Discouragement

 'Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Saviour and my God!'

Psalms 42:11
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PSA.42.11

I love how realistic the Bible about how we sometimes feel. I love too about how hopeful and optimistic about how we can overcome negative feelings with God's help. Honestly, we do sometimes feel discouraged and sad, but that doesn't have to be our permanent state.

As my old pastor used to say, 'it's not talking to yourself that's a sign of madness, it's not talking to yourself that's a sign of madness' (you might have to read that twice!). Basically, if we just passively listen to our negative feelings, we're going to struggle to overcome them. If we try and reason with ourselves, we're more likely to be able to overcome.

Navel gazing alone isn't going to help us overcome negativity. We need God to help us to recover from depression. We have to resolve to hope in God.

Even if we might not feel hopeful and like praising God, we can have hope that one day we will overcome with God's help. He's not just sovereign, He's also the Saviour of those who come to Him in faith. He doesn't want us depressed, He wants us to recover.

'Saviour God, please help us to acknowledge our feelings and to trust You to help us overcome any depressive thoughts. For Your glory we pray, amen'

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