Rainy Days and Mondays
They arrived in the rain on Friday and the sun didn't come out until Tuesday afternoon. On Saturday we had houseguests with an 18 m onto old and finally filled up the baby pool under the deck with buckets of warm water from inside and let the children splash. By Sunday my husband was trying to stay positive and singing the lyric from a country song…."Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my girlfriend, a little frisky." Not this girlfriend. It would put her flat to sleep. Monday afternoon, I need some fresh air, so we grabbed our boots, slickers and umbrellas and headed out for a couple hours of rainy day fun. Before the fun ended the two year old was in the lake in his diaper and jammy shirt!
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The news of Robin Williams death this week was so sad. I've been there more than once, begging the Lord to take me home. Biblegateway has some excellent articles related to depression and how we as the church can help others.
https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/08/robin-williams-death-an-opportunity-to-look-at-depression-in-the-scriptures/
David gives us many an example of how to "cry out" to the Lord.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
Psalm 34:17
Paul taps into a scenario in 2 Corinthians 7:1-10 (The MSG) related to distress which is worth the read.
"With problems like this to pull us on, dear friends, let's make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.
More Passionate, More Responsible
Trust us. We've never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone. Don't think I'm finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I'm with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.
When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn't settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't relax because we didn't know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!
I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad-not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never revet that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full or regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets."
May our hearts be stirred right now to pray for the deliverance of those battling depression.
