Hope for the Depressed Woman: Week 5 – Running Away Sounds Divine
Welcome to Week 5 of Hope for the Depressed Woman. If you missed the first few posts of this series you can view them here – Week 1: Slow Down, Week 2: Breaking the Silence, Week 3: Medication or Meditation and Week 4: Triggers and Tips for Success. Throughout this series I am sharing my personal experience with depression and the things I learned along the way. I don’t share this to glorify myself or to give medical or physical advice (I’m not a doctor or counselor), but I share from a deep place of my heart that once ached with feelings that I could not understand. God has freed me from depression and I hope sharing my personal experience will encourage you if you have struggled in this area of life.
WEEK 5: RUNNING AWAY SOUNDS DIVINE
We have all been there wishing we could escape the issue at hand. Running away from problems, pressure and pain sometimes makes sense in our foggy minds. We think if we could get away from the mess of our lives then we would be able to relax and feel relief. Difficult situations in life can lead us into depression and leave us in a dark place with the desire to run.
I have tried to run before. I have pushed down feelings and buried grief until I physically could no longer hold the mounting pressure that seemed to burst forth from my heart. I wanted so badly to be okay. I thought if I could just get through one more day without facing my reality, then I would be able to move on.
I was trapped and eventually came face to face with myself. I looked deep in the mirror and saw a woman who was hurting and full of pain, but so broken and devastated that there was no tangible answer to all of the feelings emerging at once. They were too complex, too complicated and too difficult to understand.
The day I admitted I needed help, I slowly began to realize there was hope beyond my messed up thought pattern, feelings and pain. My heart ached every day and I didn’t know how to make it stop. I then felt guilty for feeling so down. Somewhere in my life I had convinced myself that pain and heartache equalled a person far away from God and His perfect will.
When I realized that God was not mad at me or disappointed at my heartache, I was able to release control and invite God into the hurting places of my heart and mind. This is when healing began.
When I finally stopped running and faced the pain, pressures and problems with God’s help, I began to realize God was bigger than the messiness of my life. I was not miraculously healed overnight and delivered from every part of me that ached, but God set me on the path of hope. God gave me hope that I was going to find peace, and I did. I found peace.
If you are running, pressing down everything real in your life, you will never reach your destination. Reality will follow you. It’s not about escaping, it’s about learning to rest in the restless seasons of life. We all have them. Some look darker and last longer than others. Running will only complicate and exaggerate an already complex situation.
If you need to run, set your eyes on one goal: JESUS.
Run to Him.
Talk to Him.
Cry to Him.
Tell Him all about it.
He hears, He sees, and He knows the deepest ache and cry of your heart. Don’t press it down any longer. God loves you and wants you to know it.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39(NASB)
God won’t stamp “depressed” on your permanent record, but He will give you a constant prescription of peace and love from the Holy Spirit. That’s where hope is found. (See Week 3 for Micah’s post on Meditation or Medication.)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13(NASB)
If you are struggling to find and maintain peace in your life, please reach out for help. We all face tough problems and difficult circumstances. You are not alone.
If you have overcome a difficult season of life, I would love to hear about it! Please share your story in the comments below!
You never know whose life you will impact by passing these simple words of HOPE along – Share this with someone you love!
Love & Blessings,
Micah
[mailmunch-form id=”106334″]