Hey, I want to talk about depression today. And the classic definition of depression is a feeling. of helplessness and hopelessness that leads to sadness. The Gallup organization that's been tracking depression rates for years said something happened in 2017. After 2017, depression rates in America went up exponentially.
In fact, they are now saying depression rates are at an historic high. We have never seen this level of depression in America. I'm not sure what's going on. Statistically About 15%. of y'all here today.
are wrestling with depression. And you're saying, well, Chad, I look around. I don't see anybody who looks depressed. Everybody's happy and having a good time. Heard a story out of the 1800s.
Of a man who went to see his doctor. I actually went to his doctor. But it was a man in a town, visiting a town, and he needed to talk to a doctor, went to a doctor, and he says to this doctor, Doctor, you don't know me, but I need some help. I can't eat. I'm upset.
I don't want to be around people.
Something's wrong with me. And he was depressed. The doctor said, let me examine you.
So the doctor examined this man from head to toe, came back and said, I have examined you, sir. There's nothing physically wrong with you. I don't know why you're depressed, but nothing is wrong with you physically. And then the doctor said, I got a non-conventional prescription I want to write you. He said the circus just came to town There's a famous clown there named Grimaldi.
Everybody's talking about him. Go to the circus, see Grimaldi. He'll cheer you up. I think that's just what the doctor ordered. And the man said, wait a second.
You tell me. To break my depression, I need to go to the circus and see this clown called Grimaldi. He said yes. I think that'll do the trick. The man said that will not do the trick.
The doctor said, How do you know? The man said because I am Grimaldi. The clown. Ain't that something?
Sometimes the people that make us laugh the most, like the Robin Williams of the world. Hide it the best. You may be hiding it today. But some of y'all are dealing with depression. And as we've been going through the life of Elijah, we're now at 1 Kings 19.
And by any standard in 1 Kings 19, Elijah is dealing with depression. Remember what's just happened? We saw this last week. Elijah just had this incredible experience. He's on a mountaintop.
Thousands of people are watching. He calls down fire from heaven and it consumes this altar. It destroys the altar. God answers by fire. He slaughters all the wicked pagan prophets.
Elijah has just experienced something supernatural and incredible. And what happens after that? 1 Kings 19:1.
Now Ahab told Jezebel, the queen, all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a message to Elijah. Saying, so may the gods do to me and even more if I do not make your life as one of them by tomorrow about this time. Do you see what he says? Elijah, I'm going to kill you.
And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die. Die. And said, It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life, for I am not better than my father's.
He lay down and slept under a juniper tree, and behold, there was an angel touching him. And he said to him, Arise, eat. And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.
So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time and touched him and said, Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.
So he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then he came there to a cave and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? And he said, I've been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
So he said, Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? Then he said, I've been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram, that's modern Syria, and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-Meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
And it shall come about that the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. Why is Elijah? It's great profit. Dealing with depression.
Well, it could be several reasons. There's several causes for depression. First of all, he might just be dealing with an adrenaline crash. He has just had an incredible experience on the top of Mount Carmel. It's this mountaintop experience.
I mean, can you imagine? You're standing on the mountain, you call down fire from heaven, you see the power of God move. That's amazing.
Now watch this. When you have an adrenaline rush, the cerebral cortex in your brain says to the adrenal glands that are located on top of your kidney. Pump adrenaline into the system. And the adrenal glands begin to pump adrenaline into the system. Your blood pressure goes up, your breathing goes up, your heart rate goes up.
It's like revving your car up to several thousand RPMs. We call that an adrenaline rush. I love Adrenaline. D'All? How many adrenaline addicts do we have here across assembly?
I love adrenaline. Here's the problem. When adrenaline leaves your system, You crash. Elijah has had this massive adrenaline rush, and now the adrenaline has left his system and he is crashing. And we have pastors who watch online.
Monday seems to be the day when we crash. We love being at church. Church is exciting. It's fun. I love preaching.
I love being with God's people. We have this adrenaline rush. But there's a reason why more pastors resign on Monday than any day of the week. It's because when the adrenaline leaves the system, you crash. And that might be what's happening with Elijah.
In fact, John Stock, this great Christian leader, said this: the pastor's two chief occupational hazards are depression. and discouragement, and that usually happens on Monday. when the adrenaline has left the system. That's probably what was happening with Elijah. Second cause of depression is loss.
Did you know this? A loss in your life. will invariably lead to depression. You lose that spouse. You bury that child?
You lose your job. You can say, well, I lost my job. But God is good all the time. And, you know, when God shuts one door, He opens another. I get it.
But I tell you something: you lose your job, you lose your spouse, you bury your child, you will suffer from depression. Depression invariably follows a loss. And you could say, well, you know. What's Elijah losing?
Well, potentially, verse 2, his life. Jezebel sang I am going to kill you. Elijah is looking at the loss of his life, and that could be part of his depression. I'm not. Trying to talk down to people and insult people's intelligence, but I'll have.
I'll have like a lady come up to me. Pastor, I don't know why I'm so depressed. I just can't get my mind in the game. I'm dealing with depression. What's going on?
I'm like, ma'am, you buried your husband two weeks ago. That could be why you're depressed. Pastor Chad, I'm really struggling with depression. I don't know what's going on.
Well, incidentally, four months ago, you buried your child. That might be what you're dealing with. And so when you experience loss. You experience depression. That might be what's going on with Elijah.
Another cause of depression is a stress. Verse 2, Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah and says, So may the gods do to me and even more, if I don't make your life like one of those people you killed today, Elijah. He's stressed out.
Now this goes along with the adrenaline thing. But you know, there's two kinds of stress: there's distress, that's bad stress. Lawsuits? Um Funerals, that's bad stress. There's also something called you stress, E-U-S-T-R-E-S-S, and that's good stress.
You know, it's Christmas time. All the kids are coming in. We're having Christmas parties. We're having fun. Everything is great.
It's a good time, rock and roll. Everybody's happy, happy, happy. Did you know your body can't differentiate between the bad stress and the good stress? It's the same physiological reaction. And that's why a lot of y'all get stressed, pardon me, depressed after Christmas, because you're so stressed out in a good way.
Now, Christmas is over and you're depressed. That may be what Elijah is dealing with. He's dealing with the stress of the reality that he is now a wanted man, and it's made him depressed. Another cause of uh stress is physical exhaustion.
So if your body is fighting a physical fight long enough, You're going At some point, your body says, time out. I can't do this anymore. I'm shutting down. And that's, I think, what happens to Elijah as well. Look, if you would, at verse 3: it says, and he was afraid.
And arose And he ran for his life and came to Beersheba.
Now I want you to look at this on a map. Keep in mind, Elijah. Remember, I told y'all last week? He has physically rebuilt the altar of God on Mount Carmel. Remember, I talked about that?
That's physically demanding. He has just physically built this altar. He has single-handedly taken down the prophets of Baal and Asherah.
Now, Jezbel says, I want you dead. He runs from Mount Carmel. all the way down to Beersheba. That's a hundred mile journey. You think after he ran 100 miles, he might be a little tired?
Yeah.
Now you understand, we are mind, body, soul, and spirit. I get that, but all of that is integrated. You can't divide yourself between the physical, the spiritual, the emotional. We are integrated people.
Now, watch that. This means that what happens to your body, Will impact your mind. If your physical body is run down and tired, It's going to impact your mind because we're integrated people. Look, some of my heroes, I shared this other two services.
Some of my heroes in this church are people who have fought long-term illness. I'm not patronizing you, I'm telling you, y'all, my heroes. Why? Because you've been praying for a healing, you've been anointed with oil, you've prayed in faith, and you still haven't got your answer, but you still say, But he is my king. I still love him, he is my Lord.
Though he slays me, yet I will trust him. Those are my heroes. And yet you fight a physical illness long enough? It's going to make you depressed. And I think part of what's going on with Elijah is he is physically run down, and now it's manifesting in emotional depression.
Accountants have increased rates of depression around tax season. Do you know why? They're burning the candle at both ends. They're not getting enough sleep. They're being worn down physically, and it makes them depressed.
So what's causing Elijah's stress? It could be an adrenaline crash. It could be a sense of loss. It could be a sense of stress. It could be physical exhaustion.
It could be isolation. Look at verse 3. And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah. And look what he did. He left his servant there.
In other words, I'm going on by myself. Verse 10, he says to God, God, I've been very zealous for you, and I'm the only one left. I am all alone.
Now God's going to correct Elijah and say, Elijah, you ain't alone. There's 7,000 people who have not compromised. Here's my question. Why did Elijah isolate himself from those 7,000 people? You isolate yourself from others.
You will be depressed. I'm going to talk about this in a few minutes when we talk about some cures for depression, but I'm going to tell you something. There is something about withdrawing from people that makes you more prone to depression. And it's a, I guess you call it like a negative feedback loop. I'm depressed.
So I withdraw myself from people, which makes me even more depressed, and people don't want to be around me even more, which makes me even more depressed. And people don't want to be around me even more now, which makes me even more depressed. Elijah isolated himself, and I think that's part of the cause of his depression. And then another cause, number six. Biology.
can cause depression.
Some people are physiologically more prone to depression than others.
Now, I'm going to say something, and you can disagree me on this, but in my humble but correct opinion. We have over-medicated ourselves in the American culture. We have this expectation that we ought to be happy all the time, good time, rock and roll. Everybody ought to be having fun. And the moment we get down, we say, Something's wrong with me.
I'm going to run to the doctor and get a pill.
Okay, so I think we've overmedicated ourselves. But I will say this. We cannot deny the fact that some people do have physiological, biochemical problems that have caused depression.
Some people are wired to be more pessimistic and gloomy than others. And I could be wrong, but as I read the story of Elijah, I think he might be one of these biologically gloomy, pessimistic people. That's just who he is. And that might be who you are, and you have to thank that.
Now we've got other people cross-assembly. You're at the other end of the spectrum. You're happy all the time, joyful all the time. You never get down, you never get upset. Four o'clock in the morning rolls around, you bounce out of bed, praising Jesus, ready to take on the day.
And if that's you, I think I speak for the entire cross assembly family when I say, we hate you, nobody likes you. That's not Elijah. Elijah seems to be one of those prone to depression. And then let me give you another cause of depression here, number seven. Not look.
I might be wrong on this, okay? I might be wrong. But reserve judgment. Let me explain what I'm thinking here and tell me if I'm right. Look look at this, verse um four.
But Elisha went a day's journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die. And he said... It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life, for I am not.
Better Than my father's. What do you mean by fathers? He means his ancestors. God killed me because I'm no better than my ancestors. What does Elijah say?
We're not sure, but could Elijah be saying? God, I wanted to be better than all these heroes of the faith. I wanted to be better than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. I wanted people to write about me. I want to be better than Moses.
I wanted to be better than David. I wanted to be the. Hero of Israel. I had these dreams of Of being better than those guys, and now the realization has struck me: I'm not any better than those guys. Do you see what he's saying?
God, I am not better than my ancestors. I'm not better than the heroes of the faith. And I would ask him, Elijah, who said you were supposed to be better than these heroes of the faith? Could Elijah be saved? I'm comparing myself to them.
And the realization has hit me, I am no better than them.
So I am convinced. Comparison? Competition. Ambition can lead to depression. You start comparing yourself to other people.
you start competing with other people. You start wanting to be better than other people. You want to win the game. You want to be number one.
Okay, that's fine. But when you realize you're not number one, that can lead to depression.
Now, I'm just going to be honest with you, and I probably shouldn't be this vulnerable, open, honest, whatever, because you might not like what I'm about to say. I've struggled as a pastor. with depression in seasons. And sometimes those seasons of depression. Come.
Well some of it is In the past, when I have tied my identity to numbers, That's a problem.
So when offerings are up, I'm a good pastor. Offerings are up. When offerings are down. I must be doing something wrong. I must not be a good pastor.
When the tenants is up I'm good.
Okay, I'm a good pastor. I'm succeeding. Why? Because attendance is up.
Okay, but when attendance goes down, the opposite is true. I must not be a good pastor. So, when you tie yourself to external metrics like that, that's problematic. And a lot of times I find myself doing exactly what Elijah is doing. I compare myself to other heroes of the faith.
I compare myself to other pastors, and when I don't feel like I measure up, It makes me depressed. Look, that's one of the reasons why I've had to stop watching other preachers on Facebook and YouTube. Because I'll watch them and I'll say, God, I wish I could preach like that. Man, listen to that guy. He is a master of the English language.
He's great. Why can't I preach like that guy? It's exactly what Elisha is doing. Or I watch these guys online. No, okay, look.
Y'all know I'm not gay, right? Right.
Okay. But sometimes I'll watch these preachers online like, man. Why can't I have a smile like Joe Osteen? Why can't I look good like that? Why can't I have beautiful hair like that, Pastor?
That guy's got big biceps. Why can't I look like that? And what happens is, I look at their churches and say, man, I know how big their church is. Why is my church not big like that? And that sinks me into depression.
And that's exactly what Elijah is doing. He's saying, Now I realize I'm not any better and I'm not any worse than those guys. I'm just Elijah. I'm not a Moses.
Well, Elijah told you he had to be a Moses. God didn't make you to be he made you to be an Elijah And so, some of y'all are dealing with the same thing. Listen to me. Studies have proven. This is not, there's no doubt about this anymore.
Studies have proven that social media can cause depression.
Now we know that. What we don't know is the mechanism. Like, what is it about social media that can cause depression? One theory is that social media Often presents an idealized version. of people's lives.
So you compare your life With this idealized version of somebody else's life, and you don't measure up. I've told you this before. I've seen this smoochy, smoochy, lovey, lovey Facebook posts that a husband will make for his wife, or the wife will make for her husband. And darling, and y'all look at that and you're like, I wish my marriage was like that. And darling, I know what's going on behind the scenes.
And we're like, no, trust me, you don't want a marriage like that. You don't know how messed up that marriage is. But so you have this idealized version, and you think. Your spouse is the only one with morning breath. Your kids are the only ones driving parents crazy.
You look at their Facebook page and you say, compared to that, I'm going to tell you something. They're no better and they're no worse than you are. Listen to this. Here's what one study says.
Social media can create a distorted perception of reality, leading users to believe that everyone else is happier. Everyone else is more successful. Everyone else has more perfect lives than they do.
So I'm doing this. When Chad does this, this means I'm begging you, okay?
So listen to me. I'm begging you. If you're struggling with depression, at least for a season, will you please get off of social media? Because it ain't making it any better, it's making it worse.
Okay? Just for a season. Elijah is not comparing himself to his Facebook friends. Elijah is comparing himself to the heroes of the faith, his fathers, his ancestors, and that I think is causing worse depression. Let me give you a couple more here.
Another thing that can cause depression are demonic attacks. As Pentecostals, and I'm gonna talk about, look, Wednesday night, I'm gonna talk about my favorite stuff: Nephilim and demons, and all y'all know I get into that kind of stuff. But here's the danger about getting into Nephilim and demons and giants and hobos and all this kind of stuff that we get into, okay? Is that our automatic assumption, if somebody is dealing with depression, Israel must be demons. And it's not always demons.
However, we don't want to overcorrect and say it's never demons. Elijah's response to Jezebel is not normal. He is a strong, tough man of God, and yet, when one highly demon-possessed woman says, I'm going to kill you, he takes off running 100 miles away. That's not normal. Which tells me Elijah is coming up against something demonic.
And some of y'all, your depression may have, I like this term, multifactorial. It may be physical, it may be emotional, but it could also be a little bit of demonic as well. Let's not discount the reality of demons. There have been seasons in my life where I've wrestled with depression, and it's seasons in my life where Satan will wake me up at 2 o'clock in the morning and just start condemning me and all this kind of mess. And I know it's demonic in nature.
So I think Elijah really is dealing with some demonic stuff. Let me give you one more thing. I didn't put this in your study guide because I don't think Elijah is dealing with this, but I will say this: sin can make you depressed. Did you know that? If you're a follower of Jesus Christ living in open rebellion, open sin, it can make you depressed.
Sin makes people feel bad. All right, so have I thoroughly depressed you, all these causes of depression?
Now here's what God does. God steps into Elijah's depression. And I'm amazed at how gentle God is with Elijah. He's very he's very kind with Elijah. You look in the Old Testament.
God can be pretty tough. You can kind of smack people around every now and then. Here? It's like God knows Elijah is in a very fragile state. And so God steps in and He asks some probing questions, some leading questions.
But let me tell you how God broke depression in Elijah's life. Jot this down. Number one: rest. God knows that physically something is wrong with Elijah. He is worn out.
And so in verse 5, Elijah laid down and he slept under a juniper tree. I'm gonna tell y'all something. For some of y'all, The most spiritual thing you can do to break your depression is take one week and get eight to 10 hours of sleep a night. You just sleep well for one week. That might be enough to break that depression.
That's what God does with Elijah. Secondly, He gives him food. Do you see this? Verse 5. He lay down and slept under a juniper tree, and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said, Arise, eat.
Then he looked, and behold, there was at his head a bread cake. A bread cake baked on hot coals and a jar of water.
So he ate and drank and lay down again. I know some of y'all reading some of you my high healthy people. Oh my gosh, I can't believe God loaded them up with carbs and gluten. I get it. I've spent a little bit of time in the Middle East in one of the most incredible things I've ever eaten in the Middle East is Fresh Baked bread.
Baked over charcoal. The outside is kind of crispy and crunchy. The inside is hot and fluffy. And God says, Elijah, right now, let's forget about the spiritual stuff. Right now, you just need to sleep and get something to eat.
He gives them rest, he gives them food, and the number three. I just gonna sound silly, but it gives them light. Look at verse 9. Elijah came to a cave and he lodged there. Verse 11, God says, hey, come out of the cave.
Did you know that light therapy is a legitimate therapy for depression today? That when people are depressed, they withdraw, and yet light can help break that depression. In fact, I looked at one study from the National Institutes of Health.
Somebody called it a forest therapy. They said: if you get out in the daylight for 20 minutes and just walk in the daylight, 20 minutes of daylight a day could be enough to start breaking depression. Here's what God's saying to Elijah: Elijah, you've been tucked away in the cave. Let's give you some light therapy. You need to step out of the cave.
Young man, you're 23 years old. You're in your mama's basement playing video games all night. You want to start a Vampire for Christ small group, and you're just in the dark all the time. Maybe you need to come out of the cave and into the light a little bit, okay? And so God says, Elijah, it's time to get into the light here.
And then, number four, fourth thing that God does is He brings people into Elijah's life. Verse 16, he says, Elisha the son of Shaphat, you will anoint prophet in your place. He gives Elijah a new friend. He said, Elijah, your new friend is a man named Elisha. I'm bringing a friend into your life.
Verse 18, he says, Elijah. You're not alone. This 7,000 men. who haven't bowed their knee. Implication, you need to connect with some of these men.
I've told you before, one of the most neglected parts of my Christian life for years. Was fellowship with other Christians. Because here's what I said: I said, Well, I got the Bible, I got prayer, and I got the Holy Ghost. That's all I need. That ain't all you need.
Go through the New Testament and see how many times this phrase is used: one another, love one another, forgive one another, bear one another's burdens. The Christian life was not meant to live in isolation. Look, you need to be around other Christians. Y'all who watch online, I hope this is a temporary thing because you can't connect with other Christians sitting on your computer watching us online. You gotta be with other believers.
Elijah finally had to get up and get connected with other believers. Eluisel was a survivor of the concentration camps.
Now, I know some of y'all have gotten into Fuentes and all those guys, and Tucker, and I don't know that ever, I don't know if the Holocaust ever existed. Holocaust was real. It happened. And it was horrible. And they asked Eloise, they said, um.
How did you get through the concentration camps? He shared some horrible stuff he went through. They said, How did you get through it? He said two things, God and friends. How are y'all gonna get through this messed up life?
God. in France. I don't know if y'all had this phenomenon. I had it when I was a kid. Our kids had it when they were young.
This Sunday morning. Everybody's fighting with each other at the house. Nobody wants to go to church. Kids are fussing, they're fighting, they're not getting in the car, they're this, they're that, and everybody's just in a bad mood. And you go to church, everybody's in a bad mood.
You get to church, go to church. A couple hours later, you come home, everybody's happy. Everybody's nice and careful. What happened? I'll tell you what happened.
For those two hours, you had to fake being nice, even if you didn't feel nice. You had to fake being happy being around others, even if you didn't feel happy being around others. And being in Christian fellowship and faking it till you make it, that broke that depression that you had going to church. God says to Elijah. Time out.
You can't be by yourself anymore. You got to get connected.
So, how does God break this depression? He does it through rest. He does it through food. He does it through light. He does it through people.
He does it through activity. Look at verse 15. And the Lord said to him, Go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.
Now, that may not mean a lot to you, but look at this map. Do you know what God is saying to Elijah? Elijah, you're down here in Beersheba. I want you to go all the way back north to Damascus. Do you know what that means?
He's got to go right smack dab through Jezebel's territory. Elijah, it's time to stop running from your problems, running for your fears, get up, get busy, it's time to get going. And if you look there in verse 15 through 16, he gives Elijah a laundry list of things to do.
Okay, Elijah, you've sat around in self-pity, sad, sick, and sorry, long enough. Get up, go back, anoint this guy, anoint that guy, do this, do that. It's time to get active. I think God has told me to say to somebody here today: you've sat around long enough. You you sat in self-pity long enough.
Get up. Get busy, get active. Yeah, but I don't feel like it. How many of you have told you this before? The Christian life consists largely of doing things you don't feel like doing.
But get up and do it. And that's what God says to Elijah. Can I give you one more thing that God used to break Elijah's depression? It's prayer. The whole context of this passage is Elijah talking to God.
And then God talking back to him. You know what we call that? Prayer. God will use prayer to break the things that have brought depression into your life. If it's stress, God will use prayer to break the stress.
If it's anxiety, God will use prayer to break the anxiety. It goes back to prayer. Heard a story of a man who'd been Nobody wanted to be around him. He had been depressed and worried for months. And then one of his friends ran into him one day and he's the happiest guy in the world.
Hey, said, man, what in the world? He said, you were so stressed out and worried the last time I saw you.
Now you're all happy. What happened? And the guy said, well, you don't believe this? He said, the other day, I just found a man that I pay him to do my worrying for me. He's a what?
I say, yeah, I pay him. When my worries come up, he takes care of my worries. I literally am paying this guy to worry for me, and that's why I'm not worried anymore. He said I'd never heard anything like it. He said, How much do you pay this guy to do your worrying for you?
He said, I pay him $5,000 a week. He said, dude, I know how much money you make. You don't have $5,000 a week. How are you going to pay this guy to do this? He said, It's not my worry.
Mm.
Well, in prayer, according to 1 Peter 5. You walk with the guy whose responsibility it is to do your worrying for you. Bible says this, cast all your cares upon him. Because he cares for you. And when you pray, these anxieties and these worries and these situations that you've been dealing with for so long, you cast it on Him.
And he cares for you. He's going to break you out of this depression.
So let's wind this thing down.
Some of y'all wrestling with this today. You're wrestling with depression. And Satan has lied to you. I'm not telling you her name. I'm not betraying confidence.
But a young lady at membership class told me yesterday: I've been dealing with this. Satan has been telling me, God can't use you because you're wrestling with depression. God only uses people of faith. And boldness and confidence. He didn't use people like you that wrestle with depression.
God can never use you. It smells like smoke and it comes from hell. That's not from God. I read my Bible. Moses once became so depressed, he asked God to take his life.
Jonah, after the great revival in Nineveh, became depressed. The prophet Jeremiah said, God, I wish I was dead. Paul said, I despair even of life, 2 Corinthians 1:8. John the Baptist is in prison, and I think depression is starting to overtake him to the point where he sends a messenger and says to Jesus, Jesus, I'm a little disillusioned with you. Are you the Messiah, or should I be looking for somebody else?
Jesus didn't condemn him. With that depression.
So, don't believe this thing that God can't use you if you're wrestling with depression. I don't know, it might sound twisted, it might be God's way. of making you Usable. I heard about a Midwestern lawyer. He was so depressed, his friends put him on suicide watch.
They took all the sharp instruments out of his house. They're like, this guy's going to kill himself. In fact, this lawyer wrote, quote, during this time of depression, I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell, but I don't think I am ever going to get better.
Well, he did get better. and became the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Don't tell me God can't use you because you're wrestling with this. God's going to break this. God's going to use this as a stepping stone.
And for some of you, today is going to be the day he does it. I want you to stand with me right now. There's a whole range of people.
Some of y'all, it's biological.
Some of you, it's what you're going through in your life. But I always feel like even if there's some biology involved, Or there's some life circumstances involved. Oftentimes, there's still, look, the enemy plays dirty. Did you know that? And when he sees that you are biologically weak and you're open to depression, or he sees that you're going through a life situation right now that's making you prone for depression, Satan doesn't back off, he engages.
Some of y'all, there's a spiritual component to the depression you're dealing with right now. What I have found is when it is spiritual. Appeal didn't always help. Psychotherapy doesn't always help. Spiritual issues must be dealt with spiritually.
And this is going to take some vulnerability, but we've had people in every service do this. In just a moment, if you're wrestling with depression in this place today, I'm going to have you come forward. And all we're going to do at first, all we're going to do when you come forward, we're just going to sing. I look at Saul in the Old Testament. Do you know when he dealt with his depression?
It was demonic. And do you know the one thing that would break the depression in Saul's life? It's when David would come in and lead him in some praise and worship music. There's something powerful about music.
So if you're wrestling. With depression today, the first thing we're going to do for a few moments You should start singing to God. And then our prayer team is going to come. and they're going to lay hands on you. And we're going to take authority over this in Jesus' name.
And we're going to break some depression today.
So, if you're wrestling with this now, you come right now. And let's start by just singing to God. If you're wrestling with this, come right now. Prayer team, you come. Y'all, just lead us in some worship and let's just sing to the Lord right now, and then I'll step back up.
Yeah So worthy Jesus, you are here. You're moving in our midst. I worship you. I worship you. You are here.
You're working in this place. I worship you. I worship you. Sing Waymaker. Wavemaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God.
That is who you are. Sing Waymaker. Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. Sing that, sing that again.
Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. That is who you are. You are here working this. We'll sing that again. Maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God.
That is who you are. You are here, moving in our place. I worship you, I worship you, you are here, living in this place. I worship you, I worship you. I feel Tim, a presence.
and an anointing in this service. I have not felt the other two services. The Lord is in this place right now. I don't know if you can sense his presence like I do, but he is here. And when they sing that part, Miracle worker, light.
In the darkness, Spirit of God said, My light is about to penetrate her cave. His cave. his jail cell, his depression. Her anxiety, my light is about to pierce through that darkness. and bring freedom right now.
So we got some intense work to do right here. If you want to stick around, you can stick around. I want to do this. I want to release the rest of you here if you want to go. Because something's something's about to break down front here.
You're about to see some miracles happen down front.
So let me dismiss the rest of y'all. And if y'all want to just stay here and worship, you can do that. I'm going to give you a word of blessing. And let's roll up our sleeves and let's make this a triage unit. Let's make this an emergency room triage right here.
Let's minister some people and see some people released in this place today.
So, for the rest of you, the Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his countenance to you and give you shalom, peace, wholeness, mind, body, soul, spirit. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray.
Amen and amen. You can stick around or you can leave if you want. Right now, let's see God do some work. Let's sing this again.
