I've got to do a blog here on depression. There are so many people I know that have this cloud of despair over their eyes that hinders their ability to see the goodness of God in their lives. Watching those close to you walk out such torment is a kind of torment in itself. Because we know that the answer lies in the power of the Holy Spirit, we may attempt to offer this simple remedy in advice that, while true, doesn't begin to address the depth of the issue. To say to a depressed person that all he or she has to do is lay hold of that would be like telling me that all I have to do to get healthier is to bench press 300 lbs ten times a day. The advice is true but physically I'm not in a place where I can accomplish that. People who are facing depression aren't in a place where they have the will to lay hold of the answer on their own.

The power of prayer is the power of agreement and many people are not in a place to come into agreement with the Word of God. Offense toward God is a cancer in the soul. I got a picture of the enemy's tactic here in that every word that is spoken that can bring life, becomes twisted where, in the mind of one in depression, it brings death. You may have come to a place where the enemy has brought you into agreement and through agreement the enemy is empowered in your thoughts. Lies that say you've failed, that you've missed it (the plan and purpose of God) that you can't face another day, that life is an enemy to you, that death is a friend, that others would be better off without you, that God has turned a blind eye toward your self destruction, that everything is just too hard. Satan will do to you the same thing he did to Adam and Eve. He'll talk and talk until you agree or rebuke him.

What happens when you fill yourself with the promises of God and refuse to believe the lies of the enemy? The enemy will exploit every channel he can to attempt to bring you to a place of discouragement, doubt, unbelief, fear, and torment. If he can't bring that directly to you he will find the one closest to you and pour it on to bring you into a place of fatigue, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If he can drain your capacity to focus on the word of the Lord, care for those in your charge, and doubt the goodness of God for you, then he has effectively incapacitated your ability to release the anointing within you that is meant to affect the world around you. He can't kill you so he will try to stop you from advancing. What's happened then? The enemy has found the soil of agreement and the fruit of this is confusion for others for when good people believe evil things, the product is darkness disguised as light.

If this is what you are experiencing, then I commit to stand with you in prayer that together we will maintain focus on the Word of the Lord, care for those in our charge, and never doubt the goodness of God. I have cut off two things from my life forever that have helped me stay insulated and effective. I will never blame God, and I will never allow guilt and shame to infect me. Those two things have become my filter for discerning the truth from the lies of the enemy. Never blame God and never allow guilt and shame to have a place in your heart.

Standing firm to see His Kingdom come.