How to Prevent Slipping into Depression

Does your happiness depend on everything in your
life being just right? If you think you can't be happy
until all your circumstances are right, you will never
be happy. We all experience times in life when we
feel down for various reasons, but we can't allow our
circumstances to control our emotions. Satan seeks
to fill our minds with negative thoughts and
emotions that cause us to feel down. He is a
discourager, and he pulls us down emotionally,
spiritually, financially, and in every way he can. But
Jesus is our Encourager, and He came to lift us up.
He came to give us righteousness, peace and joy,
and all these things cause us to feel up!

Everyone experiences times of frustration and
distress over unfulfilled hopes and dreams. When
things don't go according to our plans, it is normal to
feel disappointment. But we must be careful how we
deal with that feeling, because disappointment is the
beginning stage of depression. If we remain in a
state of disappointment for too long, it can turn into
discouragement, despair, and finally depression.
Psalm 30:5 tells us that ...Weeping may endure
for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Things
may make us feel sad temporarily, but we must not
stay sad. Just as we cannot afford to stay mad very
long, neither can we stay sad very long. If we do,
Satan takes advantage of the open door and pushes
his way further into our lives, bringing more serious
problems with him.

Don't Trust Your Thoughts and Feelings

Our number one enemy is emotions. We tend to be
led by how we feel, but we must realize that feelings
are fickle; they change from day to day! We should
be careful not to follow every thought that comes to
our mind because our thoughts and feelings don't
dictate truth to us. For many years of my life, I experienced regular depression. I would awaken
many mornings with a little voice in my head saying,
"I feel depressed." I believed this was my own
thought, not realizing that it was Satan making
suggestions to me through my mind. Later, when
God drew me into a closer walk with Him and I began seriously studying His Word, I learned that I didn't have to follow every feeling and thought that I had. I began to speak aloud and say, "I will not be
depressed." I learned to put on the garment of praise
spoken of in Isaiah 61:3 .

We may not always feel
like praising, but a victorious person does not have
the luxury of living by feelings.
I've learned that staying disappointed can cause me
to start feeling discouraged, which is a deeper
problem than disappointment. But I've also learned
that you can't be hopeful and discouraged at the
same time. So as soon as the devil attacks us with
disappointment and we start feeling discouraged, we
need to turn to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to fill
us with hope.

A brief period of discouragement may
not have a devastating effect, but long-term
discouragement can lead to depression—a very
serious problem.
Resist the Devil and Rejoice in the Lord!
Depression is defined in part as "a hollow; being in a
low state; a state of sadness; dejection." The real
cause of depression is not where we are, but our
attitude about where we find ourselves. It is possible
to learn to live on the other side of your feelings.
We
will always have feelings; they will never go away,
but we can make our feelings line up with our
decisions. That's why God gives us the fruit of self-
control. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil, and
we must also resist depression, and anything that
resembles it, because it is of the devil.

Philippians
4:4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always [delight,
gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! If
we stay filled with the right thing, the wrong thing
has no place.
If you don't let the devil impress you with what he
does, then he can't oppress you; and if he
can't oppress you, then he can't depress you. So
choose to be led by the Holy Spirit and you can have
victory over depression.

We can choose to keep a
hopeful attitude by renewing our minds with the
promises found in God's Word. We can claim the
promises as our own and stand in faith, believing
God to help us overcome our feelings and move
forward into better things. We can't control all of our
circumstances, but we don't have to let what
happens today ruin tomorrow. We can actually turn
things around by making a decision to let go of the
situations that caused the disappointment and
discouragement, and move toward the good things
God has planned for our future.


Many people are depressed because they can't face
truth, but the Holy Spirit came to reveal truth to us.
We can't get past depression until we quit making
excuses and blaming everyone else. We must face
the truth and take responsibility for our actions.
When we do that and ask God to help us, the spirit of
heaviness leaves us and we feel light and free. Jesus
tells us in Matthew 11:30 , ...My burden is light
and easy to be borne.

Being depressed about
circumstances does not change them, and it is a
total waste of time and a thief of joy. So we must
stop letting our feelings, mind, body, and past
experiences rule us and allow God to give us a fresh
plan, a new idea, a new goal! You can experience
victory over your emotions by being led, guided,
controlled, and ruled by the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus
sent to us as our Comforter, Counselor, Helper,
Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby to
remain with us forever (see John 14:16 ).

Thank
God, we don't have to be disappointed, discouraged,
despondent, depressed or in despair. Jesus is not
only the Way, but He is also the way out! Jesus is
our healer, our glory, and the lifter of our heads.