Lesson 9: God doesn't walk away - you do

A lot of people facing depression feel like God has abandoned them, that He's the whole reason they're in this mess and there's no way He's still around to see them through. Here's the thing, Deuteronomy 31:8 says "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” That's a promise! Something I have had to discover this year is that when I feel distant from God, it's not that He isn't there - it's that I have pushed Him to a distance. If you really think about it, when you are far from God, you usually first realize it because something (God Himself) is trying to pull you back to Him. A god who wants to be distant from you wouldn't be trying to bring you back to his side, but our God is always drawing us closer and closer to Him.

Something I've noticed in my own life is that I fall into the habit of relying on myself rather than putting my trust and faith in God - it's not that I don't trust or believe He can care for me, just that I can do it fine by myself. After awhile, the focus shifts away from Him and onto ourselves which leads us right down the path of focusing on our problems, our past, our pain, and none of the things God has blessed us with. It is so easy to go about our day without even acknowledging God's presence in it, but the reality is that He is in every single little part of it whether we recognize it or not.

How much better would every day be if we took the time to notice all the ways God is blessing us throughout our day and make a point of thanking Him for every single one? I know I have a hard time doing this, especially on my low days, but when I force myself to do it, I find that I just can't stop. It's true what people say - when you are focused on God and His blessings, it is impossible to be focused on yourself and your problems!

Lean On Who?

God has created us to be social creatures, each one of us having different traits, likes, and dislikes that make us unique so that we all have something to contribute to the body of Christ. He has placed us where He has so that we can function by our design - to build relationships with others and with Him to bring glory to His kingdom. I thank God every day for the friends He has allowed me to have during my time on earth, and quite honestly, I don't know what I would do without them. But I have also come to a realization that I think God has tried to show me more than once before. I realized I've started relying more on the companionship of my friends than on my relationship with God.

Yep, there ya go. Plain and simple, right? You would think that would be something that is pretty obvious when it's happening. But in reality, you get into the flow of your every day schedule with the set times that you're doing your set activities; and in my world, a lot of my set activities have to do with time spent with friends. In looking at my schedule during any given week, I probably spend on average 10 hours a day with my friends. 10 hours! That's over half my day, not including the time I'm sleeping, in class, or at work. When this finally hit me, I realized there was a big part of my life (at least about 10 hours a day) that was devoid of time spent with God. I began to see all the areas where I was counting on my friends to eat lunch with me, walk to class with me, text me all day long, do homework together, and spend our free time together. While it's good that we can have friends to have fun with, confide in, and find joy in relationships with, God did not intend for that to be all there is.

God's intention for friendships was to be a human extension of our relationship with Him, not a replacement for time spent with Him with the excuse that if they're Christian friends it's almost like spending time with God while we're with them. No. That's not how it works. Sorry if that bursts your bubble. God is so jealous of our hearts that it tears Him apart when He sees us counting on our friends more than we look to Him. It's such an easy thing to do because our friends are right here standing next to us, watching the things happen in our lives in such a tangible way. What we often forget is that God, too, is standing right next to us already knowing what's going to happen and what needs to be done to take care of it.

Friends are going to come and go. They're going to be on your side one day, and against you the next. They may answer your text messages for awhile, but there will come a time when they are going to get caught up in the craziness of their own lives that they won't be as available to you. God never leaves, He's walking with us always. He is always on our side and is fighting constantly for our lives. Every little prayer we send His way gets a reply, no matter what time of day it is or how many He's receiving at once.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have friends. Rather, we should have a relationship with God so strong that our friends are just an added bonus.