I Need Encouragement

[GodsRose]

Does anyone struggle with depression or self-harm? I used to struggle a lot with self-harm, but God has delivered me from self-harm. Lately I have been struggling with depression and its been difficult. I have lived with Bipolar Depression since I was 16 years of age. Now I am 31 years old and God is doing a lot in my life. I am reading God's Word and praying daily and I serve in several ministries at the church I attend. I just need a place to talk about these things. I know that God is working in my life and I just have those moments where I struggle. My Christian counselor says that I am suffering from positive stress. Who would of ever thought of that? I have been through so much with my depression that its hard to move forward even with all of the positive changes in my life. Please, if you have a word of encouragement or if you have been going through some of the same emotions I talked about, please share with me here. Thanks and Have a Gorgeous Sunny Day! Praise God in all things and Know that your never alone! Lovin Christ, Rose

[cori]

hi Rose!
i think God has had enough with the depression strategy of satan!!! i am in the same position you are - delivered from self-injury, but still struggling with frequent battles of depression. and i know a few others here do too (out of respect for them, i'm not going to name names, though! lol), so it seems that there's a bit more than happenstance going on here with this coming to the surface so much lately. we are all here to encourage each other & lift each other up in prayer, although sometimes it can be hard to sit down & post during the struggle. i love that you started a new thread for this, because maybe having a specific thread dedicated to helping each other rise up & rise ABOVE the depression will make it a little easier to step out & share with each other.

anyway - i've got my son working on homework right now & we are now entering the meltdown stage of it (little brother is NOT helping by taking the pencil, etc...), so...i need to go follow through with that and get it done, but i'll definitely get back to this thread. :)

in the meantime, keep your eyes on Jesus, no matter WHAT is falling apart around you. He is in control, and He is not surprised by anything that is happening in your life. :) and...better than that, He is wildly in love with you! :)

[DawnAurora]

Wow, I have to get to bed. I fight depression a lot - as a missionary type! Life gets hard and the Lord trains us to make us our best, which requires a lot of stretching our boundaries. Lots of positive stress there, and negative stress!

Bipolar doesn't help - neither does a touch of ADD (potentially my issue). You have lots of company, right down to Moses, Jeremiah, and Paul.

Welcome to the boards!:)

[cori]

don't forget david, a king, & solomon, who had IT ALL!!!

you know, i've been praying about this all day - trying to find the right things to say for encouragement. i know there's encouragement in the testimony, but....i also know that i've got bits & pieces of mine scattered here, there, & everywhere all over the place on the boards, and i'm QUITE certain that those of you who have read EACH of those posts are pretty close to having them memorized. so...i'm a little reluctant to post it - again!! (mods, maybe should i type up an "official" testimony & then i can find all the other random posts that have parts of it & tell you where they are so they can be deleted?)

anyway!

it's no secret that satan is definitely gaining some pretty significant ground with depression - the gajillion meds available now for different degrees of depression are a CLEAR indication of that (as are soaring substance abuse rates, self-injury & suicide rates, and on & on we could go...). NOT AT ALL to downplay the need for meds, or the reasons for the abuse-as-a-coping-mechanism - not at ALL. but...i really think that there's something more going on here, specifically on these boards, in this thread, at this time.

i can't help but notice how many of us have been struggling with intense battles of depression lately, and on a pretty consistent basis. i really feel that the Lord is calling us to battle - to gather here, to stand together, to help each other rise up & come against this thing, personally AND corporately. i really believe that we are being engaged in spiritual warfare with depression, and i feel that we should unite & stand, to regain that ground. we know how it ends, but...we also know that there is a part that we have to play in it all.

i KNOW it's hard to be vulnerable & transparent, but i REEEEEALLY think that we should feel safe to come here and share our struggles. we are called to bear each other's burdens, but....we can't help each other if we don't know what we're walking through, you know? i just finished emailing a friend who is struggling with some stuff, and....it just brought this passionate conviction about this (believe me, i'm not one to stand & declare spiritual warfare on a whim! i'd LIKE to do it, you know, NEVER!!! but...this one's a-burnin'...). i know that we care for each other, and i know that we aren't about to let any ONE of us get away, so....let's not let each other slip away quietly, ok? i think we should feel free & safe here to be honest about our struggles (we don't have to share gory details, just an "i'm struggling on this level" kind of thing....), knowing that we won't be judged for "being weak," and i also think we should hold each other accountable. check in on each other, so to speak...

i don't know. i may get on tomorrow after getting some sleep & delete this post because i'll feel like an idiot, but...at THIS moment, i am as passionate about doing this as jeremy is about speaking louder! (and as i re-read this before hitting "post" i'm reminded that my "sltb" for that youtube contest was speaking out about my struggles with depression with hopes of helping others! :o ) as long as i've struggled with depression, i've hoped that the Lord would turn it around into something redemptive, something that will bring life...and i'm ready to rise up, to stand....to say ENOUGH! but...i also know that when i start to stand up, the blow behind the knees comes, so i know that we have to stand together if we're going to make it.

any takers? :o