Oh no, I can’t take one more depression session,
For when I dwell on failures, it’s like a recession.
What good is the power of a positive confession
If dwelling on pain has become an obsession?
I once thought it wise my mad feelings to vent
But that never caused my fierce pain to relent.
Nor did vengeance allot me a worthwhile cure,
Though it did feed my anger. Of that I am sure.
Through lava-like tears, all I saw was the blur
That my life had become, for I loved misery.
Taking comfort in sorrow, I could never get free.
Too depressed to seek counsel, I just didn’t see
Any way to escape my sad soul’s poverty
Because I desired manmade sympathy,
But man condemned me – to the umpteenth degree!
Christians bound to the law threw dirt on my distress.
“It’s your own fault you landed yourself in this mess!”
The depression ballooned because I couldn’t share
My heart’s deepest woes with those who did not care.
I beat myself to bring them to grief over their unbelief.
“I’m too hurt to be wounded more. What I need is relief!”
But it just made them mad. They looked down on my pain.
“Self-torture is stupid. You’ve nothing to gain.”
I didn’t know why they had zero compassion,
Or why they called me selfish, as if I’d no passion.
Like Job, I rubbed my “boils” raw with a shard
In a closet that felt like a cold prison yard.
Like a woman rejected, I lacked needed might
To forgive those in my life who caused the harsh blight
Of soul wounds that I had no more strength to fight.
But I cried out to God and the godly said, “Praise!”
Though I didn’t feel like it, I praised anyways,
And somehow that praise to God opened a door,
For next Sunday His presence I couldn’t ignore
And when prayer was offered, I rushed to the front,
Brushing past fears that God would say something so blunt
His reproof would condemn me and crush my lost soul.
But to my amazement, my soul was made whole.
He replaced my depression with joy that can’t speak.
I found myself laughing, released from the creek
Of despair I had sunk in so loud and so long.
Instead of “Poor Nancy,” I sang a new song.
Overcoming depression isn’t easy but giving God a sacrifice of praise can help you rise out of that pity party pit.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8
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