Matt Hagee - Anti-Depressants
Last week, we considered what the Bible has to say about the cause of depression. Proverbs 12:25, it very clearly says that "Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word". Somebody say, "A good word". Not every word is good. But when you receive a good word from God's word, it drives depression out. "A good word makes it glad". God's word is the cure that he has prescribed for each and every one us. It doesn't matter what your need is. God's word can cure it. God's word doesn't treat symptoms. God's word overcomes the problem. The abundant life that Christ wants to give to every person who asks for it is the kind of life that not only fills up every deficiency, but it lifts the heaviness of depression off of you.
But how do you apply it? Have you ever gotten a prescription, and the pharmacist says, "I need to give you some instructions about when and how to use that medication"? Oh, I guess y'all are that essential oils crowd. Y'all don't do none of these medications thing. Well, Jesus gives the prescription. "These words I have spoken to you... That your joy may be full". And Paul operates in Philippians somewhat like the pharmacist who says, "Here's exactly how you apply it". He says that there's an issue with anxiety and your contact to the source of power.
Because connection with Christ is how you receive the power to overcome depression. So Paul says, "Be anxious for nothing". Say that with me. "Be anxious for nothing". Now Paul was not speaking about the light things of life that you don't need to worry about like where are we going to have lunch and is the preacher going to be done on time. Paul, when he says, "Be anxious for nothing," he means it doesn't matter what's going on in the world around you, don't let it bother you, because you have a source that you're connected to that's stronger than anything you'll ever face.
Now in Proverbs 12, last week, the word "Anxiety" literally meant heaviness. It was like a burden that you were carrying that caused a man to stoop over whenever that anxiety is in your heart. In this utilization, the word "Anxious" literally means to be divided in your thinking. It means that you have allowed concern and worry to come into your mind and into your heart, and now you're confused. It means to be separated. Now one of the things that I noticed as I read research papers on how many people were dealing with depression in the world today, one of the common symptoms that they all described as a feeling they carry is that they're separated. They feel disconnected.
Even in a crowd filled with people who know them and love them, when you're depressed, you don't feel like you have anyone that you can talk to, and that you're all alone. It's not the circumstances and the surroundings on the outside. It's the thing that's dividing you on the inside. They've allowed concern to make them anxious. They've allowed worry and fear to flood their heart and their mind. And now they're feeling as though they're not connected to the reality of the world that they live in.
What you need to know is it doesn't matter what's going on around you. You still have a God who sits upon the throne and holds this earth in the palm of his hands. He still has the keys to death, hell and the grave. And he still has given you the victory through Jesus Christ, your Savior. You're never disconnected from his love, because he said, "I will be with you always". You're never disconnected from his grace, because where sin did abound, grace did that much more abound. You're never disconnected from his mercy, because his mercies are renewed every morning. Don't let the world that we live in steal the joy of the Lord that's inside you. But remember what Nehemiah said. "The joy of the Lord is my strength". Give the Lord a handclap of praise.
When you're anxious, you feel disconnected and divided. And this disconnection creates frustration. And this frustration only adds to the intensity of the depression, which is why Paul said, "Be anxious for", what? "Nothing". Now you can say, "Ah, that's easy for you to say". I didn't say it. Paul did. John 15, Jesus very clearly speaks with his disciples. And in this section of scripture, he's telling them that they are required to produce fruit: that growth is what God requires. And he tells them that the only way that this fruit can be produced is if you do one thing. Six different times in several verses does he mention this, and it comes in the word "Abide". Say that word with me. Abide.
When you read John 15, start at verse 4. "Abide in me, and I in you. Because a branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me". Verse 5, "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit". Verse 6, "If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out". Verse 7, "If you abide in me, my word abides in you, and you'll ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you". That means that people who abide have the opportunity to get their prayers answered. Anybody want a prayer answered? Verse 9, "Abide in my love". Verse 10, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love". Abide, abide, abide, abide, abide, abide, abide. How many of you think there's a theme going on here?
Now what you need to understand about this word "Abide" is it is very intentional in its utilization. The word "Abide" does not mean drop by and say hi. The word "Abide" means to be connected to, to settle upon, and to rest in. What Jesus is saying is, "I want you to get so close to me that people can't tell where I stop and you start". Have you ever gone to visit somebody, and they welcomed you into their home, and they were very gracious, and they offered you a refreshment, and then they said something they really don't mean? They said, "Make yourself at", what? They don't mean that. It might sound sincere, but it ain't true. Because if you went into their house and you kicked off your shoes like you kick them off at your house, and you sat in the big chair, everybody knows about the big chair, right?
And you took their remote, yeah. But if you did all that, they would never invite you back. But the truth is they invited you to do it when they said, "Make yourself at home". They didn't want you to abide. They just wanted you to drop by. But Jesus, what he's telling his disciples here is, "I want you to feel so comfortable in my presence, that the times in your life when you're not comfortable, it's because my presence isn't there". You see the problem with the church, and one of the reasons why we're struggling with this issue of anxiety and depression and mental illness is because we spend most of our time focusing and abiding in what concerns us, and worrying about things we can't control. And then we drop by and we visit and see Jesus on Sunday, but we don't stay with him Monday through Friday.
Look at what he told Joshua in Joshua 1:8. "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth". That means that you're going to speak my word. You can't say it if you don't know it. And the only way to know it is to read it. Then he says, "You'll meditate upon it day and night". He's saying this is what you're going to think about, this is how you're going to come to your conclusions and your decisions. You're going to let the truth and the principles of God's word drive you. And then he says you're going to observe to do all that is written. So he said you're going to read it, you're going to speak it, you're going to think it, and you're going to do it.
And what would happen for Joshua? "For then will I make your way prosperous, and then will you have good success". Some people want to know, "Why am I always struggling? Why am I always working so hard? Why am I never getting ahead"? Well, are you speaking the word? Are you thinking the word? Are you doing the word? Or is the word collecting dust, and you're out struggling on your own? This is why Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing". This is not just an exclusive conversation God had with Joshua.
Go read Psalm 1. It says, "The individual who delights in the law, that he would meditate on it day and night. And he would be like a tree that was planted by rivers of living water. And it would bring forth its fruit in its season, its leaf would not wither: and whatever he does shall prosper". How you're connected determines your power. You cannot drop by and say hi to Jesus on Sunday and think that gives you enough power to get through Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. And then TxDOT sends out that e-mail that says, "We're closing down 1604". You can't do it. You've got to abide. Rest in him. Settle in him. Stand with him. Walk with him. Talk with him. Think about him. Be with him. Why? Because the connection is where the power comes from.
When I was a child in our home, we all had different responsibilities that we needed to do to contribute. And so one of the things that I was taught to do was vacuum, and I was good at it. I'd walk into a room, I was. I'll prove it to you. I vacuumed the music room where that big piano sat. Why do you think that piano never got chipped up? Because I was good at vacuuming. There are witnesses to attest to this. I'd walk into a room with a plan. I knew what corner I had to start in, so I could get those lines nice and straight, you know where they're not, you know the lines I'm talking about. And I'd work from one side to the other, and then take a half step back, and then work back the other direction until I got all the way to the part of the room that I had started in, so that everything would be just like it needed to be. And if there was anything that would make you want to lose your salvation, it was somebody putting a footprint in your freshly-vacuumed floor.
Now in the house that I grew up in, there was always this one room that the vacuum that we had didn't have enough cord to start and stop in the same room. You know what I'm talking about? You'd have to start on this wall, and you could only vacuum so far. And then you'd have to come over and take the cord out and go over to the other wall, and start to vacuum another. And it would mess up the whole thing, because you're lines weren't right and everything was crooked, just, it was the room with piano in it, by the way. And what I used to do in that room is I would always see how far I could go from that plug before it would go out. And I'd get all the way at the end of the cord, and I'm sitting there going... But if I went one inch farther... Anybody been there?
And there's a lot of God's kids that are doing this on a daily basis. They want to see how far away from Jesus they can get and still feel the power. The problem with this kind of living is that the farther you get, the less it takes to disconnect you. When you're close, you can go through some stuff, because you've got a whole lot of cord to work with. But when you're way out here on the end of your cord, all it takes is just a little bit of misdirection, and you can be moving right along. Me and Jesus got our own thing going. And just that fast, his power, his presence, his peace, his joy is gone. This is why staying connected, being in his presence, abiding with him is so important. But one of the problems that you face is that you create these disconnections by what I call "Overthinking".
Now I'm not talking about you, but maybe there's some people you know. Do you know anyone who is a chronic overthinker? Y'all are thinking about raising your hands right now. Do I do it? Do I not do it? If I do it, will people say something about me? Are they going to judge me? I mean just be spontaneous. Anybody overthink? Okay. Thank God. And I can prove that overthinking causes depression, because I don't think that I've ever had a conversation with somebody who shows up to work and says, "I lost so much sleep last night thinking about how happy I am. I just couldn't get, uh, one moment's rest because I'm so blessed. I stayed up staring at the ceiling, thinking the joy of the Lord is my strength. Wow".
That's not how it works. Because when your mind is connected to God's joy, and God's peace, and God's provision, and God's promise, you know what you do? You could sleep in a war zone. But when you're overthinking, you're laying in bed and you're thinking to yourself about all of the conversations and interactions and things that you should have done that you didn't do, and what you should have said that you didn't say, and how they treated you and shouldn't have treated you, and if they really felt like that, then they wouldn't act like this, and why did they, and when did they, and how could they, and how dare they. And then all of a sudden, the alarm clock goes off, and you wake up tired. Why? Because you've been working when you should have been resting.
Your thinking has not only robbed you of sleep, but it's caused mental and emotional fatigue that eventually has physical manifestations and emotional frustration. And you wonder why you feel the way you feel. It's because you're holding onto things that God said let go of. This is why Paul's answer is, "But in everything". "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving". This is how you take the medicine, ladies and gentlemen, "With thanksgiving". Your thanksgiving is the key that unlocks the gates of heaven and allows you into God's presence. This is why David said, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise".
Don't go knock on heaven's door with a long list of things you want to complain about. God already knows what you're dealing with. God knew about it before you ever found out about it. He knows how to get you through it. He knows when you're coming out of it. He knows where everything that you're ever going to require can be found and when you'll receive it. So whenever you go into his presence, whenever anxiety shows up, whenever concern plagues your mind, you lift your hands, and you say:
God, I thank you. I thank you that you've never failed me before, and you're not going to fail me now. I thank you that in your sovereignty, you knew about this. And in your grace, you're going to give me the strength to sustain myself, because your grace is sufficient for me. You promised I wouldn't fight this alone, because you'd never leave me nor would you forsake me. You promised you'd defend me, because your name is the name that is above every name. You are a strong tower. You are a mighty fortress. You will protect me. You will assign your angels to go before me and behind me. You will provide for me, because you said you'd put a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You'd guide me like a gentle shepherd. You'd keep me like a loving father. So I thank you that there's nothing in this world that can hold me down. Because you said, "All things work together for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purposes". Today I thank you, Lord, because this is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be made glad in it! (Give the Lord a handclap of praise!)
How does that contact become a part of your life? I say this in closing. It comes through love. Go read John 15. Jesus is talking about abiding. But everything that he speaks to his disciples about, he says, I'm giving it to you because I love you. And last week, we ended with "This is my commandment that you love", you what? "Love one another". Now you have to understand something about this love. It's a self-sacrificing love. We don't know much about that kind of love in this world today, because we have such a selfish society. And we don't understand or value this word "Love," because we use it for all kinds of things. But if you love somebody because of what they do for you, you are selfish. You only like them because of how they take care of you.
That's why people go into a restaurant and say, "Oh, I love that waiter". No, you don't. You like their service. You like the fact that they don't let your tea glass get empty, and that they know what your regular order is. But whenever it comes time for your family to gather or things in your world to be done, you don't think about the waiter. You don't care about what the waiter cares about. As a matter of fact, if that waiter were to open up his life and share it with you, you'd be like, "Dude, I'm just here for the enchiladas. Alright". Because he's there to serve you and take care of you. You might give him a big tip at the end of the meal, but you really don't love that waiter. You just like his service.
And one of the reasons that God's kids are struggling with this anxiety thing is because they love the service that Jesus provides, but they don't serve the Savior who gave them everything. They stop by and they see Jesus on Sunday, and they treat him like a waiter who's supposed to go get whatever they want in heavenly places. And if he does it, they'll give him a tip. That's not the kind of love that Jesus is talking about. He's saying, I don't want you to love me like you have to. I want you to love me like you want to. I want you to love me in such a way that you can't stop.
This is the thing I'm trying to impress upon you. That's the way Jesus wants you to love him, with so much passion, so much love that you don't mind doing anything he asks whenever he asks, the way that he asks, because he's worth it. When you love Jesus like that and he's abiding in you, when anxiety shows up, you start to give God thanks and praise. And I promise you depression, doubt, worry, fear, concern has no place in your life, because the fullness of God's joy is what has you saturated. Give the Lord a handclap of praise.
Would you stand in the house of the Lord? I want to close this service this way. Paul said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication, and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God". So right where you are, I want you to practice that before we leave this service. I want you to lift your hands and just start to thank the Lord for all that he has done, for all that he is doing, and for all that his word has promised that he will perform. Thank him for being your provider. Thank him for being your protector. Thank him for being the God who knows all, who sees all, and can do all. Thank him for being the one who created heaven and earth.
And in his grace, he gave you the opportunity to enjoy this day. Thank him for his mercy that's renewed every morning. You're not here today working on yesterday's mercy. He gave you brand-new mercy when you got out of bed today. Thank him that he has a plan for you, and that the plan is a perfect one. Thank him that in the palm of his hands, not only does he hold your life, but the mountains are in a scale, and the hills are in a balance. And there's nothing on this earth that is outside of his providential power and his sovereign will. And now that you've thanked the Lord, I want you to lay out your requests before him. Whatever you're anxious about, whatever you're worried about, whatever you're concerned with, whatever you lie up at night overthinking about, just say:
God, I'm leaving this in this sanctuary today. I'm not going to carry it out of here. I brought it in here, but it's yours now. I'm asking you to move a mountain in my business. I'm asking you to lift this burden off of my shoulders. I'm asking you to break this yoke of oppression. I'm asking you to heal my body. I'm asking you to touch my family. I'm asking you to restore a broken relationship.
Whatever it happens to be, God already knows about it. But since you've opened the door with thanksgiving, I want you to fill in the blank by saying:
God, I believe that you can provide it, because your word has promised that you can do all things.
And now that you've opened the door with thanksgiving and you've left that request there before the Lord, just say:
Jesus, today I'm not going to carry this anymore. I ask you to take it from me, so that your joy would be my strength, and that my joy would be full, in Jesus' name. Amen.