Forgiven and Set Free Episode 5 - Depression

Welcome back ladies. Jill, can I say one thing? I am so proud of these ladies that they have decided to continue this journey with us. Agreed. Agreed. And if you are just joining us for the first time, we're going to ask you to go back to episode one and start there. It's so important that you take this journey in order because each episode, all of the worksheets that we ask you to do, they all build on each other. So go back to episode one, start there, and then we'll meet you back here. All right. So once again, I'm going to give you a recap. In episode one, we talked about recognizing pain. In episode two, we talked about the character of God. In episode three, we talked about relief and denial. And in episode four, we talked about anger and what it may be pointing to. Today we're going to talk about something that often follows prolonged grief and anger, depression. Before we begin, I want to say this clearly. Listen, depression is not a sign of weak faith. Depression is not a moral failure. It's not a failure. Yeah. Thank you, Roar. Depression is often the result of carrying too much for too long. Scripture acknowledges emotional exhaustion. Let me read Psalms 42, verse 11 to you. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? See, God does not rebuke the psalmist for asking this question. He records it. Can you believe that? Listen, as usual, if this topics feel heavy, you are free to pause and return when you are ready. Let us go to our Father in prayer. Father God, thank you for your unfailing love. Your word says He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Would you meet each woman here today? Would you shine your light into places that feel dark and weary? In Jesus' name, amen. Depression often shows up after prolonged stress, loss, or unresolved grief. It can feel like numbness, exhaustion, heaviness, loss of motivation, disconnection. Does any of that sound familiar to you? Scripture gives us language for this experience. Psalm 88, verse 3 says, I am overwhelmed with troubles, and my life draws near to death. The Bible does not minimize despair. It gives it voice. It's powerful, especially since I'm someone who lost her voice. Listen, and this gives me joy. God does not shame us for being tired.

Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Yeah. Isaiah 40, verse 29 tells us, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Amen. Notice that strength is given to the weary, not demanded from them. Matthew 11, verse 28 records Jesus' words. Listen carefully. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. He will give you rest. Rest is not a reward for doing better. It is an invitation. And that invitation is important because many women experience depression because grief has nowhere to go. Ecclesiastes 4, 1 says, I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter. God sees tears that feel unnoticed, and He cares deeply about them. I want you to hear from Peanut again as she talks about depression, what it felt like, and how God met her in that darkness. I also think sometimes if I would have had my baby. Would I have been different? Would I have been a better mother for my son? Would I have been a better person? Depression can make you feel like things will never change. The scripture reminds us that darkness is not permanent. Let me share this verse with you, Psalms 30, verse 5. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing come in the morning. See, morning does not always come quickly, but it does come. So we have another worksheet for you. It's called The Crazy Cycle. And this exercise is going to help us notice patterns where pain leads to withdrawal, withdrawal leads to isolation, and isolation deepens depression. Proverbs 4.23 says, above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Awareness is the first step towards change. So let's talk about this crazy cycle.

So if you want to draw a circle on your paper, I'm going to walk you through some things here. So just stay with me. We're going to start with a sinful action. So maybe up here, above your circle, right? Sinful action. And I want you to think about what it is that maybe started you on your journey towards abortion. For me, I can tell you I had an affair. That was my sinful action that started me on this cycle. Move down to the 12 o'clock position. And here, I want you to put the word guilt. Whenever there's a sinful action, it leads us to feel guilty. I want to share the definition of guilt with you. It's defined as a feeling of deserving blame for offenses. And it can be a good thermometer to help us know if we've sinned. And it can also take us down a road that's not healthy, leading us to this crazy cycle. So sinful action, and then the word guilt. And as we move around to this 3 o'clock position, I want you to write the word shame. Guilt says, I did something bad. Shame says, I am bad. There's a difference there. And I want you to make note of that. When we start to feel shame, we can begin to isolate ourselves from others. So as you continue around the circle, get to about the 5 o'clock position

and write isolation in that 5 o'clock mark. Isolation doesn't necessarily mean that you are physically removed from people. You can isolate emotionally by not caring what other people think or feel. You can isolate physically by removing yourself from others if your space allows. But there are different ways. And I want you to recognize that there are different ways that you can isolate, even if you're in a small space. So sinful action, guilt leads to shame, leads to isolation. And then as we move around more towards that 7 o'clock part, I want you to write the word anxiety here. Because we begin to worry about these feelings, these things that we're thinking, the fact that we are filling ourselves with shame. And that can lead us to feel anxious, to let our thoughts take over, things start running rampant in our head. And that can make us really unhappy, which would then lead us over here to 9 o'clock, where I want you to write the word depression. So think about this. We're going to walk through that whole cycle. There's a sinful action, makes you feel guilty, and then you feel shame. That leads you to isolation. And then you start to experience anxiety, which can lead to depression. So we've got this cycle that is going.

How do we get off the cycle? How do we stop it? Coming back to that guilt that we feel over that sinful action, here's where we need to make a choice. If we choose shame, it puts us on that path that can lead to depression. But we can get off the crazy cycle if we decide, you know what? I feel guilty about this. I need to repent. I need to ask for forgiveness for this. And that is our exit ramp off of the crazy cycle and out of the crazy cycle. So. I want you to think about your circumstances and where you might be in this cycle, and it might be easier for you if I turn this around and let you see where I've included all of the words that I was telling you to write. As you go through this and think about where you might be, are you hanging out in isolation? Are you feeling anxious? Are you depressed? So how do we stop the crazy cycle? We have to understand that the guilt we feel over our sinful action is calling us to make a choice. This is your off-ramp, and you're really going to want to take it. If we choose shame, it puts us on that path to depression. But if we choose repentance, we can exit the crazy cycle. Repenting simply means that we express sincere regret or remorse for what we've done. This leads us to forgiveness and to freedom. Amen to that.

You know, Jill, I love that you was talking about the crazy cycle. Depression has a way of doing that. It often distorts your identity. It tells us who we are, hopeless, broken, beyond help. Can you relate to any of that? It makes us think that. It makes us own that. Yeah, that becomes our identity. But check this out. Scripture tells us something completely different. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, it says, If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. Man, that is so powerful. The who I am in Christ handout, this right here, is not about pretending everything is okay. You know, Jill, as I look at this handout, I am reminded of who I am in Christ. And what stands out to me is at peace with God, Romans 5.1. And so I always tell myself, no matter what happens, I am at peace with God. So this handout, like we said, it's not pretending like everything is okay. It's about grounding ourself in the truth when feelings say otherwise. You know, it's so interesting. Feelings are just, it's like the check engine light. Oh, that's so good. When that comes on, you know, it's alerting you that something needs to be addressed. But your feelings are not who you are and they don't define you. I could almost give her a high five on that. That's so good. Yes. Okay. So in this worksheet, you will come to understand who God says you are. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

That's so important, ladies. On the left side, you are given a new identity in Christ. And on the right side, there is scripture to accompany these identities. Read one or two or even three of these scriptures that immediately resonate with you. I encourage you to write down these scriptures and new identities in Christ. And pray this over yourself every day, every minute, every hour. Like I said for myself, it's at peace with God, Romans 5.1. No matter what happened, I am at peace with God, meaning in all circumstances. I will rest in him through the good, the bad, the ugly. The only reason I am here is because I accepted his sweet gift of salvation. Before moving forward, we invite you to do two things. Read chapter six in Forgiven and Set Free. Second, we want you to consider the crazy cycle and where you might be in that. And then spend some time with the Who I Am in Christ worksheet. You don't have to believe every word yet. Just read them. Romans 12.2 reminds us that renewal takes time. Let us pray. God thank you that we can be honest with you about where we are. When experiencing depression, we can feel numb, exhausted, heavy, unmotivated, and disconnected from the weight of our choices and experiences. We are asking you to align our hearts with the truth of what your word says about who we are and allow us to break free from the crazy cycle. We stand in the fullness of your love for us and choose to walk in truth. truth and freedom. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for continuing with us. Depression does not define you and it is not the end of your story. When you're ready, continue to the next episode. We will talk about forgiveness and what it costs. Oof, that's a hefty price.

And what it frees. God is still near, even here.