In baseball it's a "slump" - in basketball it's being "off"- students call it a "funk" - writers call it a "block" and some see their glass as half empty while it seems everyone else's is full to the brim! When these unexpected down times of life come upon us we feel STUCK!
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.
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.
RSS Feed