Faith Matters Podcast

Come To Me

Stressed, Depressed, Hot Mess devotional on YouversionWhen we hit the depths of depression or crash from an anxiety attack, we can feel lower than a catfish’s belly button. (I know, catfish don’t have belly buttons, but they’re bottom feeders. You get the picture).In Psalm 42, the writer owns his depression. He speaks to his soul and says, “Why are you so dark?” Look at verse five and the first part of verse six: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. Psalm 42:5-6aThe writer is in the pit of despair. He has no hope. His gut’s growling. Yet it’s as if that still, small voice whispers in his ears, “You’re going to be okay. You need to refocus. Your hope can’t be in yourself. It has to be in God.”Our souls were created to be filled with Jesus. He gives us health professionals, medicine, godly men and women, and the Church to lower life’s volume or pick us up when we’re down. But none of those can replace Jesus. That’s why His invitation to us is so important as we deal with anxiety and depression. Look at that invitation:Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30Jesus is always there with you through your highs, lows, wins, and losses in life. He simply invites you to come to Him. He’s not there to shame you, to tell you that you’re less than something because you’re suffering. Instead, He’s there to provide you hope, love, rest, and relief.I picture Him standing there with two nail-pierced arms open wide, lovingly looking at you or me, saying, “I know you’re going through something rough. Come to Me. You’re tired; life has put something on you that you can’t do by yourself; that you didn’t bring on yourself. Only I can give you that true rest that you need. Do you want rest for your soul? I promise you that I’ll give it to you. I’m gentle, loving, patient, and kind. Let me help you.”Will you come to Him?“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Psalms 46:10‭-‬11 ESVCome to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28‭-‬30 ESV

End Of The Rope

Are you at the end of your rope? Tie a knot and hang on.Listen in as Andi and Brian Hale read this devotional and hopefully shed some light on any depression or discouragement you are experiencing. We want to be the light in the darkness.Stressed, Depressed, Hot Mess devotional on YouversionAs someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression, I’ve found the psalms medicinal and life-changing. They’re real. They’re raw. They’re rejuvenating. The beauty of Psalm 42 is how the writer speaks from his gut. He laments as he remembers. Look at verse four:These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.Psalm 42:4At one point, the writer (a member of the group of Temple musicians and assistants known as the Sons of Korah) would not only attend worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, he’d lead the people into the Temple. He experienced incredible joy as he worshiped with fellow believers. Now he was no longer there, and it hurt him to the depths of his spirit. He was, in a word, isolated.When we’re dealing with a season of depression, our natural bent can be to isolate ourselves. When I hit rock bottom in the late spring of 2020, so much was happening. A big issue was that we weren’t meeting as a church. I didn’t realize how much I needed face-to-face time that you simply can’t replicate online. Because of the shelter-in-place order, I couldn’t go into the office.I was isolated.Psalm 42 was a lifeline for me as I “poured out my soul” to God. I hadn’t forgotten God, and I knew He hadn’t forgotten me. I was in despair. I was at the end of my rope. That was the place from which I prayed.A key lesson I learned at that time was this: God does some of His best work when you’re at the end of your rope.God reminded me that my isolation was unhealthy; that I needed to reach out to a couple of trusted friends and ask for their help. As always, my incredible wife, who knows me better than anyone else, ensured I wasn’t isolated.Through prayer, which was simply, “God, help me,” God showed up as I waited on Him.It’s hard to do anything when you’re a stressed, depressed, hot mess, let alone pray. But God hears our prayers in all of our times in our lives, especially in the times of anguish when all we can pray is “help me.”As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalms 42:1‭-‬11 ESVOur soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalms 33:20‭-‬22 ESV

Fight the Beasts

Anxiety and depression are beasts. You can’t eat, you can’t sleep. And that’s what’s going on with the writer of Psalm 42. He says these words:My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”Psalm 42:3The psalmist is on the Salty Tear Diet. As we look at his predicament, it’s safe to say that he’s not resting. A lack of sleep leads to irritability and an inability, over time, to make wise decisions. Beyond that, our stressed/depressed/hot mess of a writer has critics shooting spiritual arrows at him as they attack the one thing he needs most, faith.Anxiety and depression are complex issues because face it, we’re complex human beings. Thanks to a fallen world, there are multiple causes of anxiety and depression. It’s easy to simply say, “It’s a faith issue” or “It’s a sin issue” without really understanding the complexity of it all.We tend to forget how the body and the spirit work hand-in-hand when combating invaders such as anxiety and depression. Let me give you a brief example found in the book of Daniel. You may remember the story but if not, allow me to refresh your memory.Daniel and his teenage friends were exiled to Babylon with the majority of their compatriots. Talk about angst and depression. They’d seen the horrors of war up close and personal. They’d been led as slaves to a foreign land, separated from their families. Then they were thrust immediately into Babylon’s Got Talent.The good news is that they were chosen to be wise men in the king’s palace. The bad news is that life turned their world upside down. They were a stressed, depressed, hot mess trying to figure out this new life.Don’t miss the significance of this. God placed it on Daniel’s heart to resolve to eat a nutritional diet. The result was a major difference between Team Daniel and the rest of the wise men.What you eat can affect your mind and body, which can affect your spirit.Remember, the body and spirit work hand-in-hand. Nutrition and exercise help greatly in crash prevention and eventually crash recovery. Combine those two things with Scripture reading and prayer. Over time, those healthy habits will help you fight the beasts.God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. SelahPsalms 46:1‭-‬3 ESVBut Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my Lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.Daniel 1:8‭-‬18 ESV

Soul Thirst

Stressed, Depressed, Hot Mess devotional on Youversion.Anxiety and depression often walk arm-in-arm down the same street. Most of my issues, I thought, stemmed from anxiety. That is until the late spring of 2020. As an associate pastor of a large church stuck in the COVID lockdown, I struggled in my spirit.Our state was in a shelter-in-place mode, meaning I was isolated.Political turmoil and racial tension rocked our area, meaning I was anxious and depressed over things I couldn’t control.I was receiving a lot of criticism about how our church was dealing with the lockdowns, meaning I felt attacked.I was at the beginning of a head-on collision with a depression episode.Whether your depression is chronic or episodic, you’ve probably been there, too. The wet blanket descends on you, weighing you down. You don’t know where the feeling came from, but it paralyzes you. Not out of fear. Out of despair. You weep over nothing. You overreact or underreact to things going on around you.You feel, in a word, helpless. As a result, unhealthy thoughts travel through your unhealthy mind.The beauty about Jesus is that He meets you right in the midst of your pain and suffering. Sometimes, though, He feels far away. Really. Far. Away.And that’s what’s happening with our psalmist in today’s verses.As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:1-2The psalmist is suffering from soul thirst. He’s crying out to the living God as if he’s lost in a desert that has not a drop of water. Maybe you haven’t been depressed, but we all go through those dry seasons in which we can’t hear God.If that’s you today, give yourself the freedom to simply sit in your soul thirst. Own it. Breathe in the words of this entire psalm. Be raw and real, praying your soul thirst to God.I once heard someone say that God isn’t here to shame us. He’s here to help us. So as you pant for the living water, Jesus, know that He will not leave you nor forsake you. He’s right here with you.** If you have suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Psalms 62:5‭-‬8 ESVIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteromy 31:8 ESV

Freak Not

Stressed, Depressed, Hot Mess devotional on Youversion.I felt the panic attack coming. Tightness in the chest. Check. Inability to focus. Check. Sweaty palms. Check. Heart rate up. Check.For those of you who’ve been there, you know that one of the worst feelings on the planet is when you’re in the midst of a panic attack.I’ve had more than a handful in my life. But, as I’ve dealt with my anxiety, I’ve realized this truth: Scripture has a way of defusing it. When I quote or read Scripture, especially during an attack, God calms me. The demons flee when they hear the Word of God.God’s Word, the Bible, calms the anxious heart and pulls the lowly spirit out of the depths of depression. It does more than that, though.The Bible is God’s voice. When we fall under God’s authority in all areas of our lives, God transforms us in ways unimaginable.God’s got a lot to say about that.Paul writes these words to his young protégé, Timothy, to remind him of the importance of Scripture:All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17Paul wants Timothy to remember that God’s word is life-changing and useful for us to walk closely with Him. Many of us forget that Paul was referring not only to the letters written by his fellow disciples but the books of the Old Testament.From hundreds of prophecies fulfilled to archaeological evidence that science supports, the Bible has stood the test of time. Our job is to read it, study it, wrestle with it, and use it to transform our lives, especially as we deal with being stressed, depressed, or a hot mess.If you suffer from panic attacks, attack back:1) Breathe.2) Remind yourself that you’re not dying, that this is a panic attack.3) Turn on some Christian music that you know has soothed you in the past.4) Pray Scripture promises: Isaiah 41:10; Isaiah 43:1-2; John 8:36; Deuteronomy 31:8.5) Picture that calm place in your mind, and breathe.fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 ESVBut now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:1‭-‬2 ESVSo if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 ESVteaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 ESV

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