This is the fourth in a nine part series entitled “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Responsibility Paradigm.” For the various counseling options available from this material visit www.summitrdu.com/counseling.

The complementing studies are also available in a video and podcast formats at the links below:

  • “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Responsibility Paradigm”// video and podcast
  • “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Suffering Paradigm” // video and podcast
  • “Towards a Christian Perspective of Mental Illness” // video and podcast

“Returning to My One True Refuge”
REPENT TO GOD for how my sin replaced and misrepresented Him.

“My anxiety-depression reveals counterfeit gods mocking my true Savior. I am beginning to see how offensive my anxiety-depression can be to God and how much pride I express trying to be/replace God. I repent not merely because my emotions hurt other people or disrupt my life, but because God is superior to my false gods and lovingly enables me to love Him (I John 4:19).”

Memorize: Acts 3:19-20 (ESV), “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” As you memorize this passage reflect upon these key points:

  • “Repent… turn back” – The core meaning of “repent” is not “feel very bad” but “make a U-turn” back to God.
  • “Blotted out” – God has no intention of shaming you with your sin. Instead, he wants to free you from false idols.
  • “Times of refreshing” – Our anticipation of repentance should feel like the longing for a refreshing bath.
  • “The presence of the Lord” – Repentance is what reconnects us with the source of our strength and hope.
  • “May send the Christ” – Repentance unlocks the door of our life to unleash the return of the hero, Christ.

 Teaching Notes

“The particular trouble with which we are dealing tends, I find, to be common among those who’ve been brought up in a religious manner rather than in those who have not been brought up in a religious manner. It is more likely to affect those who’ve been brought up in Christian homes and families and who have always been taken to a place of worship than those who have not (p. 24)… They often concentrate on the question of sanctification, but it does not help them because they have not understood justification. Having assumed they were on the right road, they assume that all they have to do is to continue along it (p. 25).” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression

“The change is rarely a matter of knowledge. It is a matter of repentance. We have chosen a path apart from God; repentance is the process of turning back. We have chosen a different story, filled with subtle lies about God, questioning his love, care and compassion. Repentance means to renounce her story and believe that there is only one Storyteller. God alone is authorized to interpret our lives (p. 259).” Ed Welch in Depression, A Stubborn Darkness

“Much of our misery is caused by the stories we tell ourselves about how things should be… She created an internal storyline of how things should go—and when they didn’t go the way she thought they should, she felt sorry for herself (p. 23).” Leslie Vernick in Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy

“One of the most important things Jesus will ever say to you is, ‘I am with you.’ That is the treatment for fear, and the only thing that could jeopardize his presence is your sin and shame. If he has dealt with that problem, you never have to fear that he will leave you (p. 60).” Ed Welch in When I Am Afraid

“The right answer is rarely your only answer. Instead, you usually have at least two sets of answers: those that are ‘right,’ and those that actually guide the way you live (p. 22)… The only way you can change the focus of your worship is to find something even better to focus on. That is your task (p. 48).” Ed Welch in What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?

“The knowledge of God comes first. Apart from this personal knowledge, scriptural advice is no different from the thoughts stoppage or imaginary vacations this secular treatments offer (p. 64)… Consider faith this way: it means that we give up. Faith says, I need Jesus. It is not a work, it is an act of desperation, and you are certainly familiar with that (p. 221)!” Ed Welch in Running Scared

Other podcasts on emotions are available at:

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