Grace

I recently heard the comedian Chonda Pierce say, "Depression is the gift that keeps on giving." I must agree. It is one of those things that never quite goes away. It may hide for a while, but then it sneaks back in and before you recognize it, the exhaustion, the desire to be alone all the time, the unexplainable aches and pains of the body all come back. It is easy to turn to a gift like food to cope. Certainly chocolate can make it better! But food is a gift from God that was not designed to be an antidepressant on a plate. It is a perversion of such gifts to turn them into coping mechanisms. Instead, God gave us a gift that was specifically designed to help us cope in this fallen world. Grace. Grace is God's gift that sustains us in the midst of suffering and circumstances beyond our control. It is also the gift that frees us from our own sin and habits that draw us away from Him. Depression is an ongoing struggle and it easily removes our reason and reliance on Grace. I thank God for great tools like doctors and appropriate antidepressants. I thank God for great tools like counseling. Most of all, I thank God for His Grace that is sufficient beyond all measure to guide us through and restore us in the midst of a fallen world.