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Depression can buckle the knees of the best of us, and a pastor’s wife is no exception.  Years ago my wife Denalyn battled depression.  Every day was gray.  Her life was loud and busy—two kids in elementary school, a third in kindergarten, and a husband who didn’t know how to get off the airplane and stay home.  The days took their toll.

But Denalyn was never one to play games.  On a given Sunday when the depression was suffocating, she armed herself with honesty and went to church.  If people ask me how I’m doing, I’m going to tell them.  She answered each, “How are you?” with a candid “Not well – I’m depressed.  Will you pray for me?”  Casual chats became long conversations.  Brief hellos became heartfelt moments of ministry.  She found God’s presence amidst God’s people!  He’s waiting on you, my friend, and He will get you through this.  You will get through this!

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Whatever it is that’s troubling you, you’ll get through this.  Cancel your escape to the Himalayas. Forget the deserted island.  This is no time to be a hermit.  Pray.  Lean on God’s people.  Be a barnacle on the boat of God’s church.  Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Don’t quit, don’t hide.  Would the sick avoid the hospital?  The hungry avoid the food pantry?  Would the discouraged abandon God’s Hope Distribution Center?  Only at great risk. God is waiting on you, my friend.  He is with you.  Your family may have left.  Your supporters may be gone.  Your counselor may be silent.  But God has not budged.  His promise in Genesis 28:15 still stands: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go!”  You will get through this.

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God surrounds us like the Pacific surrounds an ocean floor pebble.  He is everywhere: above, below, on all sides.  We choose our response—rock or sponge?  Resist or receive?  Everything within you says Harden your heart. Run from God, resist God, blame God.  But be careful – hard hearts never heal.  Spongy ones do.  Open every pore of your soul to God’s presence.

Here’s how: Lay claim to the nearness of God.  He says in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  Grip this promise like the parachute it is.  Repeat it over and over until it trumps the voices of fear.  The Lord God is with you, and He is mighty to save.  Cling to His character.  Quarry from your Bible a list of deep qualities of God and press them into your heart.  He is sovereign.  You will get through this.

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You will never go where God is not.  Envision the next few hours—where will you be?  In a school?  God indwells the classroom.  On the highway?  His presence lingers among the traffic. In the operating room, the executive boardroom, the in-laws’ living room?  God will be there.

Acts 17:27 says, “He is not far from each of us.”  Each of us.  God doesn’t play favorites.  From the masses on city streets to isolated villagers in valleys and jungles, all people can enjoy God’s presence.  But many don’t.  They plod through life as if there is no God to love them.  As if the only strength is their own.  As if the only solution will come from within, not above.  They live God-less lives.  The psalmist determined, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You, God.”  Put your hope in God. You will get through this!

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The Bible says “vengeance is God’s; He will repay” (Romans 12:19).  What a great reminder. Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice, it just entrusts it to God.  We tend to give too much or too little, but the God of justice has the precise prescription.  God can discipline your abusive boss. He can soften your angry parent. He can bring your ex to his knees or her senses.

Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice, it just entrusts it to God. Unlike us, God never gives up on a person. Never. Long after we’ve moved on, God is still there, probing the conscience, stirring conviction, always orchestrating redemption. Fix your enemies?  That’s God’s job.

When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners.  No one owns a secret formula.  Remember this: as long as you’re trying to forgive, you are forgiving.  Just stay the course, and you’ll find a way to be strong even when you’ve been hurt. You’ll get through this.

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We pass much of life at mid-altitude.  Most of life is Monday-ish obligations of carpools, expense reports, and recipes.  Occasionally we summit a peak: our wedding, a promotion, the birth of a child.  But when the housing market crashes or a test report comes back negative, before we know it, we discover what the bottom looks like.

In Psalm 139:7 David asked, “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?”  You’ll never go where God is not.  Acts 17:27 reminds us, “He is not far from each of us.”  The Psalmist determined, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.  When all around my soul gives way, He then is still my hope and stay!” Remember the song? Let it encourage you, let it remind you to cling to His unchanging character.  God is faithful.  He is not caught off guard. He uses everything for His glory and your ultimate good.  You will get through this.

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Ginger was six years old when she and her Sunday school class made get well cards for church members.  Hers was a bright purple card that said, “I love you, but most of all God loves you!”  She and her mom made the delivery.

My dad was bedfast, the end was near.  He could extend his hand, but it was bent to a claw from disease.  Ginger asked him a question as only a six-year-old can,  “Are you going to die?”  “Yes. When, I don’t know.”  She asked if he was afraid to go away.  “Away is heaven,” he told her.  “I’ll be with my Father.  I’m ready to see Him eye to eye.”

A man near death, winking at the thought of it.  Stripped of everything?  It only appeared that way. In the end, Dad still had what no one could take: faith.  And in the end, that’s all he needed!

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All of a sudden you’re cleaning out your desk.  The voices of doubt and fear raise their volume. “How will I pay the bills?” you think.  “Who’s going to hire me?”  Do you think you’ve lost it all? Determine not to make this mistake.  You haven’t lost it all.  Romans 11:29 promises God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.  What do you have that you cannot lose?

Here’s what you tell yourself: “I’m still God’s child.  My life is more than this life.  These days are a vapor, a passing breeze.  This will eventually pass.  God will make something good of this.  I will work hard, stay faithful, and trust Him no matter what.”

Choose to heed the call of God on your life.  You are God’s child.  Your life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time.  God won’t break a promise. You will get through this!

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I’m entering my fourth decade as a pastor, and I’ve learned the question to ask.  If we were having this talk over coffee and you were telling me about your tough times, I’d lean across the table and say, “What do you still have that you cannot lose?”  The difficulties have taken much away, I get that.  But there’s one gift your troubles cannot touch—your destiny.  Can we talk about it?

You are God’s child.  He saw you, picked you, and placed you.  Jesus said, “You did not choose Me.  I chose you.”  I remember a groom once leaned over, just minutes before the ceremony, and told me, “You weren’t my first choice.”  “I wasn’t?”  He said, “No, the preacher I wanted couldn’t make it.”  “Oh.”  “But thanks for filling in.”

Hey, you’ll never hear such words from God.  He chose you.  Replacement or fill-in?  Hardly.  You’re His first choice.  His open, willful, voluntary choice.  “This child is mine!”  His child forever, that’s who you are.

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Sometimes God takes His time.  One-hundred and twenty years to prepare Noah for the flood. Eighty years to prepare Moses for his work.  God called young David to be king, but returned him to the sheep pasture.  He called Paul to be an apostle and then isolated him in Arabia for fourteen years.

How long will God take with you?  His history is redeemed, not in minutes, but in lifetimes.  We fear the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave.  Will this sky ever brighten?  This load ever lighten?

Life in the pit stinks.  Yet for all its rottenness, doesn’t it do this much?  Doesn’t it force us to look upward?  The Bible promises, at the right time, in God’s hands, intended evil becomes eventual good.  You will get through this!

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You’ll get through this!  You fear you won’t.  We all do.  We feel stuck, trapped, locked in.  Will we ever exit this pit?  Yes!  Deliverance is to the Bible what jazz music is to Mardi Gras— bold, brassy, and everywhere.

Out of the lion’s den for Daniel, the whale’s belly for Jonah, and prison for Paul. Through the Red Sea onto dry ground. Through the wilderness, through the valley of the shadow of death. Through! It’s a favorite word of God’s! Isaiah 43:2 says,  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.”

It won’t be painless. Have you wept your final tear, received your last round of chemotherapy?  Not necessarily. Does God guarantee the absence of struggle?  Not in this life.  We see Satan’s tricks and ploys but God sees Satan tripped and foiled.  You’ll get through this!

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Twenty years of marriage, three kids, and he’s gone. Traded in for a younger model.  She told me her story, and we prayed.  Then I said, “It won’t be painless or quick. But God will use this mess for good. With God’s help you’ll get through this.”

Remember Joseph?  Genesis 37:4 says his brothers hated him.  Far from home, they cast him into a pit, leaving him for dead. A murderous cover-up from the get go.  Joseph’s pit came in the form of a cistern.  Yours may be in the form of a diagnosis, a foster home, a divorce.  Pits have no easy exit.

Joseph’s story got worse before it got better.  Yet in his explanation we find his inspiration.  “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. . .”  The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant, turned out  to strengthen him.

You will get through this!

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I remember sitting in high school Algebra class staring at my textbook as if it were written in Mandarin Chinese.  Fortunately I had a patient teacher.  He issued the invitation and stuck to it: “If you cannot solve a problem, come to me and I will help you.”  I wore a trail between his desk and mine.  I would remind him, “Remember how you promised you would help?”  I still had the problem, mind you, but I entrusted the problem to one who knew how to solve it.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, “Put the Lord in remembrance of His promises, keep not silence” (Isaiah 62:6).  God invites you—yes, commands you—to remind him of his promises.  Find a promise that fits your problem, and build your prayer around it!  These prayers of faith touch the heart of God and miracles are set in motion!

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On my good days I begin my morning with a cup of coffee and a conversation with God.  I look ahead into the day and make my requests.  I am meeting with so-and-so at 10:00AM.  Would you give me wisdom?  This afternoon I need to finish my sermon.  Would you please go ahead of me?

Then if a sense of stress surfaces during the day, I remind myself, Oh, I gave this challenge to God earlier today.  He has already taken responsibility for the situation.  I can be grateful, not fretful.

The Bible says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).  Casting is an intentional act to relocate an object. As you sense anxiety welling up inside you, cast it in the direction of Christ.  He is moved by the sincere request.  After all, is he not our Father?

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Praying specifically about a problem creates a lighter load.  Many of our anxieties are threatening because they are ill-defined and vague.  If we can distill the challenge into a phrase, we bring it down to size. It’s one thing to pray, “Lord, please bless my meeting tomorrow.”

It’s another thing to pray, “I have a conference with my supervisor at 2:00 PM tomorrow.  She intimidates me.  Would you please grant me a spirit of peace so I can sleep well tonight?  Grant me wisdom so I can enter the meeting prepared.  And would you soften her heart toward me and give her a generous spirit?  Help us have a gracious conversation in which both of us benefit and your name is honored.”

There!  You have reduced the problem into a prayer-sized challenge.  As God’s children we honor him when we tell him exactly what we need.

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When God responds to our specific prayer in specific ways, our faith grows.  The book of Genesis relates the wonderful prayer of Abraham’s servant.  He was sent to find a wife for Abraham’s son.

How does a servant select a wife for someone else?  This servant prayed about it.  “O Lord God of my master, Abraham.”  I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water.  This is my request.  I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug of water.’  If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink…let her be the one you have selected…”

The servant envisioned an exact dialog, and then he stepped forth in faith.  Scripture says, “Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah appeared (Genesis 24:15).  The servant offered a specific prayer and had an answered prayer.  Consequently, he saw God at work.  May you and I do the same!

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A father was teaching his three-year-old daughter the Lord’s Prayer.  She would repeat the lines after him.  Finally she decided to go solo.  She carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer.  “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us from e-mail.” (…not a bad prayer).

God calls us to pray about everything!  We tell God exactly what we want.  We pray the particulars. When the wedding ran low on wine, Mary wasn’t content to say, “Help us, Jesus.”  She was specific:  “They  have no more wine” (John 2:3).  A specific prayer is a serious prayer.  If I say to you, “Do you mind if I come by your house sometime?” you may not take me seriously. But if I say, “Can I come over this Friday night? I really need your advice.”  Then you know my petition is sincere.  When we offer specific requests, God knows the same!

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God loves the sound of your voice—always!  God never places you on hold or tells you to call again later.  He doesn’t hide when you call.  He hears your prayers.  For that reason “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

With this verse the apostle calls us to take action against anxiety.  We tell God exactly what we want.  We pray the particulars of our problems.  What Jesus said to the blind man, he says to us: “What do you want me to do for you” (Luke 18:41)?  One would think the answer would be obvious.  When a sightless man requests Jesus’ help, isn’t it apparent what he needs?  Yet Jesus wanted to hear the man articulate his specific requests.  He wants the same from us.  “Let your requests be made known to God!”

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In his fine book, The Dance of Hope, Bill Frey remembers the day he tried to pull a stump out of the Georgia dirt.  One of his chores as a twelve-year-old was to search for stumps of pine trees that had been cut down and chop them into kindling.  But there was one root system he just couldn’t pull out of the ground.  He was still struggling when his father came over to watch.

“I think I see your problem,” the dad said.  “What’s that?” the son asked.  “You’re not using all your strength.”  Bill exploded and told him how hard he’d been working.  “No,” the dad said, “You’re not using all your strength.”  When Bill cooled down he asked what his father meant, and the dad said, “You haven’t asked me to help you.”  You don’t have to do it alone, friend.  Present the challenge to your Father, and ask for help.  Will he solve the issue?  Yes, he will.

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We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath!  This was the reassuring message from the miracle of the bread and the fish.  In an event crafted to speak to the anxious heart, Jesus told his disciples to do the impossible: feed five thousand people.

Now you aren’t facing five thousand hungry bellies, but you are facing a deadline in two days, a loved one in need of a cure.  On one hand you have a problem.  On the other you have a limited quantity of wisdom, patience, or time.  Typically you’d get anxious.  You’d tell God, “You’ve given me too much to handle.”  This time, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength.  Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith.  Turn to your Heavenly Father for help.

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