Oh No! He thought it was over, however, it’s happening again! But why now? It’s been several months since he last experienced this, but this time it’s different. More intense!
The young 20-year-old is in his upstairs bedroom when the thought of loneliness enters his mind. He had experienced these feelings before, but never like this. Depression has returned!
He’s lying in his bed. A feeling of sadness descends upon him like a dense fog covering a city. He places himself in a tight ball as the feeling of sadness causes him to drift deeper and deeper into depression.
Suddenly, the depression turns from sadness into something else. He feels a presence that wraps itself around him as a python wraps itself tightly around its prey. With the passing of every moment, the grip gets tighter and tighter making it difficult to breathe.
The young man feels like his very life is being squeezed out of him, and he doesn’t know how to make it stop.
But GOD!!!!
As the pressure got so intense that the young man felt he was going to pass out when he heard a voice in his spirit. He knew the voice wasn’t audible for his ears to hear, but the voice spoke directly to his spirit.
“I DON’T WANT YOU DEPRESSED ANYMORE!”
With those words, immediately, the presence lifted off the young man like someone pulled a bedsheet off him. The man was instantly delivered and set free from depression! Never to return.
I would love to tell you that I read that story in an article, but the truth is, I’m very familiar with the story because the young man was me. Yes, many years ago I dealt with depression, and the Lord Jesus delivered me. Praise GOD!
Depression is on the rise over the last few years throughout the world. But it has definitely increased in the United States among both adults and adolescents.
3.2 million adolescents between the age of 12 to 17 in the US, had a least one major depressive episode in their lives. Female adolescents lead the trend at 20%, with males at 6.8%. In all, that’s 13% of adolescents that have experienced depression.
Depression does not only affect the mood of the person going through it, but it also causes many health problems. Depression can cause the following: Disturbances in sleep, sickness, disease, substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, violence, or death. Last year, over 40,000 Americans took their own lives by suicide.
Why, in one of the greatest countries on earth, are people so unhappy?
Disclaimer: Kingdom Basics or I, do not give medical advice. For medical advice, please seek information from a medical professional.
With that out of the way. Let me discuss what happened to me, and what caused my depression.
In my situation, depression did not happen overnight. Without getting into the particulars, the stages were: I got offended about something that happen to me. Then, I got into unforgiveness. Next, that unforgiveness turned into hate. Since hate is the devil’s playground, hate turned into demonic oppression, which leads to depression.
Note that I said demonic oppression, not possession. Let’s briefly discuss the differences between the two.
Demonic possession is when a demon is inside of the person, controlling their body’s actions. An example of this is in (Mark 9:17-29 KJV), when a father came to Jesus for help for his son. His son was possessed by a dumb spirit that made him convulse and foam at the mouth. There were other times when the demon would throw him in fire and water for the purpose of killing him. Jesus rebuked the demon, and the demon was cast out of him.
An example of demonic oppression is in (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 KJV), when Paul called it, “A thorn in the flesh”. It was a demonic spirit sent to strike him with persecution. Paul pleaded with GOD three times to cause the demon to leave him alone, but the Lord only said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Meaning, GOD’s grace was enough to handle the demonic spirit.
Paul did not have the demon spirit inside of him. The Holy Spirit lived inside Paul. So, the demon could only affect Paul by attempting to oppress him from without. Unfortunately, for a short while, the demon spirit’s plan worked, until Paul got the word from the Lord. If Paul continued to let the demon attempt to oppress him, chances are he could have experienced the same thing I experienced. But thank GOD, Paul overcame by the grace of GOD.
I wish I could say that I was delivered from oppression by being a great man of faith. No. I was delivered from oppression by the mercy of GOD. GOD had mercy upon me and rebuked the spirit from around me. It was like a bully was picking on me, and my big brother showed up, and the bully ran away. Praise GOD. Regardless of how it happened, I’m thankful that GOD delivered me.
Now, let’s look at the steps one can take to overcome depression.
- If you are offended, forgive whoever offended you. READ Matthew 6:15.
- Fight depression with the word of GOD. READ Matthew 4:1-11.
- Do good for others. READ Galatians 6:9-10.
- Love don’t hate. READ Matthew 5:44-45.
- If you don’t know, ask GOD what opened the door for this attack. READ Mark 11:24.
- Do your purpose. (Do what GOD created you to do). READ Romans 12:6-13.
- Make sure that you are not watching and/or hearing are depressing.
Finally, depression is very detrimental. It is not something to play with. Go to GOD in prayer. HE is our help in our time of need, and the solution.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV).
G. Edward Wyche