The Cure for Unhappiness, Depression and Worry
Lately, God has been nagging me with the same Scripture over and over and over again.
If I stress out, He reminds me of it.
If I start worrying about anything, He reminds me of it.
If I wallow in self pity, He reminds me of it.
If I begin to feel sad, angry or any emotion that is not happy, peaceful and content–He reminds me of it.
I am now convinced that it really is a message from the Lord that is quite powerful for all of His children. I believe it is the CURE for unhappiness, depression, worry…and many mentally developed issues we have.
Before I go further: I am not telling you to go against a doctor’s advice, stop taking medication, or anything like that…That is between you, your doctor and God. I AM saying that I am convinced that if we would take God at His Word; we may find ourselves on less pills, paying less psychiatric bills, and feeling less crappy.
What is this so-called “cure”, you ask??
Well, it is in God’s Word:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me. Then the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT)
I am certain most of you have heard this Scripture MANY times in your Christian life. I know I have. However, it was only recently that it has come alive for me. Have I mastered it? No. BUT… I am in training and God is faithful in His reminding me of the cure for my emotional issues.
You see, most of our “issues” stem from our emotions. If we could step back and see ourselves the way God does, we would be amazed. If we would just believe and DO what God’s Word says, we would BE happier, joy-filled and worry free!
The question of the hour is: How do I apply it??
First, we must recognize WHERE it all begins–the mind.
Then, we can take steps to gain control over our minds and emotions.
3 Steps for Implementing the Cure:
1. Be careful what you are thinking about. Hold EVERY thought captive under the authority of Jesus Christ. Make Philippians 4:6-9 your life verse. Take charge of your thoughts! These Scriptures are very clear. Pray about EVERYTHING, thank God for all He has done and will do. Think on GOOD things. Think about what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise–and then KEEP ON doing it! (ref. Colossians 3:2, Romans 12:2)
2. Pay attention to what/who you are listening to. What we hear is extremely significant. The Word tells us that faith comes by HEARING. The opposite is true as well. Nothing is “just a____”. It is not just a song, just a movie, etc. What we hear DOES matter and DOES affect us. God’s Word says so. That’s all the proof I need. (ref. Romans 10:17, James 1:22) – read the link above too, for further study on the topic of “faith comes by hearing”.
3. Watch what you say. Life and death our at the tip of our tongues. Letting our tongues run amok will destroy anything we are trying to do as a wife, Mother, and Christian woman. It is very important that we be very careful and choose our words with wisdom. Start thinking BEFORE you speak. REPLACE bad thoughts with what is good, worthy of praise and honorable. After thinking/speaking Life for a while, you will not only begin to believe the Truth, you will KNOW the Truth, and the Truth WILL set you free! (ref. Proverbs 18:21, James 3:3-8, Proverbs 29:11, Philippians 4:8)
The bottom line is to get more of God’s Word in you and less of the world’s influence.
Replace negative thinking with Truth. Pray, pray, pray–repeat.
And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. – Colossians 3:2 (amp)
For further study: read; Deuteronomy 30:19, Ecclesiastes 7:5 and Jeremiah 5:21. You could also look up words like; mind, renewing, faith, trust, peace, thoughts, tongue, hearing, etc.)
Copyright © Lara Velez, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved
Thanks so much for sharing… just read this today, and even before I scrolled down to read the scripture that God had been speaking to you over and over, I KNEW it was the Philippians 4:6-9! Because it is the EXACT ONE that He wont let me get away from this last few weeks! Today in particular, I was struggling with just being overwhelmed as a wife, mom, school teacher, and assoc. pastor’s wife. I feel sometimes like I’m spread so thin that I cant give 100% in any area. But these are the times that we also learn to be calm thru the storms. I know that God led me to this today, just to remind me YET AGAIN that I am to “worry about NOTHING” ….but pray about EVERYTHING and continue to be thankful.
Thanks again…