way they expected God to do it. And I can tell you that for men, I know some of you guys think, oh, depression is for weak-willed and women get depression, but not me. But one thing that masks itself as depression in men is anger. And that's a symptom of depression, just constant irritation and agitation, angry, you're whining, you're complaining, all bad.

It's negativity. But surprisingly, great success and a great victory can create a platform for depression to attack you. Again, this man's coming off the greatest victory of his life, but he goes from the pinnacle to the pit just like that.

What happened? There is a thing called adrenaline depletion. And if you push and push and push yourself for an extended period of time and then comes a crisis, you're just not capable because you are adrenaline depleted physically. You know, you can be strong and going and living from victory to victory and then a crisis hits and if you have depleted yourself, if you haven't taken good care of yourself, then you can find yourself in a hole you can't dig out. And it happens to so many people. It happened to this great man, Elijah. So what did he do to get out of the pit and what do we do? How can we recover?

I want to give you some words that begin with the letter T. First of all, time. Give it time. It's a process of healing. Again, I'm the kind of guy that if it doesn't happen in the next fifteen minutes, I'm wondering why.

I remember actually-this is how crazy I was-I remember actually just sitting and staring at the clock trying to make it go faster in my mind where I could get out of this thing. But you can't push yourself out on your own. And it takes time. Again, when somebody told me it was a year, I said, you gotta be kidding me. Not a year. It was about a year that I really felt myself again.

It takes time. I took a couple of months off that summer of 2009, just trying to get through this, and came back in September and I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready emotionally or physically. I was so tired. I remember walking up here so tired just putting one foot in front of another. I was so tired. I couldn't-one of the problems I had was I couldn't even read or study.

That had never happened to me before. So how am I going to preach if I can't prepare and read and study? I needed the promises of God so I, I chose some messages that I preached in the past on God's promises. Promises that I needed and I believed others needed. So I just stood on the promises of God and got through it.

The interesting thing is that later on when PowerPoint carried these messages on radio and television, at that point they were the most popular, most received, most blessed sermons I'd ever done. I'm telling you, it was the weakest day, the weakest days of my life. Now under the Apostle Paul says when we are weak, He is strong. And one thing you learn in depression, the upside of down is that in our weakness, God is made stronger in us. Give God time to guard you and guide you and protect you. You're gonna be OK. Then truth. Remember I said depression is a lie.

Exchange the lies for the truth. When Satan comes against you, when you start talking to yourself, crazy talk, things that are silly, it's not even true about yourself, counteracted by the Word of God and what God says about you. You are a child of God. So many people during times of depression feel so worthless and weak. But you're not worthless and weak. You're stronger than you think. I can do all things through Christ.

Now sometimes, it's just putting one foot in front of the other, it's just getting up when you feel like laying down. If you're depressed, you know what you may need? You need a new mission in your life.

You need a new challenge in your life. And God's using this season to prepare you for something bigger, something greater. He's preparing you.

So listen to Him. Someone said to me, they were just talking really about the prostate cancer I had, but said something like this, Jack, I'm praying that you'll learn everything you need to know, what you need to learn from this experience. And I learned a lot of things and so will you. I learned God's Word to stand on God's promises even more. And I'll give you one of them.

This is something to hang on and hope on. Jeremiah 29, 11, where I know the plans for you says the Lord. Plans not to harm you. Plans not to hurt you.

Plans for your welfare and for your good. God has a future and a hope for you. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, He gives beauty for ashes. Sorrow comes from the night, but joy. You ever notice how things are worse in the middle of the night when it's dark? Your mind is out of control.

One of the best things you can do when that happens, I learned to do this, is to simply sing. I remember one evening, Deb just turned on some worship music. Or I just prayed.

I tell you this, when you start praying in the middle of the night, the devil doesn't like it, he'll put you right to sleep if you let him. Then there's trust. Trusting God. I mean really trusting Him all the way. Faith, believing God, what God says is true. Knowing that you can't fix this, but He can. Trusting Him that He's working all things together for good. Psalm 23 was probably written in a depressive period for David's life. He said, yay though, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

And then there's touch. Reach out to others. Don't get yourself isolated as Elijah did and some of you are right now. But you need support and encouragement.

Call someone who cares. Reach out. I know sometimes Christians can be kind of ignorant and foolish about these things. You don't know what to do but one thing you can do is pray for people and care for people and don't write them off because they're having a hard time. If there's one place people ought to be able to come when they're hurting, it's God's church and God's people.

But unfortunately, some people don't dare come because they feel like they're gonna be judged and I, I'll tell you when, when a person is depressed, they often feel so guilty and there's shame and they feel like well people are gonna think I'm weak, people are gonna think I'm just an unstable person and all the rest and unfortunately sometimes church people act like that the wrong way. But the Bible says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We're here to help you carry the load.

You don't have to carry this all by yourself. Then there's thanksgiving. Write down every day. I learned to journal and just to write down every, every day, my thoughts but my thanksgivings to God. Just write down three things every day.

Just name three. Three things every day. The blessings of God upon your life and what, you know what happens?

There's, there's proof, there's scientific proof. Your brain starts to change. Those chemicals in your body, the composite of you, the soul, the body, the mind, it begins to rethink.

And your mind is transformed. Thanksgiving is therapy. And then there is therapy. Yes, I mean professional therapy. See a doctor. If you find yourself depressed in one of these states, you need to go see a doctor. You may need to go see a Christian counselor.

You may need to see a professional, a psychologist or a psychiatrist. And yes, medication is appropriate when needed. You give medication for your cholesterol, you give medication for diabetes, you give medication for headaches. It's just foolish to think that you wouldn't take a medication if you're battling depression because these medications typically they do a lot of things but ultimately they, they rebuild the serotonin in your brain.

What they really do is kind of get you from an unstable condition to get you even and level again where you can start repairing and you can start healing. So, it may be appropriate. What is not appropriate is to medicate yourself with alcohol or drugs or bad behavior. So get the therapy you need and that includes talk, not just medication. But therapy is important and then finally there's testimony. Elijah was reassigned a new work and a new calling in his life and he got up from that desert, depressed experience and he returned.

God said, what are you doing here Elijah? There's more work for you to do. I said it a moment ago, some of you just need a new calling. You need a new challenge in your life. You need to get going again.

You're stuck. So put one foot in front of another. Listen to God, it may be volunteering, serving on a ministry team, it could be coaching a kids' sports team, it could be finding a new exercise routine and yes, exercise does help the brain recover and the body recover from depression. Little too often we're told, even medication, aerobic exercise. Again, it changes your brain, changes your body. So find something you enjoy, find a sport, find a hobby.

And with thanksgiving to God, let this testimony be yours. Get off the couch and break the cycle. Start doing something again that's meaningful and you'll find your life being transformed. It may take a while. And for some, depression can come and go, can be chronic. But you never have to give up because there's hope and healing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And what I learned, we all can learn, is what the Apostle Paul learned.

For he said to the Corinthian Christians that our God is a God of all comfort. And with the comfort with which we are comforted, we comfort others. When you are healed, you want to help others. When you're broken, you want to help other people put the pieces back together.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Help, I'm Depressed, Part 2. Where do you turn when the stress of life feels overwhelming? Many people look to the latest self-help fad. But true rest only comes in returning to the Lord and trusting in Him.

Because the truth is, you simply can't carry life's burdens on your own. In Dr. Graham's eight-message series, Help, he'll show you how to turn your stress into strength through the certainty of God's promises, so you can face any challenges that come your way. Help is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint.

And thanks to a generous $150,000 matching grant, whatever you give today will be doubled to impact even more lives for Jesus Christ. So request your copy when you call today, knowing your gift will be doubled. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Let me say first of all that as I look around today, our church, our community, and as I visit and preach literally across the country and around the world, I've never seen so many broken people, so many people that are hurting, whether it is broken relationships or broken health or broken financial condition. And there's many kinds of brokenness in life, the struggle that so many people have emotionally, just so much brokenness, so much pain.

And there are many self-help answers, and most of them don't work. The fact is that we desperately need the message of Jesus Christ. We need God to heal the inner brokenness of our lives. We need the power of Jesus to restore our lives and to help us to live again.

Every person experienced broken times in their lives, so don't feel like you're the only one. As a Christian, you may think you have to bow up and act like you're not broken, but the fact is we all are broken at some level of our lives, and we all need the power of Jesus Christ to put all the pieces of our lives back together again. And really think about this, because Jesus can heal. Jesus can bring you restoration in your life from your broken marriage, from your broken relationship, from your broken body, from your broken soul. And there you can discover in the power of Christ a peace that passes all understanding. I don't care what you're going through.

I don't care what the circumstances of your life. He will give you peace. This is good news for broken people, good news for a broken person like you. So run to Jesus. Get on your knees right now.

Find in Him the strength to carry on to persevere and to endure, and let God heal you step by step every single day of your life, and you will discover that the brokenness can become wholeness again. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight-message series, Help as Our Thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. Join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can experience freedom from guilt and shame. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.