Lamentations 3: 19-24
A quarter of people in the world suffer from depression, a disease characterized by deep sadness and loss of interest in life. It is considered a serious health problem in many parts of the world. Women are more susceptible to depression than men, although they are more attentive to their lives than women with depression. Life is composed of happy and sad events, but when the difficult moments exceed the capacity for response, then depression appears. The different areas of life are affected: the relationship of couple, of paternity, work, even hobbies.
According to reports from the Biomedical Institute of the UNAM, depression can be overcome in some cases spontaneously and some more with therapies. But what role does God play in overcoming the sadness of those difficult moments in life? Year 586, Jerusalem is destroyed, the walls of the city torn down and the wonderful temple of God, built by Solomon, looted, demolished and burned down. The king and hundreds of thousands of Jews taken captive to Babylon by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the cause of this terrible misfortune. 820 years were not enough for the people of Israel to pay attention to the Creator God. 820 years of exhortation to this rebellious nation that sought to resemble the corrupt and perverted nations of its environment.
Moses, Joshua, judges, prophets, spent their energies in announcing the way of the Lord and that the people will walk in it, but the easy and satisfying was more attractive than all the blessings of heaven. It is through Jeremiah that God announced his ultimatum: Either they walk according to my will or they will be delivered into the hands of their enemies to shame and destruction. Judah did not believe the message and continued in indifference and thus the judgment of God was fulfilled on his people, destroying their strength and enslaving them to an idolatrous nation, where they would learn obedience and seek the face of the Lord. Traditionally human authorship is attributed to Jeremiah.
I. We triumph over depression when we recognize that it is born from within us (v. 19, 20) "I remember my sadness and abandonment ... I start to think about it and my spirits come crashing down" DHH
The book of lamentations is written at an important moment in the history of the Jews, since it is immersed in a situation of destruction and death; places anyone in a situation of extreme sadness. Jeremiah walks in the middle of the ruins of the joyful and beautiful Jerusalem, seeing with pain all his memories go through his mind and imagining the wonderful splendor that city of God. The feelings of Jeremiah can be shared by many of us when we see those who had splendor or could have it but instead there is desolation and darkness. We could well think that the writer's heart is on the verge of depression, in itself the description of the first 2 chapters and the 18 verses of the third presents a depressing panorama. The sacred author says that when he remembers, that is to say that he is constantly thinking about it, that recreates in his mind the sadness and the abandonment (to see his nation destroyed his heart is afflicted) it becomes like gall or wormwood, bitter elements and bad taste that to tell the truth to many we do not feel like tasting. For Jeremiah his emotions are like poison that corrodes him and gall that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Again in verse 20 he says that when he thinks about it (the destruction of Jerusalem) his spirit, his desire, his strength come down. As we mentioned earlier, difficult situations exceed the ability to respond and falls into depression. The teaching of this portion is that when disastrous events happen in our lives, they occupy almost the whole of our mind and we tend to remember and remember and whenever those thoughts come to our mind, we relive them as they are as bitter to us as gall and wormwood, it's as if they revived. When we fall into depression our mind only revolves in what made us lose interest in continuing to live and people in depression recreate again and again, falling into a vicious circle although many find it hard to admit it.
Source
II. We triumph over depression when we remember our hope (v. 21) "... bring to mind what can give me hope" NC
It is Jeremiah himself who leads us to the second step towards freedom from depression. For while he is absorbed in his misfortune, he says that he recognizes and admits it, but then he makes a decision that comes from his heart: Bring to mind "something" that can give hope. You can not bring to mind something that has never been known, believed. Jeremiah was a man who knew God and believed in him. For that reason he says bring to memory. Most people with depression fail in their struggle against it because there is nothing in this world that can give the hope that is needed. On May 26 this year in a program called "Dialogues in Confidence" they talked about depression and one of the specialists recommended that in order to get out of depression, the person must find reasons, reasons to do so; This is an answer, but it does not lead to anything, because still many people live in that darkness, because that hope can not be born of their willpower. Many people know a historical and religious Jesus; but he needs to know and have faith in a living, eternal, powerful Jesus, who is God so that he can make the impossible possible. When Christ lives and reigns in our lives and we revive that relationship every day then we can say that we know Him. Being a Christian does not exempt us from suffering moments of sadness that exceed our ability to excel; but if we affirm that when we are in those moments we must remind ourselves that Jesus can give me hope and this is a reality. So the second step to success is to believe in a Jesus who can give hope of life and abundant (John 10:10) receives today in your heart.
III. We triumph over depression when we see the mercy of God (v.22, 23) "That by the mercy of Jehovah ..."
The third step to freedom is to reflect on God and his character and in this case his mercy. Many are the applications and explanations about this word, in a simple way we will say that mercy means miseri = misery and cordia = heart; feel the misery of another in the heart. Jeremiah invites us to reflect on how God feels, knows our misery in His heart. Let's observe how his mercy is.
We are not totally destroyed "... we have not been consumed: The version that we traditionally use RV 60, uses this expression" consumed "; Although things are wrong, due to God's mercy it is because they are not worse. The people of God are like the burning bush of Moses; but it is not consumed, it is persecuted, but it never abandons by God, and although it is demolished, it is not destroyed. When we are in the test oven we are refined, but not consumed.
Never reaches the limit: "... why they never decayed" The Jews were afflicted by the rod of God's anger, but his anger has limits: His merciful love, which knows no limits or boundaries; for even when I execute his judgments; the Lord gave them a new opportunity, in the year 537 a.C. Cyrus defeats Babylon and liberates the Jews and they return to rebuild the city and thus prepare to receive the Messiah.
They are always there: "new are every morning. Great is your fidelity!" In the midst of the desolation and abandonment that Jeremiah felt, he tells us that every day his own eagerness must suffice and that God's love and mercy is renewed every day. day. God does not live in the past, but every morning he is willing to renew the covenant. The hope of Jeremiah in the midst of all his surroundings was over, he trusted that the mercy of God was evident and that made him triumph over his sad state.
IV. We triumph over depression when we have faith in Jesus Christ (v.24) "My portion is Jehovah; therefore, in him I will wait, says my soul. "
We complete the victory over depression when we recognize in a voluntary act of faith, born of the heart and with the deepest conviction in Christ as the living response to our problem. What would most be expected in disaster situations such as the one that Jeremiah was going through is that he will let himself die little by little. But his reaction is to find in which to deposit his confidence, the certainty that everything would end in something good. Faith, it is the key word and it is something personal and that others can not experience for us. Jeremiah places his trust in God with all his soul. In the depression that we can live the fourth part of this process of victory is to trust that God and that everything works for our good (Romans 8:28)
Challenge
Many people die every year because of the effects of depression or in addition to the illness are accompanied by this. Many people are struggling with weapons that will not work in the long term. Jesus Christ is God's answer to the problems of human beings and depression is no exception. We can triumph over this terrible disease, if you had never heard of this 4 step process to triumph over depression, today may be the day when you let Christ work the wonder you need in your life or someone close to you, I will share this good news.