Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts

God is Better than Prozac

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I’ve struggled with depression over the past 15 years. The first was major and it was a long time in healing. With the help of a therapist and my doctor, I began counseling and taking Prozac. It got me out the a deep darkness -- enough that I could begin to see the hope of my belief in God.

Since then, I’ve had bouts of depression. There were times of more therapy and more medicine but each time I became more dependent on God for my healing.

I’ll be the first one to advise anyone with depression to seek the help of a good medical doctor and get tested to see if there are some chemical deficiencies. I’ll also be the first to say that God’s healing can go deeper than anything else. But there are times when the chemicals in the brain need to be in balance. I’m no doctor and I’ve certainly simplified the issue.

Honestly, it truly is all about balance. Once the medical issues are in balance, it’s time to take a brutal look at the spiritual balance in our lives. I’ve come to the point now that any time -- ANY TIME I feel depression creeping in, the first place I look is at the spiritual side of my life. Is it balanced with my emotions? And believe me, it takes a lot to balance my emotions.

Fortunately, I’ve learned the truth that emotions are a result of how we see things and what we believe. Certainly, loss brings grief, a satisfying life brings joy, children bring laughter -- the list goes on. But we can’t always trust our emotions, particularly when we deal with depression and anxiety. Truth be told, I can “think” my way into an anxiety attack that could trigger heart problems or send my blood pressure skyrocketing. But those thoughts aren’t real. They are the result of worry and my very vivid imagination.

You cannot tame your thoughts. You may think you can. You may try with medication. And it’s possible you can take enough to numb how you feel. But if you want to live a full and incredible life, drugs aren’t the answer. You can try with alcohol, relationships, careers -- that list goes on as well.

Taming our thoughts has everything to do with what we think about.

Paul wrote: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:6-10, NLT

Prozac can’t promise that.

Blessings, Francine

Posted in: , , , , | 6 comments | |

A Cup of Coffee

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

There was a time in my life when the only thing I had to look forward to at the end of the day was the coffee I would have the next morning. It was a span of days or weeks; maybe even months, when I was deep in the darkness of depression. I was in a place I’d never been before and I felt pretty much alone. Everything was different. I couldn’t pick up the phone and call family. I couldn’t run over to my daughter’s and spend time with my young grandchildren. And financially, things were grim.

Have you ever been there? You may have had just one thing to look forward to but it was enough ... enough to get you through the day.

What is so sad is that it doesn’t have to be that way, especially if we have a personal relationship with Jesus. I did. But in my loneliness, I wandered from the light and got lost in the darkness. All I had was knowing I’d wake up each morning and enjoy the coffee I loved so much. Seems a bit silly now. But then, it was everything.

What is your “everything?”

Whatever it is, it doesn’t last. Oh, I still love coffee, most especially first thing in the morning ... sharing it with nature or the desert critters that visit us. But it is no longer my “everything.”

Almost everyone has something they hang onto in the darkness. Unfortunately, its significance and importance will fade, leaving you wanting more. Which begs the question, “more of what?”

That’s the wonder of Jesus. He is our all in all. He will never leave us. And He gives us eternal hope. Sometimes, we can’t see eternally; all we can see is our circumstances and often they look dark and dreary.

With the hope of Jesus in my life, I don’t have to worry about the circumstances. I know they will always change and, if I trust in them, they will always leave me wanting. Instead, I have an unshakable faith and I know, regardless of the circumstances, Jesus will fill my mind, heart, and spirit with a supernatural peace and joy. It doesn’t eliminate the pain. But then, nothing does. Rather, the hope of Christ gives me new eyes with which to see eternally. And as I recognize how fleeting this life is, I realize that the best is yet to come -- honest and true.

And I’ll let you in on a secret, I am hoping there is coffee in heaven.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by (I)prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:6-8, NAS

Blessings,

Francine

Posted in: , , , , , , | 1 comments | |

FEAR NOT

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

I’ve never been an alarmist, especially when it comes to scripture and references to the “End Times.” I’ll leave that to others.

Yet, I cannot ignore the state our world is in. Who can turn a blind eye to the daily increases in fuel costs, food, or home foreclosures or the almost daily decrease in home sales or the closing numbers of the stock market? Storms and natural disasters recently have taken their toll in thousands of lives lost.

I don’t think we can argue that we live in unsettling times.

I often wonder about those who have no faith in God. Many are quick to blame Him but that’s about as far as they go in recognizing the Creator of the universe.

Where do they find comfort? How do they escape the fear that seems to be creeping into every society around the globe?

Where do they find hope?

I won’t speculate on the times we are in. Jesus himself said no man knows the hour of His return. “So also, when you see these things happening, you may recognize and know that He is near, at [the very] door. But of that day or that hour not a [single] person knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:29, 32, Amplified Bible

What I will do is point to the Savior’s words that give hope to the hopeless, peace to the worried, comfort to the afflicted:

And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn at the roaring (the echo) of the tossing of the sea,

Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).

Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near. Luke 21:25-28, Amplified Bible

There are many references in the Bible that read like today’s headlines.

I don’t use scare tactics but I do believe in the Truth of God’s word. A little book that came out in 1974, The Vision by David Wilkerson, reads more realistic today than it did back then. If you are looking for truth in prophesies of the Bible lived out in the 21st Century, read this book. When you do, never forget that God’s in control.

My prayer is that you will come to a deeper understanding of the Creator’s love for YOU. Check out these web sites:

Running on Empty

Power to Change

Blessings, Francine

Posted in: , , , , , , | 1 comments | |

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)
 
2005-2009 Francine Biere. All rights reserved. | Contact