Antidepressants For The Soul, Second Dose
“My God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember You….”
Psalm 42:6 (NLT)
Psalm 42 and 43 offer hope for emotional healing. I call them antidepressants for the soul! We took the first dose yesterday. Healing begins when we admit our pain and affirm our faith. But there’s one more prescription found in Psalm 42:6.
Remember God’s goodness.
We feel the pain of a broken heart when we remember how things used to be. Healing begins when we remember God. The Psalmist said, “My God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember You….” (Vs. 6a) That’s an antidote to depression. Choose to reflect on the goodness of God. It will take your mind off your present situation and focus your thoughts on God’s goodness and His ability to help you, rather than your inability to help yourself.
God is never closer to us than when our hearts are broken. It’s tempting to close off our hearts and isolate ourselves when we are hurting. Don’t do it. Don’t push Him away. Thank Him for being with you and draw strength from His presence for a new beginning. Healing begins when we reveal the wound in our heart to God. The pain is real. Grieving the wounds of your heart brings healing. It’s a healing grief. There’s a time to weep that is healthy. Jesus wept. The Bible says that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Don’t waste your sorrows. Grief takes time.
The battle for your healing began 2,000 years ago on a cross where Jesus died of a broken heart for you and me. Because He took our sorrows, the Bible says we can take comfort and, “Relax, everything is going to be all right; rest, everything’s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!” (Jude 1:2, MSG). This passage urges us to open our hearts wide to God. It’s the wide-open heart that experiences the fullness of the life and love God offers. To open our hearts, we must affirm the goodness of God’s heart. When we do that, we are free to take the next step and reveal the wound in our hearts to God. Hiding our wounds prevents healing. Yet, that’s exactly what Adam and Eve did when they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. They tried to hide from God and then covered up their shame. That’s when the great “cover-up” began! Later, King David tried the same thing. Covering the wounds of our hearts never works. It only masks the hurt we feel, and we turn to some substitute to numb the pain. Revealing the wounds in our hearts starts the healing. When David opened his heart wide to God and began to reveal his pain, he wrote: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17, NIV).
David realized that no amount of sacrifice or human effort could heal the wound sin had caused in his heart. His heart was broken. The truth is, we are all broken. Everyone has a wounded heart. Here’s the good news. The Bible says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18, NIV).
It may seem all wrong at the moment, but when we reveal the wound in our heart to God and remember His goodness, He says everything is going to be alright! One day, everything will be alright! One day, sin and sickness, death and disease will be no more! One day, every wrong will be made right! Maybe you just need to shout this promise in your heart right now, “Relax, everything is going to be all right!”
To read this devotional online or catch up on past ones, visit https://kerryshook.org/blog.
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.
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