Singing the Blues by Louisa Guzman

Fall has arrived. The air is becoming crisp, affording better sleep at night now that the monotonous hum of fans and air conditioners is gone. The leaves are changing colors, gifting us with a gorgeous autumn rainbow of orange, yellow, red and brown. 

But with the fall and the soon to arrive winter, comes shorter visits from the sun each day. The skies take on a deeper hue of blue

and sadly for many of us, that darkness brings on different shades of blue: the winter blues.

These various shades of winter blues are often known by different names: SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder, the Dark Drabs, the Winter Willies, and the word many Christians think of as taboo - Depression.

Sadly, depression is a topic that isn't often spoken of in Christian circles because the belief that God is everything we need is interpreted incorrectly. Yes, He is all we need, but that doesn't mean that life will not have dark days. How many times was David engulfed by sadness and despair? Reading Psalms 6:2-3, I can identify with David's desperation when he cries to the Lord, "Have mercy on me Lord, for I am faint, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish".

It isn’t easy to appreciate the long, dark, cold winter when we’re in the middle of  a harsh season in our life. But in my case, sadness doesn't come from something that happened or anything I did or didnt do. Like the changing seasons, it just comes. What gets me through it some days is knowing that Jesus also experienced sadness and darkness, but He overcame it by looking to God for help. Psalm 121:2 is a reminder, that "my help comes from the Lord".

I remind myself that just as God uses the winter to prepare the earth for the beauty that lies ahead in Spring,  God may be using this dark season in my life for growth, depth, and new life for tomorrow. I imagine the snow melting and revealing sweet, 

new, colorful life...

And so, on those days when I feel like, "my splendor is gone...and I remember my affliction...and my soul is downcast within me...this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness!" [Lamentations 3:18-23]

And while I'm waiting for the sun and warmth to return, both inside and out, I REST, both physically and in Him.

If you suffer from sadness or depression, remember that God says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you REST."

R—Relationships. Surround yourself with loving, caring Christians. Have them pray for you and encourage you. 

E—Exercise. Even if it's just a walk around the block. It will relieve some stress.

S—Scripture. Turn to the Bible to find comfort and answers. Allow God to speak to you through His Word.

T—Trust. Place yourself in God’s hands. Trust Him to help you overcome sadness and depression.

In the great words of sweet little Orphan Annie, "the sun will come out tomorrow!"

Be Strong & Courageous by Nancy Soulemana

As a child and maybe a teen, I used to watch a cartoon named Courage, The Cowardly Dog. Courage was afraid of everything! However, he was named Courage! How can you be courageous and be a coward? That was not the label God gave us. You were meant to be courageous. Joshua 1:9 says, “Be Strong and Courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

When I think of strength, I think of being strong. I think of being independent. However, God does not expect us to be strong by ourselves. 2 Corinthians 12:9 states, “And He said to me, My Grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” How does that even make sense? How can God show Himself strong in my weakness?

We have to become dependent, we have to trust. That’s how God shows Himself strong. We must become childlike in order for God to show His strength. Proverbs 3:5 says it clearly, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Courage the Cowardly Dog had an inner strength. Even though he was a coward when faced with an obstacle, he used his inner strength to overcome. God gave us The Holy Spirit which lives in each and every one of us (Ephe. 1:13). With the power of The Holy Spirit, we can stand up to anything. Be strong and Courageous!

The Big Picture by Christina Calvache

Mostly everyone has heard of Joel Osteen, but did you know he took over his father’s ministry when his father passed away? And did you know that his mother Dodie Osteen was given a death sentence when diagnosed with cancer over 38 years ago? Everyone has a testimony. Her greatest testimony is how God progressively and miraculously healed her of cancer. She wanted everyone to know just how this happened and wrote a book called, “Healed from Cancer” by Dodie Osteen. It’s a step by step testimony of how she walked in victory. It’s a great book that speaks truth and help builds faith but mostly because it’s an action plan to be an overcomer of any disease.

When going through trials and tribulations in this world (1 Peter 1:6-7), It’s only natural to focus on what we are experiencing in the “here and now” or tend to take the “path of least resistance”. These things can sometimes narrow our view of what is really going on. At times, we need to ask God to show us the “bigger picture” and to broaden our perspective of what is really happening.

A Bigger Picture

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they literally walked with God. They had complete fellowship with Him and interacted with Him as closely as we have fellowship and interaction with each other. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, Adam and Eve would have never experienced sickness or death. It was because sin became part of mankind, so came with it, sickness and death.

God created us to have relationship with Him. He sent His Son Jesus as the final sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10) to overcome the sin separation. Through repentance and salvation the result of our sin is removed. restoring fellowship with God again! The kind of fellowship God intended for us to have, the kind that Adam and Eve had.

Another thing Adam and Eve lost that was given back to us through Jesus is authority and dominion over the earth and everything in it. In Genesis 1:26-28 God says that when he created people he gave them dominion over the earth and every living thing in it, He said to “subdue” it which Miriam Webster defines as:

Subdue 1: to conquer and bring into subjection : vanquish 2 : to bring under control especially by an exertion of the will : curb subdued my foolish fears 3 : to bring (land) under cultivation 4 : to reduce the intensity or degree of : tone down

Ephesians 6:12 explains that we wrestle with spiritual enemies under Satan. It’s a power struggle because although Satan lost his power over sin, sickness and death, people just don’t realize it, or know it. God says, “My people perish because of lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). We can reign, and overcome all things in this earth, through Jesus Christ (John 14:12). We have authority over the enemy which includes sickness (Luke 9:1).

Sickness is an enemy to our body. The word of God says that Jesus took your infirmities and sickness for you (Matthew 8:17). So why would God put it back on you? Would God’s will for your life include something that Jesus came to free you of? Sickness and disease became part of mankind but Jesus also resolved this problem for us!

Picture it

We stop short when we stop at Salvation. Some of us get so excited to get our foot through the door of Heaven we stop there. I have to admit, I’m happy to just make it in. But God’s purpose for sending His only Son, and then the Holy Spirit to empower us, is so that we can live a rich and abundant life (John 10:10), in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13), not the Land of the Lost (remember that show with the dinosaurs?) 3 John 1:2 makes this clear: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your souls prosper.

The Word teaches us that we have all power over the enemy (Luke 10:19). When we are afflicted with illness, we are engaged in a physical battle that needs to be fought physically with medical technology and spiritually with the one who has already overcome the world, Jesus. When the healing manifestation isn’t instant, it’s our time to stand in faith and fight, to subdue the sickness! The battle is fought by subduing the sickness through the spiritual: bringing it into subjection, bringing it under control in the supernatural (Luke 10:19). The Word says to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12), to run and not grow weary (Isaiah 40:31) and to speak to these things, “if God is for us who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28-31)

You are more than Conqueror through Christ! (Romans 8:37)

Your Picture

We all experience sickness in our lifetime. Depending on the type of medical treatments available, and our personal preference, treatments vary. How do you handle it when you get sick? I remember having such a bad virus I could hardly move. I was trying to ride it out and agonized for 4 days, praying over myself in my head because it literally hurt to speak. I had faith in the Word of God but it took a long while for that sickness to leave my body. Even though I knew as an heir of God I had authority over the sickness, it seemed to take too long to overcome. When we look at those who Christ healed in the Bible, one thing stands out. Most people who were healed by Jesus perused their healing from Jesus. Some testimonies are in Mark 10:47, Matt 8:13 and Mark 2:4. Their faith in knowing what Jesus can do helped them to eagerly seek Him out for the healing. Our faith has to be more than wishful thinking. The Word says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17), and that we have to work out our salvation (Phil 2:12-13). God is giving us instructions on what to do with our faith, in all areas of our life, including times of sickness.

Christ on the Cross took our sin, took our sickness and took the curse of death from us. He gave us redemption (1 Pet2:24), He healed our disease (Mat 8:17), and He gave us everlasting life (John 3:16). All this so we can walk, in this lifetime, with our Creator the way Adam and Eve did.