Email

Bookmark

Print

Getting Out of the Fog

During a difficult time in my life, depression thick as valley fog rolled over me. For two years, despair engulfed me. God seemed a million miles away. I saw no end to the dark tunnel I found myself in.

Driving through a dense fog one night, unable to see even the white line in the middle of the street, I got a hint on how to overcome my depression. I was faced with a choice. Would I focus on the obvious fog all around me or the dim reflectors in the road? Because I wanted to get home that night, I chose to focus on the dim "bright spots" in the fog. By sheer faith I inched ahead, from one reflector to the next. Eventually I got to the warmth and light of home.

By using the same mind-focusing principle that got me through the valley fog, I inched myself out of a crippling depression. How?

1. Soaking up music that affirms God's love and forgiveness and sends a whisper of hope behind the iron curtain of gloom. Sometimes a phrase of a song would stay with me all day long: "you lift me up when I fall down...my hope is in you alone."
   
   
2. Brisk walking or jogging. While outdoors I'd deliberately harness my mind by focusing on my surroundings and expressing my appreciation. "I like that tree, Lord," I'd say. "Thanks for making it."
   
   
3. Copying a small Scripture of God's love and faithfulness onto a card and saying it out loud many times a day: "You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light." (1) Then I'd add, "That's God's Word to me. I believe it."
   
   
4. Practicing the power of positive confession. Satan wants me to doubt God and complain. So I will speak to the contrary. With my mouth I will say, "God is good," even if I don't feel like it.
   
   
5. Keeping a record of all the good things that happened during the day: my garbage was picked up, my neighbor smiled at me, I did a laundry and the machine worked well, I made supper and my family enjoyed it.... At the end of the day, I'd read my list and think I had a pretty good day. Meanwhile emotions screamed to the contrary. I realized they were not telling me the truth. Damaged emotions were not a reliable measure. Like an ornery child, they were screaming and pulling me, but if I took a firm hand and said, "We're going this way," they'd come along.
   
   
6. Resisting the temptation to hide from people. The warmth and caring of sensitive people make God's love tangible--easier to grasp.

The time came when I heard the Lord Jesus whisper above my doubts, "The winter is over and spring has come. Let me show you." Timidly I left my dismal prison of two years. With a stab of joy I realized the fog had lifted and I was free! Free to follow Jesus into the sunshine of His love and new abundant life. Freer than ever before.

Depression, like winter, had served its purpose to purify and strengthen faith.

Related Reading:
Broken on the back row
Experience love and forgiveness
Need advice? Ask us.

~ Helen Grace Lescheid is the author of numerous articles and two books published worldwide: Lead, Kindly Light and Treasure in the Darkness. She resides in Abbotsford, British Columbia, is a retired nurse, mother of five children and grandmother of three.