Depression and Anxiety (Part 1 of 2)

-
No, I'm not a doctor but have you heard sometimes people say that "the best doctor is the patient herself?" Oh well, maybe that's not a popular notion after all.

Let me then put it this way: I realize that I should be careful here addressing the matter of depression and anxiety since obviously I'm not an expert, who can medically help anybody in that sense.

However, I must say that due to the simple fact that we all live in a convoluted cosmos, a complex system of living in the world, we're all bound to suffer from some extent of depression and anxiety. I'm making tons of generalization since I'm simply referring to the overall condition of human race. Mrs. L's husband once said, "Anxiety is the totality of the natural human life."

So the easiest way to talk about all these is for me to share with you what happened this past week. Yes, I was a basket case indeed. I was reading Psalm 90:10 - how our years are short and transient; if because of strength we could live another 10 years, our pride in those years would just be more labor and sorrow. Labor and sorrow were the exact two words that characterized my week.

Things happened. I got more added pressure at work. I was restless within due to family issues. I was disappointed with other things that did not work out the way I'd like them to be. My comfort zone was no more.

Having Fellowship with a More Mature Christian

As the week progressed, my condition deteriorated. Depressed with my present and anxious for my future  - these all sound like the perfect combination for trouble. And I knew that. I knew where I was heading and I knew that I desperately needed to be practically saved!

Actually this was not a small thing because if I did not realize how I needed to be saved, I would never be desperate enough to seek for help, the fellowship.

I am SO glad that my involvement with Christians on Campus throughout the years has caused me to be vitally related with an older sister in the Lord whom I can freely fellowship with. So I called her!

Dialing her number was definitely the first practical salvation that I experienced. I had someone to fellowship with, an older Christian in the community who not only had more experiences of Christ than I did but experiences of the human life as well.

All she had to say was "It's normal, Katherine, to go through what you are going through. It's okay."

Click here to go to Part 2.

Comments

  1. B.February 28, 2012 at 12:48 PM

    Thanks for your honesty, that is part of our living Christ. But is this to be transparent? Sometimes I feel depressed but usually I keep that for myself and the Lord. Probably I am wrong.

    Thank you for your practical posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KatherineFebruary 28, 2012 at 2:11 PM

      Hi B, I appreciate your question. The matter of being transparent, I'd say, yes, but firstly to the Lord like you've mentioned. Then regarding fellowship, from my personal experience, it's always good to open up to a more mature Christian.

      As we open up the things in our heart, it's always good to exercise to follow the Lord's leading within and to have a will to simply be turned from our feeling to our faith.

      Many times we don't have to say too much, or get into too many details. Fellowship is simply to open up, to seek for help. So the Lord often will give us a feeling inside that at a certain extent what we said is good enough, we don't need to continue explaining further. And we just have to obey that, and use the rest of the time to pray together.

      Learning to fellowship is a precious, on-going lesson that we have to tap into as lovers of Christ. Many times the Lord supplies us through these other members of His Body, especially those who have become the joints of the rich supply.

      By the way, I have the second part of this post coming soon.

      Delete
    2. BFebruary 28, 2012 at 3:48 PM

      Thank you for the Lord shinning in your answer. Probably I'm afraid of fellowship because I don't know how to have fellowship. But your answer helped me. Thanks.
      By being transparent I thought it was to shine Christ, not my self, shortcomings, defects, etc.

      Delete
    3. KatherineFebruary 28, 2012 at 9:19 PM

      Glad that the answer helped some, B. And yes, being transparent is for us to shine Christ out but also, reciprocally it means transparent to be shined through.

      Furthermore, we have to embrace the fact that we are still human, YET divine because we have Christ in us. Actually through fellowship, the Lord shepherds us in and with His humanity through the members of His Body. It's a human touch - often very practical and cherishing. :)

      Delete
    4. B.February 29, 2012 at 8:55 AM

      Christ in us and through us, we in Christ and through Him!
      What a glorious goal, what a marvelous privilege, how merciful and gracious our Lord is!
      This is the New Jerusalem! Oh, Lord Jesus, we praise You!
      This cures depression and anxiety! :)

      Delete
    5. KatherineFebruary 29, 2012 at 10:08 AM

      Thank you for fellowshipping, B. :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christians on Campus - The Reason I Went to College at UT Austin

-
Image
John 8:32 on the UT Tower in Austin, Texas About Christians on Campus For decades, members of Christians on Campus have endeavored to focus on Christ and Christ alone. In-depth Bible study, building up spiritual companions, and mutual fellowship in the homes are some among many highlights that characterize the club activities with Christians on Campus.  My Experience with the Club I'm not a paid marketer. I'm just a living testimony of how Christians on Campus has changed my human and spiritual life. I don't even know how to begin thanking the Lord for His mercy and sovereignty in placing me where I need to be, so that I can grow. This series of blog posts on Christians on Campus is just my personal testimony and experience as a young Christian in college, nothing more, nothing less. So let me begin here.  Christians on Campus was the reason I went to UT Austin. After I graduated from high school, I had to go abroad for college (I'm from
Read more

Summer 2012 Puerto Rico Blending Trip: The People

-
Image
Please read my previous post to find out more about the island of Puerto Rico . Without a doubt, Puerto Rico has it all:  nature and culture . Yet what I enjoyed the most was meeting Christians, young and old, and having a rich fellowship with them (despite the language barrier that we had since I don't really speak Spanish). I also met a lot of college students who were affiliated with Christians on Campus. Their endeavor to reach the young people on campus, to bring the gospel to them, to fellowship, and to dive into the Word of God was too precious!  From Puerto Rico with Love. I realized that even though we were so far apart geographically, we all, in Texas and in Puerto Rico, had been endeavoring to do the same thing: gaining young people for God . Furthermore, even though we didn't speak the same language and weren't brought up within the same culture, there was always a prevailing atmosphere of love and joy among us. At the end of
Read more

Crossing The River Jordan

-
Image
"And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel was crossing over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan." (Joshua 3:17) I attended a virtual crystallization-study of the Books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. Like always the in-depth trainings held by Living Stream Ministry have been landmarks in my Christian life, prompting me to come to the Lord Himself to dwell on the revelations unfolded in these sessions of spoken messages. I take them as messages spoken from the Lord Himself. This time I was struck by the record of the children of Israel crossing over the River Jordan to enter into the good land. The parting of the Red Sea is quite famous, where the children of Israel exited the world (Egypt) and the ruler of the world with his evil forces (Pharaoh and his army) were buried. In our Christian life, the crossing of the Red Sea is a picture of our baptis
Read more

Only Lovers Can Be Mighty

-
Continuing from my last post on our Christian mission in choosing to be part of the mighty ones  is another quote by R. Kangas, inspired by the divine romance portrayed in Song of Songs chapter 3: "We are not trained to be mighty ones merely by being sent to a barren place to pass through one hardship after another. Rather we are trained by maintaining and nurturing our love toward our Beloved. Our Beloved is the mighty One. His love prevails... We should not allow the enthusiasm of war or the thrill of victory to interfere with our steady, developing, ongoing romance with the Lord." The mighty ones are God's army, beautiful in the Lord's eyes and terrifying to the enemy ( Song of Songs 6:4 ). Yet what's so astonishing about this army is the fact that all these ones are firstly LOVERS! In a sense, to the mighty ones, they do not go to war to win, they go to war to "waste" their lives upon the One whom they have loved. To the mighty ones, this spiri
Read more

MVP: The Most Valuable Person in the Lord's Eyes

-
Image
Last week I wrote Only Lovers Can Be Mighty . Being a lover and a warrior are two sides of the same coin. This week though I was reminded of a fellowship I had with Mr. Danker, an older brother in the Lord, concerning: Who would be the most valuable person in the Lord's eyes? Previously I considered being a lover and being the most valuable person as pretty much identical. I mean if you're a lover to someone, then by default, aren't you the most valuable person in that someone's eyes? Our answer would, of course, be yes. Now let us consider together. If that lover of yours truly, deeply, fervently, crazily love you, but simultaneously strong in the sense of always insisting upon his/her ways, styles, concepts of values, standards, and opinions; is he/she still practically the most valuable person in your eyes? Tough question, isn't it? But I would say practically no. Please do not misunderstand me here. I have not defined the characteristics of a true lo
Read more