How to Look Up When You’re Feeling Down

Depression is very real. It can cause us to feel isolated, alone, and hopeless…like everything around us is falling apart. It may even lead us to feeling like life isn’t worth living anymore.

Our enemy, Satan, seeks to fill our minds with thoughts that eventually cause us to lose our joy and feel badly. He is a discourager, and he wants to pull us down emotionally, spiritually, financially and in every way he can.

But Jesus is our Encourager, and He came to lift us up! He came to give us peace and joy. He wants us to expect good things for our future and fill us with hope.

Now, I realize that depression can be the result of a physical or chemical imbalance, and I don’t want to discount these causes. There are times when the Lord will lead someone to go to a skilled medical professional or psychologist who can help them get to the root of the problem. I believe medical knowledge comes from God and that He works through doctors to do great things.

However, for a great number of people, depression is also a spiritual issue. You see, Satan uses depression to steal a person’s spiritual power and freedom—he seeks to fill our minds with darkness and gloom and bring us down emotionally.

But God wants to help us live free from depression. He wants to fill us with His joy, hope and expectation of good things for our lives. In order to cooperate with Him, one thing we must do is learn to not live by our feelings. We shouldn’t follow every thought or feeling that comes because they can often contradict the truth of what God says about us.

For years, I experienced regular depression. I would awake in the morning with a little voice in my head saying, “I feel depressed.” I believed this was my own thought, not realizing the enemy was attempting to speak lies to my mind.

Later, when God drew me into a closer walk with Him and I began seriously studying His Word, I learned that I didn’t have to follow every feeling and thought that I had. I began to speak aloud and say, “I will not be discouraged or depressed!”

We will always have feelings—they will never go away. However, we do have a choice whether or not we’ll allow our feelings to dictate our lives.

Take Inventory of Your Thoughts

Did you know that what you think about has the power to affect every area of your life? Proverbs 23:7 (AMPC) says, For as he [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he….

Our minds are powerful! When we choose to dwell on all of the negative things about ourselves or the bad things that have happened to us, it feeds discouragement and depression.

Years ago, I battled breast cancer, and it was really a testing time for me. I knew it wouldn’t take much to send me over the edge if I allowed my mind to get negative. During that time, God put it on my heart to fill my mind with the following things, then speak them out loud as often as I could. I would think and say:

“God, I know that You love me. I believe that all things work out for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I put my trust in You, and I will not fear” (Romans 8:28, 35-39; Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 3:5).

You see, the more time you spend reading and thinking about His Word, the more it gets inside of you and begins to change you from the inside out.

Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s Word is alive and powerful (NLT). It has the ability to change the way you see yourself and even your future. As you fill your mind with what God says about you and claim His promises as your own, it will bring hope and build your faith.

Keys to Fighting Depression

As I mentioned, depression is sometimes the result of a physical or chemical issue, and I believe it’s important to allow doctors to help us as the Lord leads. However, depression is also very often a spiritual battle…and the Bible gives us great instructions on how to fight it.

Isaiah 61:3 tells us to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…(NKJV).

We may not always feel like praising God, but taking a few moments to talk to the Lord and thank Him for His goodness is one of the most powerful weapons we have to fight discouragement and depression. We literally invite God’s presence into our situation, which brings us His strength, peace and joy.

Philippians 4:4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! (AMPC)

Praising the Lord in the midst of our pain is the greatest thing we can do. Because when we choose to fix our attention on God and rejoice in the good things He has done, we make Him bigger than our problems!

This leads me to Psalm 16:11. It says, …In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (NKJV).

When we worship God, we invite His presence into our lives. He replaces our discouragement and sadness with His joy and peace…giving us hope and breathing new life into our situation.

We can’t always change everything that is happening around us, but God’s presence will change us—how we think, how we feel, and how we view our circumstances.

The next time you encounter a situation that threatens to pull you down, make a decision to turn to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to fill you with hope. Choose to believe what God says instead of your feelings. Fill your mind and mouth with positive, hopeful things from God’s Word.

Because no matter what you’re going through, or what your mind may be telling you, God loves you, and He is always ready and willing to help you.

This devotional by Joyce Meyer Ministries is available at Bible.com.