This is the seventh 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

“Actively Doubting My Anxiety-Depression”
IMPLEMENT the new structure pervasively with humility and flexibility.

“Plans are easier than life. Plans exist outside my sinful heart and broken world. Trying to live out my plan has taught me more about my self, my sin, and my Savior. As I have had victory, the old expressions of fear-despair have taken new forms. I have had to remember that my plans are merely how I intend to rely on God and not, themselves, my deliverer. Here are the unexpected challenges I faced [list], how I failed [list], where I succeeded [list], what I learned [list], and how God has been faithful [list]. I now see that [list] is really the most important elements of my plan.”

Memorize: Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV), “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’” As you memorize this passage reflect upon these key points:

  • “Fear not” – This is both a command to follow and an invitation to receive; obey and find refuge in this passage.
  • “Stand firm” – The opposite of fear is not always peace, but it is always trust that allows you stand firm.
  • “Never see again” – This promise was specific to Israel’s situation and may not be transferable to your own.
  • “The Lord will fight” – The action behind God’s promise to Israel is true for the fear of every believer.
  • “Only to be silent” – God may call for varying degrees of our participation in how he addresses our depression-anxiety. In this case, God called for very little action from Israel; only the faith to watch was about to unfold.

Teaching Notes

“The task at hand is to practice turning to the Lord when you are afraid—so it becomes natural and instinctive to turn to him (p. 10)… Are you beginning to think that your fears are actually opportunities to know God better, to trust him, and to witness how he will give you grace when you need it (p. 72)?” Ed Welch in When I Am Afraid

“Patience is the evidence of an inner strength. Inpatient people are weak, and therefore dependent upon external supports—like schedules that go just right in circumstances that support their fragile hearts (p. 173).” John Piper in Future Grace

“Christians who worry believe that God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, taken from hell to heaven, put them into his kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think he can get them through the next couple of days (p. 24).” John MacArthur, Jr. in Anxiety Attacked

“Individuals who continued their exercise regimen after recovering from depression were far less likely to relapse than those who take an antidepressant medication alone (p.67).” Leslie Vernick in Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy

“It was then I learned that gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living. It was better than sex, better than winning a lottery, better than watching your daughter graduate from college, better and deeper than any other feeling; it is perhaps, the genesis of all other really good feelings in the human repertoire. I am sure that nothing in life can ever match the feeling of being held by the gracious energy percolating from the abyss where beats the loving heart of God (p. 215).” Lewis Smedes as quoted by Leslie Vernick in Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy

“Some people have said that faith is like a step into the unknown, as in, ‘You just have to have faith.’ But there is nothing unknown about it. Faith is all about choosing sides (p. 87).” Ed Welch in What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?

Other podcasts on emotions are available at:

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