Coach gets STUCK after each basketball season ends! This "downer" catches his usually up-beat disposition by surprise and lingers until spring basketball begins. Some would say they are depressed, but not Coach . . . he would never give in to that word! A little down maybe, but depressed? Never!
"That word" is used quite regularly these days. We seek ways to overcome it or live with it until it subsides and are offered a myriad of solutions for "help" with this stuckness. The word "depressed", like the word "love", is used to describe a number of experiences. Maybe our athlete doesn't like the amount of homework he or she has, or perhaps a friend treated them badly, or maybe their parents didn't let them go somewhere they wanted to go . . . whatever the case, to them it is depressing. It is used more accurately to describe a deep sense of hopelessness which lingers and envelopes our entire being sometimes for reasons we don't understand.
Depression usually follows a devastating circumstance in our life story. This causes our strength to be depleted leaving us feeling weak or helpless. Recently I ran across this thought-provoking quote from an unknown author: "Depression is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you have been strong for too long."
Being strong for too long was the problem a man named Job in the Old Testament scriptures had (see Job 30). His life was filled with devastation which led him to speak these words about his condition:
"And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days." Job 30:16 NLT
Getting stuck keeps us from moving forward - going nowhere fast - our enthusiasm for life drains away. David the Psalmist was in a place like that when he cried out to his faithful God saying:
"Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don't turn away from me or I will die." Psalm 143:7 NLT
In both of these cases God saw them through. He carried them on to greater things just as He did for the children of Israel. They were in bondage . . . slaves in a place that kept them from being all they could be when God spoke these welcoming words:
"I'll compassionately come in and rebuild homes. The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations; the mansions will be splendid again. Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; laughter will spill through the doors. Things will get better and better. Depression days are over. They'll thrive, they'll flourish." Jeremiah 30:18 The Message (excerpts)
What good news for their stuckness and He does the same for us today. Promising a better day to come filled with laughter when we will thrive and flourish! May our down times remind us that He is carrying us through.
Blessings . . . as your STUCK reveals His strength.