Depression / Joy

Tomorrow will be Easter and there will be many individuals and families celebrating in many different ways. I am  thankful to be a part of the family of New Hope Church www.newhopechurchmn.org  where I will worship.
I will take part in a drama during the morning services. I am feeling a bit like Moses as I do not speak in front of crowds. Although this is a "drama" it is my story. As I asked a friend to pray he reminded me that it's God's story!

              Depression; It moved over me gradually but it rested on me for years, a feeling of discouragement, hopelessness, and depression. It was chronic. I would cry myself to sleep at night. It was next to impossible to get up in the morning to care for myself, let alone my husband and children. The darkness was deep and the God-silence  was overwhelming. I was isolated, lonely and untouchable. I just wanted the pain of the depression to be lifted. I read my Bible, but it was just words on a page. I prayed but did not feel as if God heard me. I went to church and I would walk through the crowds of people knowing my outside was hiding something that was killing me on the inside. I could not bear for others to know.

                But then, I asked a few friends to pray for me in faith. I shared my struggles. I wanted to find a way through the crowds to just get to Him and out of the shadows of depression. I wanted to move from darkness in to the light. I wanted healing and I saw my chance and immediately I moved towards Him. Just a touch of His garment and it would all be over. “Who touched me?” He asked.  He saw my suffering and knew the depth of my need. The healing didn’t happen over - night but it happened. Though I felt I had been covered in darkness, even the darkness was not dark in Him. The nights began to glow like the break of a new day. I found that in Him there was no darkness. He replaced my discouragement with encouragement.  He became the God of hope. The joy of the Lord became my strength. When He brought me out from the darkness to the light, He brought me with shouts of joy and renewed strength.