"Storm"

When you cannot hear for thunder,

And you can’t avoid the rain,

When the lightning splits asunder,

All that you hoped to gain.

When the storms blows so intently,

You make your fastest run,

And anything but gently,

And louder than a gun.

You see it’s gonna get you,

So you hunker down and hope,

That just somehow it lets you,

Get hold a rescue rope.

You look and there beside you,

Someone has tossed a line,

And way down deep inside you,

It might have come in time.

And sure enough it’s pulling,

Right up and out of harm,

And I can say no bulling,

There is no more alarm.

And who, you ask, gets credit,

For saving your whole life,

It’s like the Bible said it,

His name is Jesus Christ.

O Lord, we give You praises,

Our hearts are filled with love,

Your Spirit always raises,

And lifts to heaven above.

“He lifted me out of the pit of despair…” (Ps. 40:2, NLT)

Depressed? It’s hard to admit and even harder to shake if you feel it. Sometimes it take medicine to find relief. I’m for any help that helps, and believe God gives us such remedies. Can you deal with the underlying reasons you feel this way? Sometimes not without help from a counselor. Again, I believe God uses counseling to help many, many people. So, is that it? What if you still have issues? I would say that God is Someone who cares for the broken-hearted, the downcast, and the hopeless. I believe He will help us when we are depressed, using the means mentioned above, but much more than that. I believe His Spirit throws us a lifeline when we are out of answers, and will pull us out of our despair. I really do, and not because I read it in a book. It’s because of the time I have spent in deep, dark valleys that had me about convinced I’d never get better. But, I did. How? God helped. How? Through people and counseling and sunshine and medicine and His Word and presence in my life. I believe He will help you, too.

Lord, throw us a lifeline. Pull us out of our despair, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Bruce Greene, brucegreeneart.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Bruce, and God bless you.