Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for December 1st, AM.
Updated to modern English by Power to Change.

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.” Psalm 74:17

My friend, as we begin this wintry month, begin it with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind us that God keeps His covenant day and night, and assures us that He will also keep the glorious covenant which He made with us in the person of Christ Jesus. God, who remains true to His Word during the turning of the seasons in this poor sin-polluted world, will prove faithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved sons and daughters.

Winter in the soul is often an uncomfortable season. If now you are facing uncomfortable circumstances or discouraging experiences, it will feel very painful to you. But there is comfort in the fact that the Lord makes both summer and winter. He knows your pain. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frost like ashes over the once lush meadows of our joy.

He does it all. He is the great Winter King, and rules the realms of frost. Therefore you should not murmur against Him. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills can, if we choose, be turned into a blessing of the Lord, and such trials come to us with wise design. Frosts kill deadly insects, and restrains raging diseases. I truly hope that such good results would always flow from our winters of turmoil!

Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and go forth to work for His glory during this season, for it those who slack off in their work during the winters often are forced to beg in summer due to their inactivity, and end up with nothing. Just as during winter we cherish a fire’s pleasant glow and warming heat, let us cherish our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw near to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing.

Question: Regardless of the weather outside, how do you handle the winters of your soul?

Need to talk? Power to Change offers a free mentoring program where you can talk privately with a trained mentor.

This is supposed to be a season of joy and happiness, but many people don’t feel it. Many people suffer from bouts of depression or the blues at different times during the year. During the holiday season people encounter memories of loved ones they have lost through death or divorce or friends who have moved away. People experience stress and difficult family reunions over the holidays. Depression is a growing problem. In fact, psychologists have said that we live in an “age of depression”.

There are many causes for this mood disorder. Reasons for depression range from grief, divorce, major changes, lack of sunlight or physical exercise, a general disappointment with life or friends, low self-worth, relationship, spiritual or anger problems, false beliefs about life and God, trauma from the past, deficiency of neurological chemicals and more.

What are some of the symptoms of depression? Check to see if you have been experiencing any of these symptoms:

1. Loss of appetite. Weight gain or loss.
2. Depressed affect. Children & Adolescents: cranky, irritable, angry/explosive outbursts.
3. Diminished interest in or enjoyment of activities.
4. Psychomotor agitation or retardation.
5. Sleeplessness or hypersomnia.
6. Lack of energy.
7. Poor concentration and indecisiveness.
8. Social withdrawal.
9. Suicidal thoughts and/or gestures.
10. Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, excessive or inappropriate guilt.
11. Low self-esteem.
12. Unresolved grief issues.
13. Hallucinations or delusions.

If you have 3 or more of the above symptoms which have lasted for over 2 weeks, you should seek medical help or professional counseling. You can find a counselor or go to the nearest mental health center.If you are suicidal please contact 911 (in the USA or Canada) or go to a hospital emergency room.

How do you move beyond depression?

Usually people who are feeling depressed are not doing what would help them feel better.

• Talking about your feelings with someone is very beneficial. Exploring with someone, especially a counselor, what is underlying your feelings can help you begin to problem-solve.
• Seeing your doctor for a physical exam and telling him/her about your depression can lead to further treatment for physiological causes. You may need to consider taking an anti-depressant.
• Regular exercise and proper diet, spending time with family and friends and reaching out to others is very helpful. Seeking a relationship with God and praying to Him brings hope and encouragement when you are feeling down-hearted.

If you or someone you know are trying these activities and still stuck in depression, it is wise to seek out professional Christian counseling.

Is there a spiritual dimension to depression?

Is there a spiritual dimension to depression that gets overlooked when we rush into taking medication? In other words, in our effort to “hurry up and feel good” do we possibly miss out on important lessons that God might be wanting to teach us? There most certainly is always a spiritual dimension to depression. In the book of Psalms in the Bible, David, one of the Kings of Israel wrote:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Most people who walk in my office feeling depressed are spiritually hungry. Many have a general sense of distance from or disappointment with God. They struggle with periods of doubt about God’s love for them and begin to question whether He will help them through their problems. Some people express anger towards God wondering, “how a good God can allow suffering?”. Or they question whether God exists. This spiritual vacuum can actually be the basis for some of the hopelessness and despair they feel.

Depression is a complex disorder.

Since human beings are very complex it is necessary to address all the underlying causes of depression such as: low self-esteem, losses, physical pain, relationship or financial issues, guilt, shame, trauma, dysfunctional family issues, along with the spiritual and physiological reasons.

Medication can give people more motivation and energy to get through a depressive period in their life but it will not be a cure-all for depression. One must take steps to fight depression on all fronts: spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally and relationally.

The great news for this holiday season and throughout the year is that God does exist and whether you realize it right now or not, he loves you very much.  You are not in this alone. If you are looking for someone you can place your trust in, a foundation to build upon, you can find that safe place whether you’re in a relationship right now or not.  Place your trust in God and his promises.  Anchor your life to the hope that he brings.

He is the well deep enough to draw from when you need peace, hope and wisdom, insight and love, endurance and faith. He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for all our sins.  Everyone feels unworthy sometimes, but God thinks you’re worth it—even worth the death of His Son.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desires of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus will come into your life, and forgive you of your sins forever, just as he promised.

Related:
Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People? 

Is Your World Not What It Should Be?

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

Today, more people are experiencing hardship and loss than ever before in their lifetime. Everywhere I look and everything I hear speaks of desperation.  It is a cry that is coming from tremendous loss.  Some are experiencing great financial loss; others are losing their jobs, families, friendships and health.

God has been reminding me recently of His Sovereignty and the promise in His Word, which so clearly and tenderly speaks to us that He is present with us in our very personal situations.  What a promise! If you feel alone in your circumstances know that you’re not.  God is with you, and with such gentleness, yet firm assurance, He beckons you to a greater life where there is no fear and there is no anxiousness, but only rest in Him.

Isaiah 43:2 says: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  Even when you walk through fire, and when the waters overwhelm you, I am there.”

Know that God is walking with you during not only the sweet times in your life, but especially during the difficult times. David, when running from King Saul for his life, cried out to God and declared that He was setting His face like a flint before Him.   He knew that He must keep his eyes, not on his circumstance, but like a rock, immovable upon God and God alone to get through his many years of trials.

Even Joseph, when sold into slavery and then imprisoned for no wrong doing, remained faithful to God and eventually named his second child Ephraim meaning, “God prospered me in the land of my affliction.”

God often uses the times in our lives where everything seems to be going wrong around us, to get us to the very place that He intends for us.

Remember Romans 8:31, which says; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

I once heard a quote that goes like this:  “If you look inward, you get depressed.  If you look outward you get stressed.  If you look upward, you get refreshed”.

Let’s look upward together!  Let’s set our face like rocks before God.  He is faithful and just to perform His promises and His Word over our lives.

Heavenly Father, I love You and thank you for reminding me of Your Sovereign hand over my life and that You are with me in everything that I am going through.  Thank You that I can cling to You, knowing that You are in control and that You are with me every step of the way in my circumstances.  I cling to Your promises and open my heart to fully trusting in You as I continue to feed on your faithfulness.  Amen.

Questions: How do you handle the stresses in your life? How can one start to take one’s eyes off their difficult circumstances and turn them to the Lord? What are some steps that you need to take to start to trust God fully for your circumstances?

Do you feel isolated, hurt or afraid and have no one to talk to? Talk to us.

Do you ever feel that way?  Like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? There are days when I feel like a jinx. Everything I touch goes haywire. I wait for the next shoe to fall, and the next, and the next – as if a centipede was walking above me.

It seems the Psalmist had those days as well. In verse 8 he complains, “I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.”  Talk about being oppressed, and depressed.

But, he doesn’t go on whining throughout this Psalm. He keeps declaring through all that happens, God is there. God hears and he has faith God will respond.  “But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer” (vs.15).

A few weeks ago, my day started out as one of those days. But instead of expecting bad, I stopped. I said aloud to the ceiling in my bathroom, “Stop this devil. You will not steal my joy today.”  When I dropped one of my last two earring fasteners in the sink, I laughed and said, “Nice try. Not working.”  It stuck to the side and didn’t go down the drain. Two more things tried to go awry. I just laughed and said, “Really? Still trying?” The rest of the day went smooth as silk.

What changed? My attitude. My mother had a plaque on her fridge that said “We can’t change the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sails.” We can choose to see His mercies new every morning, or be bowed to the ground and only see our feet trudging along. We can choose to be blessed children of the Almighty, or have a woe-is-me pity party. The Psalmist over and over, Psalm after Psalm, ends up choosing the first. Slowly, I am learning to do the same.

Questions: Who will you let steal your joy today? Who will you let restore it?

About the Author Julie Cosgrove

Angry, frustrated and confused, I boarded a plane for Southern California.

This was one of the few times in my journey with God where I truly felt that I had been abandoned by Him. So many traumatic events had happened. Just two weeks earlier we had buried my grandfather–the spiritual rock of our family. I had had the privilege of caring for him and walking with him through his last days and now, just weeks after his death, I was possibly facing another. I felt as though the foundation of my childhood was being bulldozed.

It started with a diagnosis

My journey began early in the spring of 1997 when I was diagnosed with clinical depression. The long days and weeks of care giving for my grandfather had taken their toll. Blackness and despair sought to submerge me. The diagnosis of depression was difficult for me to digest. I could handle a diagnosis of arthritis or diabetes, but depression?

In my mind depression was for weak people and weak Christians who didn’t seem to have enough faith. I argued about the diagnosis with God, my counselor, my pastor and my doctor – all people who were trying to help me. “I am a visible leader, a Pastor’s wife. What will people whisper about me behind closed doors if they know,” I worried. The lies flooded my mind.

However, as my journey through depression continued over the next few years, I discovered that the depression wasn’t just from the losses I had experienced. Nor was it from my physical exhaustion. Rather, in part, it was from deeper issues that had been tucked away for years; issues that God was beginning to bring to the surface.

Depression is complicated

Some of those issues included false expectations and a warped perspective of needing to perform in order to be lovable. Those lies were actually destroying me and had plunged my spiritual and emotional being into the dark hole of depression. I started to learn that performance had a stronghold in my heart, life and ministry that God in his faithfulness desired to root out of me. Through my counselor I realized that the depression I was experiencing was a symptom of something deeper, something that I needed to face in order to be a whole person again.

My good friend and counselor helped me when she used this illustration: If I had a broken leg, would I lie on the sofa, not tell anyone and just hope it would heal? No! I would go to the doctor immediately to get treatment. The same must be true for depression. A person often needs professional, spiritual and medical help to overcome their extreme feelings of despair and hopelessness. Through professional help, they will be able to explore the root of what is causing the depression so they can once again lead a life of joy and fulfillment!

Depression and the church

Depression is on the rise in our culture and the church is no exception. As God has given me the privilege to minister to women across the country, I have found it to be alarming just how many women inside the church are battling chronic depression. Unfortunately, the church in previous years hasn’t done a very good job at encouraging and supporting those who suffer from depression. There are probably as many reasons for this as there are complications and symptoms of depression.

As Christians we so often struggle alone because of the fear of rejection, failure or being told, “If your faith was stronger, you wouldn’t be depressed.” (Believe it or not, similar statements were said to me!) I however, was blessed mostly to have a body of believers who came around and supported me. I thank God that the church is beginning to acknowledge that depression is an actual illness, rather then seeing it as a sign of weakness or spiritual failure.

The road to wholeness was a rigorous journey for me, but God gently reminded me over and over again that “this too shall pass.” In all, I suffered five dark years of clinical depression. Today, I look back on that season of my life and thank God for the healing and His faithfulness even in the midst of the darkness.

If you are dealing with depression, there is help available. Talk to your pastor about finding a counselor in your area.  See you doctor.  Ask for prayer.  If you would like to talk to someone privately, use this form to request a mentor and someone will contact you.

Are you depressed? Do you feel broken by life? Take our free life lesson called “Built By Brokenness” and start on the path to healing.

How do you gain victory over depression?

This does not replace speaking to your doctor about any medical concerns you might have about depression but some people have found the following steps helpful in dealing with  depression.

• Recognize that God is with you and has always been with you.
• Realize that He has a plan for your life.
• Relinquish control of your life to God.
• Replace negative thoughts with positive and truthful thoughts.
• Rely on God because He is at work in your life.

In order to take these steps, you will need the power that only the Holy Spirit can give.  God wants to be our leverage in living, empowering us to feel better about ourselves, more excited about our future, more grateful for those we love and more enthusiastic about our faith.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has given you His Holy Spirit to help you live life according to His perfect plan. Why not pray this simple prayer and by faith invite Him to fill you with His Spirit:

Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rosemary is a fragrant perennial shrub, and we can use its spicy leaves dried or fresh to flavor chicken, turkey, veal, or lamb.  I add this member of the mint family to the chicken and beef stews I make.  Its light blue flowers bloom in the spring.

In old-fashioned folk language, “rosemary” means remembrance.  Remembrance!  If we remember the right things, what blessing such remembrances can bring!

* “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).  How can we do that when we’re feeling low, depressed, troubled?  Philippians 4:6-8 gives us the answers, and these answers have never failed me.   It’s hard to rejoice in the Lord when trouble hits, and sometimes I’ve had to force myself to do it.  But as I sing and praise the Lord, God delivers!

* “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6) says, “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  As we thank our Lord for past mercies and deliverance, our faith is restored, which is the greatest need we have in times of trouble.  After thanking and praising the Lord, I take whatever is troubling my heart and hold that person or thing up in my cupped hand to God.  “Take this, Lord,” I say, yielding it to Him, with all the care it (or he/she) has caused.  And He takes it–really!  And when He does, He actually changes my outlook and attitudes.  Trusting Him, I experience relief.  So can you.

* “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).  Whenever I remember some of the many times Philippians 4:6 and 7 have worked for me and lifted me up, I can’t help but praise the Lord!  And if they have done that for me, I know they can do that for you, too!

* “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).  Every way of thinking on this list is worth remembering!  Our natural tendency is to dwell on negative things contrary to God’s Word.  Ephesians 4:30 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, who gives us peace and joy.  Verse 31 cautions, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”  These attitudes and actions make us ill.  Remember this: God’s remedies heal!

Thank you Father God for reminding me today of Your ways. Help me to rejoice in You, to thank You and to give you all that troubles me today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Questions: What are you anxious about today? Cup your hands and lift it to the Lord right now. What can you thank Him for right now?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Gardening with a Two-Year Old, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

Today, more people are experiencing hardship and loss than ever before in their lifetime.   Everywhere I look and everything I hear speaks of desperation.  It is a cry that is coming from tremendous loss.  Some are experiencing great financial loss; others are losing their jobs, families, friendships and health.

God has been reminding me recently of His Sovereignty and the promise in His Word, which so clearly and tenderly speaks to us that He is present with us in our very personal situations.  What a promise! If you feel alone in your circumstances know that you’re not.  God is with you, and with such gentleness, yet firm assurance, He beckons you to a greater life where there is no fear and there is no anxiousness, but only rest in Him.

Isaiah 43:2 says: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  Even when you walk through fire, and when the waters overwhelm you, I am there.”

Know that God is walking with you during not only the sweet times in you life, but especially during the difficult times.  David, when running from King Saul for his life, cried out to God and declared that He was setting His face like a flint before Him.   He knew that He must keep his eyes, not on his circumstance, but like a rock, immovable upon God and God alone to get through his many years of trials.

Even Joseph, when sold into slavery and then imprisoned for no wrong doing, remained faithful to God and eventually named his second child Ephraim meaning, “God prospered me in the land of my affliction.”

God often uses the times in our lives where everything seems to be going wrong around us, to get us to the very place that He intends for us.

Remember Romans 8:31, which says; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

I once heard a quote that goes like this:  “If you look inward, you get depressed.  If you look outward you get stressed.  If you look upward, you get refreshed”.

Let’s look upward together!  Let’s set our face like rocks before God.  He is faithful and just to perform His promises and His Word over our lives.

Heavenly Father, I love You and thank you for reminding me of Your Sovereign hand over my life and that You are with me in everything that I am going through.  Thank You that I can cling to You, knowing that You are in control and that You are with me every step of the way in my circumstances.  I cling to Your promises and open my heart to fully trusting in You as I continue to feed on your faithfulness.  Amen.

Questions: How do you handle the stresses in your life? How can one start to take one’s eyes off their difficult circumstances and turn them to the Lord? What are some steps that you need to take to start to trust God fully for your circumstances?

About the Author Brigitte Straub

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, How to Get the Most from your Mentors, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

“What’s happened to Jennifer?” exclaimed Helen.  “I haven’t seen her at church lately! She was so ‘on fire’ for the Lord last month.  She put the rest of us to shame.”

“Well, the last time I saw her, she seemed depressed about something. Maybe we should call and tell her that she’s missed.”

Depression, undependability, backsliding–are these problems in your life? In this hectic world we live in today, it’s understandable. Work loads, family challenges, emotional upheavals take their toll on our emotions. How can we deal with them in a practical way? What can we do to rise above our moods?

God gives us some answers. Love God With All Your Heart.

Jesus said this was the first and greatest commandment. But let’s face it: who is at the center of most of our thinking? Guessing game’s over – we are, and to be specific, “I am”. But for most of us, our thoughts and concerns center on our work, our families, our desires, our own aims and ourselves. So do we really love God with all our hearts?

The heart is the seat of our emotions. If our hearts are filled with anger, fear, and hatred then that will eventually control us. Yet if they are filled with the Lord, He will help us control those emotions.

We have a powerful enemy: Satan. Peter said that Satan prowls around like a hungry lion, looking for some victim to devour. (l Peter 5:8).

When you are being eaten up by emotions that pull you down, look to God’s word for help.

Ephesians 6:11-12 urges us to put on God’s armor: The belt of truth; the breastplate of moral rectitude; feet shod with the good news of peace with God; the shield of faith; the helmet of salvation; the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. Do you have all of these firmly in place? We are also urged to pray in the Spirit on all occasions.

Sound like a tough assignment? Well, do you want to be a slave to your emotions? Wouldn’t it be far better to have God in control of your life?

The same humble mind Christ Jesus had on earth (Philippians 2:5) is what He calls us to have. He who was God lowered Himself to become a man and suffered and died for our sins, to save us. (That’s the gospel of peace with God!)

The humble mind puts others before itself. This is a key to coming through life with flying colors. Much of the depression and distress we may feel springs from self-consciousness and self-interest. If we are thinking of God and others, we won’t have time to be overly concerned with ourselves.

Lord God, Help me to have victory over my changing moods as I put these truths into practice through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Questions: Are you a slave to your emotions?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, The Priority of Prayer, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

While a prisoner in Rome, Paul wrote the Philippians a letter that sounds like a shout of victory. Its theme is joy and rejoicing in the Lord.

Paul knew the secret of victory over anxiety and depression. After telling the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always, he advised them not to worry about anything, but to bring everything in prayer to the Lord with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). Thus, instead of being worried and depressed, the Christian would have God’s peace (4:7).

Paul was well acquainted with victory through rejoicing in the Lord. When he and Silas were evangelizing in Philippi, they were arrested, beaten, and imprisoned.

In chains in the rat-infested dungeon, they prayed and sang praises to the Lord. Suddenly an earthquake shook the prison’s foundations. The doors flew open; the prisoners were loosed from their shackles.

Similarly, we are loosed from the shackles of depression, anxiety, fears, and worries as we pray and rejoice in the Lord. For how can the flesh keep us down when we are up in the Spirit?

If you rejoice in the Lord every morning, think what a difference it would make in your life. Practice this when you awaken. Tell the Lord you love Him. Then thank and praise Him for every blessing you can think of. Thank Him for who He is.  Rejoicing in the Lord will soon be a habit.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say I again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Heavenly Father,
When rejoicing feels foreign in my circumstances I ask that Your Holy Spirit would remind me to choose thankfulness. Help me to focus on who You are and on Your strength and might and wisdom that is available to me. Today I WILL rejoice in You, my God and my Savior. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Questions: What difficult circumstances are keeping you from rejoicing in the Lord today?  How can you turn from feeling downhearted to rejoicing even though the circumstances have not changed?

About the Author Dr Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, The Package, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog