Joyce Meyer - Depression
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Well, good morning, friends, I’m glad to have you with me today on, «Enjoying Everyday Life». You know, so many of you have asked if I could mentor you, and obviously I can’t do that, there’s too many people. But I can do it like this. And so I’ve decided to do this, what we’re calling, «Heart to heart». So I can talk to you about just some specific areas that I feel like different people have problems with. And I just want us to have a chat. I’m gonna just talk to you hopefully like a mother would talk to her son or daughter.
And I wanna talk to you today about depression. Lots of people suffer from depression. And some of it’s medical depression that need to have medicine, maybe professional counseling. But a lot of it is just, we let ourselves look too much at the negative things in life, and not the positive things. So I wanna talk to you about both. Facing depression is the first step to freedom. And I don’t think we like to say to anybody else, «I’m depressed». And I don’t think we’d like to admit it to ourselves, «I’m depressed».
I went through a period of time where I just, I didn’t really know what was wrong with me, but I just didn’t wanna do anything. I’d go to the office and do my work. But then when I came home, I just really didn’t wanna do anything. And Dave would say, «Do you wanna go shopping»? I’d say, «No». «Do you wanna go out and eat»? «No». And I really didn’t know what the problem was. And I one day looked up these symptoms of depression, and it said that you lose interest in doing things that you once enjoyed. And so, I started doing some checking, and sure enough, I had just let myself get into that depressed mood, and I had to take some action to do something about it.
«What is wrong with me»? Seems to be the cry of many people’s hearts. «When’s the last time you said that? What is wrong with me»? You don’t feel right. You feel down. You just feel discouraged. You’re discontent. You think, «What is wrong with me»? Well, depression is a common and a serious disorder, that negatively affects how you think. And I might think we can also say that how you think, can sometimes be the root cause of the depression. It affects how you feel and how you act. And it also affects the people around you. Persistently feeling sad, feeling empty, being anxious and excessively worried. A lowering of the spirits or being melancholy, which means sad. There’s a loss of joy and enjoyment. It seems like you just can’t seem to enjoy much of anything.
The Psalmist David referred to depression, which he had depression at different times. But he referred to it as, being downcast. And in Psalm 42 and 43, in pretty close proximity of each other, three times he has a talk with himself. And I’m gonna read all three of these, although they’re exactly the same, just to make the point that sometimes we need to talk to ourselves, and we need to do it more than one time. Here, he had to talk to himself three times before he talked himself out of the mess he was in. Sometimes I call it talking myself off a ledge. If I’m about to get angry, or if somebody’s hurt my feelings and I’m not willing yet to forgive them, I will talk to myself.
And if I’m home alone, I’ll talk to myself out loud and say, «Okay Joyce, knock it off. You know you have many, many reasons to be blessed. God’s forgiven you. Other people have to forgive you for hurting their feelings. And you just need to do what the word says». Well, sometimes I’ve had to talk to myself more than once too, but if you’ve never tried that, I wanna encourage you to try talking yourself out of bad moods, depression, discouragement. Talk yourself out of fear. Talk yourself out of anger. Talk yourself out of unforgiveness. You’d be amazed what can happen if you talk to yourself in the right way. We talk to ourselves all the time, but it’s more, «What’s wrong with me»? «Why can’t I do this»? «Why isn’t this happening»?
And we need to stay away from any kind of self-talk that is negative, because it will just drag us down. So here’s what David said three times, Psalm 42:5, «Why are you cast down, o my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me»? Now, here’s the answer. «Hope in God and wait expectantly for him». Now, to wait on God means to wait with expectation. You’re expecting something good to happen at any moment. You’re expecting God to show up. We don’t just wait with a passive attitude, «Well, I’ll just wait and see what God does». No, we wait with expectation. «Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him, my help and my God».
Psalm 42:11, «Why are you cast down, o my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for him…» And I think the expectantly is a really good point, because you may think, «Well, I am waiting on God, he’s not doing anything». Well, what are you expecting him to do? Every morning I try to say, «Something good is going to happen to me today. And something good is going to happen through me today». Learn to develop a habit of expecting good things. A lot of times we can fall into a habit of expecting bad things, especially if you’ve had a lot of bad things happen to you. Then that can just become a pattern where you’re just like, «Well, just waiting to see when the next shoe drops,» as they say. «Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God».
Now, one more time, and don’t lose your train of thought. When I read these scriptures, I really want you to try to pay attention to them, and just take them in, because the word is full of power. The Bible says that it has the power to divide soul and spirit. It is powerful, and it can change your heart, and it can heal your soul. But you have to really pay attention to it. «Why are you cast down, o my inner self»? Maybe you need to take the time to answer that question for yourself. Why am I in a bad mood? What do I have to be in a bad mood about? Why am I angry? Why is it so hard for me to forgive people? «Why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him, who is the help of my [sad] Countenance, and he is my God».
Well, you know, we all feel down at times. We all get disappointed at times or hurt at times. And to be honest, that’s just quite normal. The problem is, is when you let yourself stay that way. It’s so great that the Word of God says to let go of the old and take hold of the new. With God, there’s always a place for a new beginning. And there’s one waiting for you right now, if you need one. You can start by just smiling. You may not feel like smiling, but if you smile, maybe your feelings will catch up with your face. David had to talk to himself three times before he broke free. So, sometimes you gotta do the right thing more than once, before you get the right result that you want. «Put your hope in God,» meant to expect something good to happen.
So, I wanna encourage you to start expecting something good to happen. And you might say, «Well, I’m already in a bad mood, and if I expect something good to happen and it doesn’t, it’s just gonna make my mood worse». Well, don’t be like that. If you expect something good to happen today and it doesn’t, then get up tomorrow and expect something good to happen. And just keep it up until you wear the devil out. In Daniel, it says that satan works to wear out the saints. But I’ve decided I’m gonna work to wear him out instead of letting him wear me out. You may or may not be able to do something about being depressed yourself, depending on what the source of the problem is.
If it’s a medical cause, then you might need professional help. You might need to take some medicine. If it’s from traumatic situations, you might need some professional help. I had a psychologist tell me that he had three people in his life that were very important to him die within a short period of time, and he got depressed. And this is somebody who counsels people for depression. And he said, «For six months, I had to take some medicine for depression. And then after that, I was able to get off of it». Maybe you only need help for a small period of time. You know, we have got on the inside of us what we need. Sometimes you need counseling or medicine for a short period of time, or a good rest and time with God.
Now listen to this. Jesus is our healer. The Holy Spirit is our counselor. And God the Father is our comforter. I love that. I mean, he’s the whole package. Jesus is our healer. The Holy Spirit is our counselor. And God is our comforter. He is the God of all comfort. Don’t run to the doctor before you give God an opportunity first. Matter of fact, pray and see what God wants you to do. And sometimes you may not wanna go to the doctor, but God may tell you to do that. You know, I don’t like going, but sometimes I need to, so I have to do it. Anxiety or depression medicine has carried a stigma for the Christian, which is unwarranted. Our mind and emotions are not unlike any other part of our body. And if you had to take medicine for heart problems, you wouldn’t be ashamed of that. You wouldn’t feel like you had to hide that.
And yet somehow, Christians have made other Christians feel like, if they need any kind of medicine for their mind, that there’s a problem with them. «What’s wrong with her that she… Did you know that she has to take anxiety medicine, or she has to take depression medicine»? And all of a sudden that becomes like, «Ooh, this terrible thing we feel like we need to hide». Well, you know, we have hormones called neurotransmitters. And if they get unbalanced, it can cause mood disorders. And in that case, you’re gonna need to get some medical help. Try thinking of all your blessings. And you may hear this all the time, but how many people really do it? Do you take the time in the mornings, to just think about the blessings you have?
I tell you I have got such a good husband. He is not a perfect husband, but he has got so many things, that he is so good at, and does so right. And sometimes we focus on the one thing that somebody does wrong, or the two things or the three things. But there still may be 10 or 12 or 15 things that they do right. It’s the same way with our life, if you can focus on your problems, and never bother to focus on all your blessings. And so some of you, the answer for you today, just maybe needs to be fix your focus. And these are all the same things I would tell you, if you were sitting right here on this footstool in front of me, and we were just having a chat. Fix your focus. Our thoughts affect our mood.
If you think positively, you are gonna feel so much better, than if you think negatively. I really try to practice the part of the love chapter that says love always believes the best of every person. Something I think will make you feel bad is if you’re just always thinking about what’s wrong with everybody, and judging people when, you know, really to judge someone is foolish, because we may see what they’re doing, but we may not have any idea about what has gone on in their life. And that I believe is why God can be merciful, because he sees the why behind the what. So try thinking of all your blessings. Many people think about what they don’t have, but they never think about what they do have. And that can be depressing. Gratitude is a great medicine for your soul. That would be worth a sticker on your wall, or your refrigerator.
«Gratitude is a great medicine for your soul». And you know, the Word of God is medicine for your soul. The Bible says in Psalm 100 verse 4, «Be thankful and say so». «Be thankful and say so». Tell God what you’re thankful for, and tell other people the things that you’re thankful for about them. Psalm 100 verse 4 says, «Enter his gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into his courts with praise! Be thankful and say so, bless and affectionately praise his name»! Well, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and 19 is kinda like a life scripture. «Thank God in everything, no matter what the circumstances might be…» Even if you have a problem, you can still find something to thank God for. You could even say, «God, I thank you that this is gonna end up working out for my good, because you promised that all things will work together for good, to those who love you and are called according to your purpose».
One of the things that I say when I’m having problems is, «This is going to end well». And I’ll have to say that it always does. God is faithful. He may not do everything when we want him to, or the way we want him to, but he never leaves us without the help that we need. You might say, «Well, I need help and I haven’t had any help from God». Well, I love you when I say this but maybe you just need to change your attitude. An attitude adjustment can just be wonderful for your soul. «Thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances might be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for those of you who are in Christ Jesus. Don’t quench (suppress or subdue) the Holy Spirit».
And, you know, being thankful is just the opposite of complaining. I tell you, complaining brings so many negative things into our lives. When we complain, complain, complain, people just get tired of being around us. They don’t wanna hear it. When we complain, I believe it grieves the Holy Spirit. When we complain, I believe it opens up a door for the enemy to work in our lives. And so let’s be happy and talk about the good things. Quite often, and this is a big point, getting your mind off yourself, will help you get over depression.
A story, «A woman went to her pastor for counseling because she was depressed. And so she made an appointment with him, and it was gonna be a couple of weeks. And he said, 'in the meantime, before you come back, ' he said, 'you know those great chocolate chip cookies you make'? He said, 'i want you to make as many batches of those as you can, and just give 'em to people'. Well, you know, the woman never came back for counseling. And he saw her one day in the back of the church, several months went by, and he said, 'you know, you never came back for your counseling appointment'. And she said, 'you know what? I got so happy after I started giving those cookies away. I just have made a ministry out of it, and I do it all the time now. And it seems to have alleviated my depression'».
So, she was depressed because she was sitting home feeling sorry for herself, or thinking about what she didn’t have. But as soon as she started reaching out to other people, it made a change in her life. It is more blessed (to give) than to receive. Generosity brings joy. Symptoms of depression. The psychological symptoms of depression include: a continuous low mood or sadness, feeling hopeless and helpless, having low self-esteem, feeling tearful like you wanna cry all the time, feeling guilt-ridden, feeling irritable and intolerant of others, not being motivated or having interest in things, not wanting to do anything, finding it difficult to make decisions, constant worry, always being on edge and ready to explode or implode at the slightest difficulty. Divorce can bring on depression. Death of a loved one can bring on depression, abuse, rejection, abandonment, all kinds of things. But we certainly know what it feels like to be depressed.
Now, I wanna say something that’s big. Form a habit of confronting your problems. Don’t be the kind of person that just sits around and just has a problem. Confront your problems. Confront fear. If you’re afraid of something, pray about it, and then do it afraid. Don’t just sit around and feel sorry for yourself, confront your issues. You might need professional help, or you might need to confront the issue and deal with it yourself. Don’t let somebody else’s problem steal your joy. Don’t be codependent on other people. If you’re married to somebody that’s Moody and they get up in a bad mood, that doesn’t mean you have to be in a bad mood. You can go ahead and be happy. And to be honest, that may help them more than anything. It did with me.
I was just such a mess when Dave and I got married and always in a bad mood, and mad about everything if I didn’t get my way. And he would just go ahead and be happy. And I finally thought, you know, this is ridiculous, if he can have that, I can have it too. And so I started changing the way I behaved, because I saw such a good example in him. And if you’re not seeing a good example, maybe you can be a good example to someone else. Now, let’s talk for a minute about medication. Some doctors hand out anxiety and depression medicine like it’s candy, and that’s not good. But you don’t, and I’ve got this all in capitals, you don’t need to feel guilty about it or feel that you need to hide it. I take anxiety medicine and I’m not ashamed to tell you that.
I probably wouldn’t have said that two years ago, but there’s no reason for me to hide it. First of all, I was abused for probably 12 to 15 years, sexually abused by my father. I married the first guy that came along. And he abandoned me twice in different cities, I was 18 once, 19 once. He ran around with other women. He stole things from me. I mean, it was a five-year nightmare. I had breast cancer. I had two hip replacements. And because I was rejected, I had a rejection-based personality. I worked so hard trying to make this ministry a success, so I could just prove to everybody that I was worth something.
And a lot of people do that. They get depressed just because they work too hard. If you work too hard and you wear yourself out, you’re not gonna be able to keep a steady mood. And then on top of that, I had Adrenal Hyperplasia, which means that I have a little tumor on my left adrenal gland. And it doesn’t need to be removed. It doesn’t grow. It’s probably been there most of my life. But my doctor told me that it probably does mess around with my hormones. And when I had tests done, they were really out of wack. Your nerves are part of your body, just like any other part of your body. And if they’re sick, you need to take care of 'em. You might try going to a functional medicine doctor who can do the proper tests to see if your hormones are out of balance.
There’s one thing that heals many ailments, and that is receiving the love of God. And I wanna ask you today, have you actually really received the love of God for yourself? Is it easy for you to tell other people, «God loves you,» but it’s hard for you to receive it for yourself? You know, Dick Van Dyke said, «There’s two things you need to be happy: you need to have someone to love, and you need to have a purpose». So I wanna end with that thought today. Do you have someone to love? And do you have a purpose in your life? Let me pray for you.
Father, I pray for all of those who are depressed, and I ask you to set them free today. Help them put these principles into action in their life, and let them see what a difference it will make. In Jesus' name, amen.