Stressed, Depressed, Hot MessSample

FIGHT THE BEASTS

Anxiety and depression are beasts. You can’t eat, you can't sleep. And that’s what's going on with the writer of Psalm 42. He says these words:

"My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:3)

The psalmist is on the Salty Tear Diet. As we look at his predicament, it’s safe to say that he's not resting. A lack of sleep leads to irritability and an inability, over time, to make wise decisions. Beyond that, our stressed/depressed/hot mess of a writer has critics shooting spiritual arrows at him as they attack the one thing he needs most, faith.

Anxiety and depression are complex issues because face it, we’re complex human beings. Thanks to a fallen world, there are multiple causes of anxiety and depression. It’s easy to simply say, “It’s a faith issue” or “It’s a sin issue” without really understanding the complexity of it all.

We tend to forget how the body and the spirit work hand-in-hand when combating invaders such as anxiety and depression. Let me give you a brief example found in the book of Daniel. You may remember the story but if not, allow me to refresh your memory.

Daniel and his teenage friends were exiled to Babylon with the majority of their compatriots. Talk about angst and depression. They’d seen the horrors of war up close and personal. They’d been led as slaves to a foreign land, separated from their families. Then they were thrust immediately into Babylon’s Got Talent.

The good news is that they were chosen to be wise men in the king's palace. The bad news is that life turned their world upside down. They were a stressed, depressed, hot mess trying to figure out this new life.

Don’t miss the significance of this. God placed it on Daniel’s heart to resolve to eat a nutritional diet. The result was a major difference between Team Daniel and the rest of the wise men.

What you eat can affect your mind and body, which can affect your spirit.

Remember, the body and spirit work hand-in-hand. Nutrition and exercise help greatly in crash prevention and eventually crash recovery. Combine those two things with Scripture reading and prayer. Over time, those healthy habits will help you fight the beasts.