Peter Tan-Chi - Victory Over Depression
Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We started a new series last week called Life Detox. Why is it important? Because toxic emotions affect our loved ones. It affects our family members. It affects our relationships. And more importantly, it affects our testimony, our walk with the Lord. Emotions are barometers. They reflect the health of our spiritual life. What do I mean? Spiritual maturity, as I mentioned last week, and emotional maturity go hand in hand. Emotional maturity reflects our relationship with God, reflects our spiritual maturity.
Today, I want to talk about depression, because depression is related to anxiety. Anxiety is connected with fear. What you are afraid of eventually results in anxiety. You begin to think ahead, "This may happen to me. That may happen to me". And if you are not able to control it, it leads to depression. What do we mean by depression? Depression is an emotional feeling of sadness. You're overwhelmed. You feel out of control. You feel helpless. You feel hopeless. You feel like giving up. Eventually, if you're not careful, depression can lead to suicide. The issue of depression, suicide, is very relevant. More people are depressed today because of this lockdown, because of this pandemic.
And I was surprised to learn that from ages 15 to 29 (young people), the second leading cause of death is what? Can you guess? Suicide. How do we overcome depression? How do we gain victory over depression? Some of you may be struggling with depression or anxiety or fear. I pray that this message will help you. If you are not struggling with this kind of problem, this will help you help others to overcome depression. Let us have a quick review based on last Sunday's message on the four Rs to overcome negative toxic emotions. What do we mean by the four Rs?
Number one, you have to realize that we all do struggle with stress, with negative emotions. Admit it. The second R is go to the root problem. You cannot solve your problem unless you go to the root. And number three, you will discover most of our root problem is about the way we think. So you need to recalibrate your mind, recalibrate your thinking. And lastly, wrong thinking many times is because of failure to recognize who God is. A proper view of God is indispensable to be thinking properly.
Today, I want to focus more on the last two: the importance of recalibrating your thinking and the importance of recognizing God. Let's look at 1 Kings 19. This is an amazing story. And there are many lessons we can learn. Let's begin. 1 Kings 19, let me read for you verse 1-3. And the Bible tells us, Elijah became afraid. Who is Jezebel? Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab. If you read the Bible, Jezebel was very wicked. She was the woman behind the evils of King Ahab. She was a great influence, not for good but for evil. In 1 Kings 19, the Bible tells us...
Now, what did Elijah accomplish? You won't believe this. In 1 Kings 18, one of the most amazing spiritual victories was accomplished by Elijah. You have to understand Elijah was a man of faith. Elijah was very courageous. Look at what he did. The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 18, Elijah gathered all the false prophets of Israel in Mount Carmel. Let me read for you. So you have the worship of a false god by the name of Baal and the worship of a lady goddess called Asherah. These were financed by Jezebel. It is a state-sponsored religion. Horrible!
Now, the challenge was this: very important. In other words, Elijah, full of faith and courage, challenged the entire nation of Israel. And he said, "Make up your mind. If Baal is god, worship him. If the Lord is God, worship Him". I believe this is so crucial today. You have to decide for yourself who is the God of your life. Now put yourself in that situation. All the false prophets in one corner, and you have one person Elijah alone. And what was the challenge? He said, "You bring one ox, offer it to your god, but don't put fire underneath the altar. On my part, I will have one ox, I will display it on the altar, but we will not put any fire underneath the altar. And the God who answers our prayer by sending fire from heaven is the God that we will worship".
My goodness! The people like the challenge. Everybody got so excited. Then the Bible tells us the prophets of Baal, they prayed and prayed. They did all the rituals, nothing happened. And then it was time for Elijah to pray. And this is what Elijah did: he prayed to the Lord. His prayer was God-centered. He simply said, "Lord, let the people know that you are the true God. Let the people know so that their hearts will be turned to you". And after praying, the Bible tells us in 1 Kings 18, And you know what happened? The Bible tells us, Elijah told all the people, "Kill all the false prophets". 850 false prophets died.
Do you think that was a tremendous victory for God and for Elijah? Of course. Elijah demonstrated God's power, God vindicated Elijah, God demonstrated his power through fire, and you will think Elijah will be so excited. Yes, he was excited, but notice what happened. Verse 2, What did Jezebel do? Jezebel threatened the life of Elijah. And what did Elijah do? Verse 3, If you look at the map of Israel, you will notice Mount Carmel is in the northern part of Israel, and 100 kilometers downward, you have Beersheba in the Southern part of Israel. Elijah ran from Jezebel. He was so scared.
After running for over a hundred kilometers, the Bible tells us, Elijah became depressed. Elijah became suicidal. He wanted to die. In fact, because he knew the Bible, that he cannot commit suicide, he asked God to just kill him. What does that mean, "I am not better than my fathers"? You know what Elijah is saying? "I am a failure. My ministry is useless". Let me tell you why he felt that way: Elijah was expecting a spiritual revival. Elijah was thinking: with all the demonstration of God's power, King Ahab would have been transformed, Jezebel would have been converted. Those were his expectations. And it did not happen! On the contrary, they threatened his life; and that's why he felt so depressed. He felt like, "I'm a failure Lord. Take my life".
You see my friend, how you think, what you think, will impact your emotions. For Elijah, he was a failure. Depression can happen to anybody, including Elijah, a man of God. So what can we learn? Remember: to deal with negative emotions, it is important that you remember the 4R principle: you realize it can happen to anybody, you go to the root problem. For Elijah, you will notice the root problem is not Jezebel. The root problem is: where is God in the midst of all of these threats? And I want to focus on the importance of recalibrating your mind and recognizing God. You will see what God did: in order to recalibrate the mind of Elijah, in order for Elijah to recognize who God is, God took the initiative.
The Bible tells us Elijah was so discouraged, he was so down, he fell asleep. You will notice God wanted Elijah to know He really loves him. God cared for Elijah, God cares. How do you know? Look at how God took care of the physical needs of Elijah. God's approach when it comes to solving our depression is holistic. For example, in this case, God provided Elijah rest, allowed him to sleep. God provided food, because sometimes diet affects our emotions. God provided water. But what is the root problem? Let's find out. Do you notice? God wanted to go to the root problem. God is now talking to Elijah's heart. God wanted Elijah to ask his own heart, "What are you doing here, Elijah"?
And notice the answer of Elijah. God was helping Elijah go to the root problem. This question was repeated again. In the same chapter, God asked Elijah, "What are you doing here"? Why is that important? Because to solve any emotional problem, you've got to go to the root. And to solve the root problem, God wanted Elijah to recalibrate his thinking. What do we mean? Elijah was demonstrating a victim mindset. Look at what he said: "I alone am left; they seek my life to take it away". In Tagalog, Elijah is "nagmamaka-awa". "'Kawawa naman ako.' (Poor me.) Lord, I am the only one left. They seek my life. They want to take it away".
Elijah somehow has forgotten that God is more powerful than Jezebel. So what is the cure? Well, let me describe to you first the importance of calibrating your mind. In the case of Elijah, he developed a victim mindset. You blame others. I've seen people, every time there's a problem, they focus on others. It's his fault. It's her fault. You blame your past. You blame circumstances. You don't assume responsibility. What do we mean by biblical mindset? A biblical mindset, you assume responsibility. You realize you are responsible for your response, for your reaction. You are proactive.
Remember last Sunday: you do your best with what you can, what is within your control. What is outside your control, you surrender to the Lord. That's a basic biblical mindset. Gives excuses. I know people, they don't assume responsibility, they just keep giving excuses and they feel helpless. You know why? That's how you become depressed. You feel you cannot do anything. A biblical mindset is dependent on the Holy Spirit. You know, for a fact, the reality. Remember in Philippians 4, the Bible says, Your mindset is not one of helplessness, because you know you can do all things through Christ.
Look at the victim mindset: you focus on yourself. Always feeling sorry for yourself. You see yourself as a victim. A biblical mindset is when you focus on God. You realize God is bigger. God is able. It's not dependent on our strength. It's not about us, it's about Him! A victim mindset is always negative. It focuses on the problems. It's critical. It's always complaining. For example: when you look at this glass of water, how do you describe this? A negative mindset will always say that glass of water is half-empty. A positive mindset will say the glass is half-full. Half-empty, half-full, talking about the same thing but different emphases. A biblical mindset focuses on the positive. Thankful, grateful. It reminds me of the hummingbird and the vultures.
What's the difference between a hummingbird and a vulture? If you go to the desert and you ask a hummingbird, "What do you see"? The hummingbird will see flowers. You know why? Because it's always looking for flowers. A vulture will see what? It focuses on dead animals. So a vulture will see what it wants to see: dead things. Christians, followers of Jesus, what kind of mindset do you have? In order to recalibrate the mind of Elijah so that he will learn to recognize who God is, I'd like you to remember the acronym, CAST, C-A-S-T. This is taken from the book of 1 Peter, when the Bible tells us, In order to really recognize who God is, to have a renewed, recalibrated mind, the application is cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.
Notice, God wants us to know He cares for us. So, C-A-S-T, CAST has the following letters: C, think of the word "care". God cares for you. A, almighty; God is almighty. Nothing's impossible with You. S, God is not only almighty; He is sovereign, He is in control. He determines your future. He determines the destiny of nations. No accidents. God is in absolute control. T, God is trustworthy. You can trust Him. But in order to accomplish the idea of recalibrating your mind and to respond properly, to recognize God, God did the following; you will notice in the life of Elijah. God wanted Elijah to have a fresh encounter with Him.
So what did you notice? God took the initiative to send an angel to provide food, to provide the water. Why? Because God wanted Elijah to know, "I love you. I care for you". Let me ask you a question. Do you believe that God cares for you? That God has your best interest at heart? Why did God ask Elijah to go to this mountain? Look at verse 11. God wanted Elijah to have a real encounter, a fresh encounter. And look at the next verse. The Bible tells us, Imagine: breaking the rocks, breaking the mountains. What kind of wind has such power? He did not stop there. The Bible tells us, Can you imagine the power of an earthquake? What can move the earth? Tremendous power. But the Bible says God was not in the earthquake.
Can you imagine what Elijah was experiencing? The wind, the earthquake, and the fire, but what's amazing was this: the Bible says, "and the Lord was not in the earthquake", not in the fire, not in the wind. Where was the Lord? The gentleness of God. It is now talking about the grace of God. God appeared in the most unusual way. Don't put God in a box! And that's why it is important in that to overcome depression, we need a fresh encounter of who God is. And when God spoke to Elijah, the Bible tells us, Elijah heard God's voice. Do you notice the repetition? God wanted to recalibrate the mind of Elijah, and God asked him the same question. "What are you doing here"?
I'd like to believe God is always wanting to talk to you, and many times He talks to us, not in all this dramatic fashion, strong wind, earthquake, fire, but many times in the quietness of your heart, God speaks to us. And God is asking you right now, some of you, what are you doing with your life? Where are you headed? You see Elijah was not in the right place. He was the prophet of God. God has works for him, but he was retiring, hiding in a cave! Then Elijah answered the same thing: Here was Elijah again with a martyr complex, feeling sorry for himself. He repeats, "Lord, I alone am left", which is not true. "They seek my life". Yes, partly true. Only one person wanted to seek his life: Jezebel.
Can anybody take away the life of Elijah without God's permission? You see, God has to recalibrate his thinking, and the Bible tells us to solve that, God showed up to show him that He is almighty. God wanted Elijah to know He is not only almighty, God is sovereign. He is in control. What do we mean? Look at the next verse. 1 Kings 19:15: Now, Elijah was running away from Ahab, he was running away from Jezebel, he was running away from his mission, and God is saying, "Go back. Go. Return. You need to do the following".
You see my friend, many times we fail to realize that obedience is also empowering. What do I mean? Do you wait until you feel like obeying before you obey? I have discovered that it is better to obey, and then feeling will come. Remember the principle: motion before emotion. If you wait for emotion to come before you obey, it will not come. Forever, you'll be giving excuses why you should not obey the word of God. But if you want to have victory over depression, I'm telling you right now: follow God's way. Obedience first. Emotion will follow. God tells Elijah justice will eventually be served. How?
Verse 17: In other words, God wanted Elijah to know, "Elijah, your perspective, your thinking is wrong. You need to correct your thinking. I am the God of history. I am in control". The ministry of Elijah did not end in chapter 18, when he brought a tremendous victory over the false prophets. In fact, 1 Kings chapter 20, 21, as you continue reading, you will notice how God used Elijah to confront Ahab and to confront Jezebel. The Bible tells us Elijah delivered a solemn warning for Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Elijah was no longer afraid. Elijah was no longer depressed. What changed him? An encounter with God. After this encounter, Elijah was a changed man. Success is not always seeing the results. Success is being faithful to God, is being obedient.
And that's what Elijah did. Elijah did not see the eradication of Baal worship in his lifetime. Guess what happened? In the lifetime of Elisha, his successor, the Bible tells us the worship of Baal was totally eradicated. Elijah's life was not over. God told him, "You now develop Elisha". The latter years of Elijah were so impactful, but he could not see it in his own lifetime. He did not realize that what God will accomplish through his ministry is in the life of Elisha. You will notice how God helped Elijah get out of depression. He's telling Elijah "Go out of your own little world. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I have a purpose for you. Think of others, serve others. Go, anoint Elisha".
The key in overcoming depression many times is when we think of others. When we begin to serve others. That's what Elijah did, he served others. You have to correct your thinking. How? Do you believe that God loves you, that God cares for you? Do you really believe that God is almighty? Nothing is impossible with God. Are you willing to cast your problem upon the Lord? Do you really believe that God is in control, including your past failures? Do you really believe that God has everything in control, including the future destiny of nations? Many times we fail to relax. We fail to be rested. You know why? We do not know God. But God is saying, "Rest upon me. I am in control".
Psalm 56 tells us the importance of trust, because God wants us to trust Him. From time to time, we can become fearful. What must you do? Assume responsibility. So what must you do? That's our responsibility. David is saying, "I will put my trust in You". So to trust God includes trusting His word. Elijah heard the word of God. Elijah heard God telling him what to do. "In God, whose word I praise". You cannot separate trusting God with trusting his word. In short, there is no shortcut to studying God's word and learning to trust Him, they go together.
Do you notice what happens? First: when I'm afraid, I will trust God. Now as you grow spiritually, this is what will happen. You can go through life fearful, trusting God, fearful, trusting God, or you can go through life trusting God and no longer being fearful. So, look at the next verse of Psalm 56, how he progressed. This is how he progressed: Do you see? Knowing God, that God loves you, God cares for you. Do you know that God is for you, God is for me? God is on our side. You need to trust God's word, they go together. A repetition. You cannot separate knowing God and knowing His word; trusting God, trusting His word. In short, eventually life is a choice. You can choose to be a victim or you can be victorious.
And the key to victory is trusting God. Recognize God. And how do you recognize God? Realize that God cares for us. Realize that God is almighty. Realize that God is in absolute control. And above all to trust God. You have to really make a choice. He's trustworthy. Surrender everything to Him. It is like entrusting to Him the good, the bad, whatever's in your life. It's like cooking chicken adobo. How do you cook chicken adobo? Garlic? Garlic by itself does not taste good, it's awful. Pepper? Oh, black pepper by itself does not taste good. Vinegar? My goodness, vinegar by itself does not taste good. Soy sauce? You put garlic, soy sauce, all of this together, pepper, and boom! Adobo. It becomes good.
The same thing with your life and my life. Are you willing to surrender? Your past, they may not be pleasant. Perhaps you've been abused. Perhaps people have cheated you. It's not good. Are you willing to surrender that to the Lord? You surrender your past, present, and your future. My friend, you will never know what God can do and will do in your life, but if you get stuck by being depressed and you don't move forward, you will miss everything. You and I are basically immortal here on earth until God calls us home. God's plan is always better than ours. If you read the experience of Elijah after his fresh encounter with God, after his mind was changed, after his understanding of God became so real, you know what he experienced?
Elijah, who wanted to die physically, did not die. Look at verse 11. Here was Elijah and Elisha talking, the Bible tells us Elijah was brought to the presence of God without dying. My friend, to overcome depression, you must realize the reality of who God is. God loves us, God is almighty, and God is in control. And above all, God has an amazing plan for your life. Are we listening to the voice of Jezebels? Jezebels, many times, are ideas inspired by Satan, inspired by the world. They are not from God. For example, Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah. If she really wanted to kill Elijah, she could have done it, but sometimes threatening is more powerful because you paralyze the victim.
Another voice you may hear is your own voice. For Elijah, he's saying he's useless. For Elijah, he's saying, "I'm done. I'm a failure". Many Christians, if they're not careful will describe themselves as a failure. "I'm no good. Nobody can use me. God will not use me. I give up". Don't listen to your own voice. Don't listen to the voice of Jezebels. Don't listen to the world. You must learn to listen to one voice: the voice of the Lord through His word. That means you will need to study the Bible, because the Bible is God's word and God's truth to us. No shortcut. To overcome depression, to overcome negative emotions, you need to practice the discipline of not only studying God's word but obeying God's word. To cease to study and not to obey is very dangerous. You know why? It will develop callous. And pretty soon you don't hear the word of God anymore because you have developed callousness.
So what's my point? Learn to listen to the Lord by studying His word, obeying His word. And above all, you can only obey when you trust Him. Learn to trust the Lord. Claim His promises. Understand His power. Believe in his character, that He wants what's best for you. I suggest today you learn to listen to the voice of God. To listen to the voice of God, you have to spend time. You have to be intentional. Amid this pandemic, amidst your lockdown, spend time, learn to listen to the Lord. And perhaps some of you are saying, "You know, Peter, I've been depressed. I've been hiding my depression".
Well, the good news is this: you don't have to be embarrassed. Even the best among us, including Elijah, experienced depression. I've asked my wife to share with us how she got out of depression. Let's welcome Deonna. Peter asked me to share my experience with depression. The reality is that I have been through depression in the past. When I was depressed, I had thoughts like, "How can I be like this? I know I'm not supposed to be like this". But the more I struggled to get out of depression, the more I felt like I was in quicksand and being sucked down under. There were times that I would just cry and feel so down. I thought that I was losing my mind. I thought that I was demon-possessed and that I'd lost my salvation.
But I remember one day, I fell down on my knees and I said, "Jesus, I can't do this. I can't get myself out, but You have promised that You would keep my faith. So I ask You, pull me out". That night I went to sleep, and the next day I was pulled out. So that was a depression before I got married and went into the first year of my marriage. But the reality is that there are other times when I begin to feel down and thoughts have come to my mind; I'm being, I'm getting depressed again, but what do I do? I recalibrate my thinking. I renounce that thought in Jesus' name, because I know that when I'm filled with the Spirit, that the joy of the Lord is my strength.
So what would I do? I'd renounce that thought. And then I would turn to God and I'd say, "Lord Jesus, take control of me right now. I claim the power of your Holy Spirit in my life. And I claim joy". I turn on God's word. I have an audio Bible, so I will go through the Bible. I'll lay down in the bed. So I'm resting. I listen to all the whole book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I start claiming God's promises. And by the time I finished it, I'm revived and I'm worshiping God.
So as what Peter said, we need to recalibrate our mind with God's word. We need to go to God with our problem. Don't hide in shame, but be transparent with Him because the Lord said He's near to the brokenhearted, and He restores those who are broken in spirit. So Jesus is the answer to our depression. And on the practical side, every day I exercise in the sunlight cause I know I'm prone to depression. So I exercise in sunlight. Every day I sleep seven to eight hours. Every day I watch my diet. You have to avoid things like too much sugar or things that are going to inflame you.
So we have a part to play and I take Omega-3 fish oil because that is a brain food and it's a mood regulator. So I do that on a daily basis, but ultimately those things are just peripheral. What is central is that God is the strength of my life and my portion forever. Praise God for my wife sharing the reality: negative emotions, depression can happen to anybody. But learn to deal with it God's way. The Bible tells us our God loves us so much, He died on the cross for your sins and for my sins. He loved you so much that He's saying, "I will take care of you. Nothing to fear. I'm bigger than your fear".
My friends, come to know the Lord. Recognize His presence, trust Him because He came to give you life, not to live a life of defeat, a life of depression, but a life with fullness of joy. A healthy Christian would have healthy emotions, and healthy emotions is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is amazing: Love (wow!), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness! These are all positive emotions. But negative emotions, anger, bitterness, depression, this is not from God. And that's why I'd like you to make emotions your friend. Negative emotions is a warning light telling you something is not right between you and the Lord. Something is wrong. You need to take action. Don't deny it. Don't stuff it in. Don't blame others. Take action. If you want to surrender your depression, your worry, your anxiety. Please pray with me. Let's pray.
Lord Jesus. I realize that many times, You allow us to be disappointed. You allow us to go through negative emotions to open our eyes, to show us what's wrong with us so we can become better. And I pray that because of today's message, Your people will learn to recalibrate their thinking to want to experience You more, to know You more so that we can learn to trust You.
To those of you who don't know Jesus, you have never entrusted your life to Jesus, why don't you pray this prayer right now?
Lord Jesus, I need You. I've never entrusted my life to You. I've never entrusted my past. Today, I surrender to You everything. Help me to be rested upon You. I invite You as my master, as my Lord. Come into my life. Transform my heart. Help me to trust You completely. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.