Friday, November 29, 2013

High-Stress Holiday - Taking the Easy Way Out


This is the time of year when stress levels run extremely high. It's a time when family relationships teeter on the brink of disaster and loneliness is the number one killer. I'd like to talk about that last one.

This past weekend my sister tried to kill herself...again. Taking large amounts of Vicodin severely damaged her liver and almost ended her life. She did this once three years ago.

What brings a person to that ledge and entices them to look over? Is it all an emotional decision or can some of it be attributed to circumstances or choice? Does the person in that state of mind have a clue of the ripple effect of their choice? If I only had all the answers I could help my sister. I could recommend she read this book or go see this other psychologist who seems to know what they're talking about. But when I reflect on these possibilities, I honestly don't think either is the answer.

What keeps me from losing my mind and making really terrible decisions is a close relationship with a loving, understanding Father in heaven. I'm not being clich矇 about this at all. I've sat many hours listening to a psychologist try to talk my sister down from this latest episode and I'm concerned she's being fed the wrong information. Our circumstances don't cause us to lose touch with reality and make bad choices. When we believe the lies that Satan is trying to feed us and when we do not have a relationship with the One who has all the answers, we lose sight of what is really important in life! That's how we really go off the deep end.

We need to focus on the One who created us and cares for us more than an identical twin sibling or even our parents. He is the living, never sleeping, ever-present God of creation who knows us inside and out and loves us with an undying love that is unmatched. He's ALL these things!

If you're being attacked by the demons of depression right now, shut down your computer, get down on your knees, and get back in touch with the Father of Light, God himself. Read His Word with a passion like a thirsty camel. Drink it in! Seek Him! Stop believing all that Satan wants you to believe. God CAN and DOES change lives if they seek Him!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

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