Joy-Immune to Full of Joy
“I must just be joy-immune.”
That’s what I believed.
It seemed like everyone else was full of joy while I had none.
Instead, depression was my constant companion during the dark night of my soul. I desperately wanted what they had.
Why were they so lucky? What was wrong with me that I was not as deserving? Not as worthy? Not as special? Not as important?
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I knew what joy was. I couldn’t describe it, and I wasn’t sure I had ever experienced it aside from signing about it in Christmas carols.
I wasn’t even sure how I had gotten into such a desperate place. I was the doctor—the neuropsychologist who treated patients with anxiety and depression for twenty years. Shouldn’t I have been able to keep myself from succumbing to its vice?
At least I knew how to treat it, right?
Or so I thought.
I tried all the treatment strategies I had given my patients for nearly two decades: therapy, medication, diet, exercise, rest. They all helped, but they were not enough to pull me up out of depression’s pit.
I cried out to God: “if this was all my life is going to be, I didn’t want this life! Either take me home with You, or show me the missing piece because I can’t return to being the doctor because I won’t offer suggestions unless I know they really will help.”
John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.” In the case of depression, the enemy 1) steals our joy, 2) kills our peace, and 3) attempts to destroy our identity. But that’s the end of his influence, because neither the enemy, nor depression 1) determine your worth, 2) dictate your destiny, or 3) separate you from the love of God! That’s reason to be hopeful while we walk out our healing!
While genetics, chemicals, and stress all contribute, the enemy is the biggest contributor to depression and he does so by interfering with our minds in our thoughts and lying to us about who we are.
Scripture says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Basically, we determine if our thoughts agree with what God says, and if not, reject them and replace them with His truth.
I began this process by writing one single scripture that refuted one of the enemy’s lies on a post-it note, and putting it where I would see it every day. Every time I saw it, I recited it out loud because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Then I wrote down another, and another, and another. All in all, I had over 100 scriptures all over my walls, mirrors, and dashboard, to remind me of the truth of what God says about me.
I recently spoke at an event and a woman offered pray for me. I happily agreed. Before praying, she hesitated before commenting, “I usually pray for people to receive His joy. But you clearly are already filled with His joy!”
I became overcome with gratitude because I was once so depressed that I believed the lie that I was “joy-immune.” Now, I am joy-full!
“Weeping may last for a night, but His joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). The dark night lasted a long time, but as I replaced the enemy’s lies with God’s truths, God was faithful and brought His joy in the morning!
I recognized many of the other lies he had whispered … that I was not as deserving, worthy, special, or as important as others. Christ died for one and all. That levels the playing field. I am as important and as worthy as anyone else, and so are YOU! He came so that YOUR joy may be full as well!
Examples of how to take your thoughts captive:
When you think: “I am weak” refute it with the truth: “With Jesus I am strong” (Is. 40:31)
“I am rejected” refute it with “In Jesus I am accepted” (Eph 1:6)
“I am a victim” refute it with “In Jesus I am victorious” (1 Cor. 15:57)
“I am ugly” refute it with “God says I am beautiful” (Ps. 45:11)
“I will never be healed” refute it with “By His stripes I am healed” (Is. 53:5)
“I am worthless” refute it with “according to Jesus I am worthy!” (John 3:16)
As you begin to refute those lies with God’s truth, you will become joy-full as well!
Dr. Michelle Bengtson is an international speaker, and the author of best-selling “Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression” and the newly released companion “Hope Prevails Bible Study.” She has been a neuropsychologist for more than twenty years. She knows pain and despair firsthand and combines her professional expertise and personal experience with her faith to address issues surrounding medical and mental disorders. She offers sound practical tools, affirms worth, and encourages faith. Dr. Bengtson offers hope as a key to unlock joy and relief—even in the middle of the storm. She blogs regularly on her own site: http://www.DrMichelleBengtson.com
For more hope, stay connected with me at:
- To order Hope Prevails: http://drmichellebengtson.com/hope-prevails-book/
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- To order Hope Prevails from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Prevails-Insights-Personal-Depression/dp/080072707X/
For a Free eBook on How to Help a Depressed Loved One, click here: http://drmichellebengtson.com/how-to-help-a-depressed-loved-one-ebook/
For more helpful information about what you need to know when you have a depressed loved one, read here: http://drmichellebengtson.com/10-things-to-know-if-you-have-a-depressed-loved-one/
For more about what not to say to a depressed loved one, read here: http://drmichellebengtson.com/what-not-to-say-when-a-loved-one-is-depressed/ while here are suggestions about supportive things you can say to a depressed loved one: http://drmichellebengtson.com/what-to-say-when-a-loved-one-is-depressed/
