Having hope helps with depression. When life's circumstances have torn us down, disheartened us, brought us grief, sorrow, and weakness, there is still tomorrow. There is still a God who loves us and has our best interests at heart. We can look forward to a day without misery. We may never forget the heartache that caused hurt in our lives, but we can believe in the possibility of brighter days.
But all who are among the living have hope, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. – Ecclesiastes 9:4, GW
You may feel like you've been kicked to the side like a dog. But God wants you to know there is hope. Everything written in the Bible has been written for our benefit by the inspiration of God.
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. – Romans 15:4, ESV
That is why it's important to find help with depression bible-style. The Bible is the answer to all of life's problems. The Bible gives us a solution to make it through everything that hits us. The Bible shows us that we can hope for better days, if we remember to trust in Christ.
May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13, GW
If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit of God living inside of you. That's power! That's potential for possibilities in the days ahead. That verse above means that as we trust in Christ, we will overflow with a renewed hope in life. As the next verse will say, we can rejoice when we have problems because it builds character and produces new hope:
…we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:3-5, HCSB
As always, it takes our faith in Christ to rise above our circumstances. "Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer." (Romans 12:12, HCSB) We apply our faith through prayer. God's Spirit is always at work within us through our circumstances, but it is always best to ask God to fill us with hope when we need help with depression. Then God will start to show us the sunshine once again.
Beyond having a renewed hope in life, we also need a sense of purpose. Stop back for the next article in this series: Help with depression Bible-style VIII, Purpose for living
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