(1) TAXES CAN BE DEPRESSING
We continuously hear of the problems of our school systems. When you ask the school board what it is going to take to solve this problem, they say, “MORE MONEY!”
• Will Rogers said that Alexander Hamilton originated the “put and take system” in our national treasury: the taxpayers put it in, and the politicians take it out.
• When it comes to taxes, one man said, “Everybody should pay his income tax with a smile. I tried it, but they wanted cash.”
• Another man said, “I went to Washington and visited the Tax Department. I just wanted to see the people I'm working for.”
• Another man said, “With my latest raise, I can now afford to pay last year's taxes.”
• Another man said, “When a Congressman says he's for a tax cut - it simply means he wants his cut of your taxes.”
• Will Rogers said, “The income tax has made liars out of more American people than golf has.”
Illus: An honest letter was sent to the Internal Revenue Service. It stated: "Dear Sirs: I cannot sleep. Last year, when I filed my income tax return, I deliberately misrepresented my income. Enclosed is a check for $150 for taxes. If I still cannot sleep, I will send you the rest later!" (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 285-286.)
We all detest paying taxes because we try to live within our income so we can afford to pay taxes to a government that can't live within its income.
Illus: Golf is much like taxes - you drive hard to get to the green and then wind up in the hole.
Listen! It is enough to make anyone depressed when you think of how Uncle Sam takes almost 50% of our income each year.
(2) THE NEWS MEDIA CAN BE DEPRESSING
Illus: Before the war with Iraq, they reported that, “Rumor has it that the American military has ordered some 9,000 body bags for the Iraqi conflict.” Listen, isn’t the news media supposed to report the FACTS, not rumors?
Rumors have caused many problems in this country.
Illus: Did you know that Abraham Lincoln's coffin was pried open twice?
• The first occasion was in 1887, twenty-two long years after his assassination, because of a rumor that his coffin was empty. A select group of witnesses observed that the rumor was totally false, then watched as the casket was resealed with lead.
• The second time was fourteen years later, when again there was a rumor that his coffin was empty. In spite of the strong protests of Lincoln's son Robert, the body was exposed a second time. Officials felt the rumors should be laid to rest along with the Civil War president.
• Finally, the corpse was permanently embedded in a crypt at Springfield.
Rumors have caused all kinds of problems. They have destroyed governments, wrecks marriages, ruined careers, destroyed reputations, caused nightmares, spawned suspicion, and generated grief.
Rumor is no more than gossip. Before you repeat a story, ask yourself:
• Is it true?
• Is it fair?
• Is it necessary?
…If not, forget it.
The News media in this country spreads rumors each day. If you try to find the truth, they say, “I have to protect my sources!” Listen, sources do not need to be protected, THE TRUTH NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED!
Every day, some of the worst news they can dig up is dropped into our laps, such as:
• Everybody hates America
• The economy is going down the drain
• The stock market is crashing
• Unemployment is rising
• Gas prices are shooting through the ceiling
• There are corporate layoffs
• New taxes are being imposed on us
• There are CEO scandals
Every day we hear all this bad news, no wonder that many are DEPRESSED.
(3) PERSONAL NEWS CAN BE DEPRESSING.
Many of you are struggling right now with personal news, because the doctor has told you that you have a HEALTH PROBLEM.
Illus: I overheard two older men talking about their health problems at our church.
• One said, "My new doctor doesn't just treat the symptoms, he treats both the mind and the body."
• "Hmm," the second man grunted and thought for a moment; then he asked, "Does he give a discount if the mind is already gone?" (Clarice Lukenbill, Spencer, Ind. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare.")
Perhaps you’ve gone out of your way to improve your health but you have a body that is not cooperating. A body that doesn’t cooperate is certainly depressing.
(4) FINANCIAL PROBLEMS CAN BE DEPRESSING
Illus: A guy named John put this message on his answering machine. “Hi. This is John:
• If you are the phone company, I already sent the money.
• If you are my parents, please send money.
• If you are my financial aid institution, you didn’t lend me enough money.
• If you are my friends, you owe me money.
• If you are a female, don’t worry I have plenty of money.”
Knowing you owe money that you do not have can be extremely depressing
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” It is depressing to be enslaved by debt.
Illus: Earl Wilson says, “If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.”
I know many you face enormous financial problems, and that is a main source of your depression.
(5) BAD RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE DEPRESSING
Illus: A man said, “My wife says I never listen to her. At least I think that’s what she said.”
• Maybe right now you are struggling with communication in your marriage. You don’t feel as if your spouse is listening to you and you can’t tell them how you feel.
• Perhaps you are a frustrated husband whose wife is constantly nagging or you just don’t see eye to eye.
Illus: There’s a sarcastic bumper sticker obviously designed by a bitter husband that reads, “My wife’s other car is a broom.”
When negative emotions are that intense in a relationship, it can certainly lead to feelings of depression.
(6) PERSONAL SINS CAN BE DEPRESSING
David said, in Psalm 38:21, "Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me." David’s sin had caused him to be depressed.
Every one of us has to battle with sin, and many are losing the battle in some area of their life. The personal struggle with SIN can be depressing.
Perhaps you are enslaved by an addiction and the struggle never seems to end. It is discouraging to battle the same old behaviors.
• You can’t stop drinking
• You can’t stop lusting
• You can’t stop spending
• You can’t stop smoking weed
• You can’t stop shooting up cocaine
You have sin that keeps calling your name and you can’t resist.
There are all kinds of things in our life that can wipe the smile off our face and fill our hearts with sadness. Let’s get a better look at what is-
I. THE CAUSE OF DEPRESSION
Sometimes it is a chemical imbalance. When this is the case:
• We can go to a doctor and if he is a good doctor, he will recognize the problem and get our bodies regulated. We then are able to get back to normal living again. But we can go to one of these pill doctors and our condition will only get worse.
• We can go to a good nutritionist who has the skills to recognize our bodies are lacking certain nutrients and they can restore that which is lacking, and we are back to normal again.
Many times the depression that people face has nothing to do with chemicals or nutrition. It is because we are looking in the WRONG PLACE to find happiness and satisfaction.
II. THE CURE FOR DEPRESSION
One of the best examples of DEPRESSION and the overcoming of DEPRESSION can be found in the life of the third King of Israel, SOLOMON!
God used this wise man to write three books of the Old Testament:
• The Book of Solomon
• The Book of Ecclesiastes
• The Book of Proverbs
He was a very outstanding man.
Many of the men in this congregation would like to have been KING SOLOMON.
Illus: A man finds an old bottle while walking on the beach. He picks it up, pulls out the cork and out pops a genie.
• The genie says, "Thank you for freeing me from the bottle. In return I will grant you three wishes."
• The man says "Great! First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account." Poof! There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers appears in his hand.
• He continues, "Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here." Poof! There is a flash of light and a bright red brand-new Ferrari appears right next to him.
• He continues, "Finally, I want to be irresistible to women." Poof! There is a flash of light and he turns into a box of chocolates!
Solomon had one wish, and that was to be the wisest man on the face of the earth so that he could rule on the throne in wisdom and fairness! A wise person has a tremendous advantage in life.
Illus: The average person can attend a college class and a professor can give the lecture and they can comprehend about 800 to 900 words a minute. But a genius can hear and comprehend 1200 to 1500 words a minute. All this takes place while the average man is scratching his head to comprehend something the genius has already comprehended.
God asked Solomon what he wanted, and he wanted wisdom. People came from all over the world to hear this man’s wisdom.
But because God was pleased with what he wanted, God also gave him many more things.
• He had fame
• He had power
• He had prestige
• He had romance
• He had material things
This man had everything a man could desire; yet he cries out over and over about how miserable he is.
There are people in this congregation that think that if they had these things, they would be the happiest person on the face of this earth. But if you had all these things, you would discover what Solomon and many others have discovered, that is, THINGS DO NOT SATISFY!
This is a man WHO HAS EVERYTHING, but he seems to feel that he HAS NOTHING!
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:1-17, we read, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.”
I want to tell you again; this is a man who, according to the world’s estimation, should have been on the MOUNTAINTOP but he is DEEP IN THE VALLEY OF DEPRESSION.
Illus: Big achievers in life generally have a hard time with depression. They become used to being winners, and they do not know how to accept defeat. When defeat does come, it can lead them into a GREAT DEPRESSION!
Illus: Legend has it that Alexander the Great wept after he had conquered the world, saying, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
When, after working hard, you finally reach your goal, you can experience A GREAT DEPRESSION!
Most men will never have what Solomon had, and the devil will say to them, “IF YOU HAD THESE THINGS YOU WOULD BE HAPPY!” But God’s Word shows us a man who HAD ALL THESE THINGS, YET HE CONCLUDED THAT LIFE IS ONE BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.
Illus: Do you know why most of the movie actors and actresses are constantly visiting a psychiatrist? It is because they:
• Have nice homes
• Have nice clothes
• Have nice cars
• Have fame
They have everything they have been told should make them happy, but they are not happy!
They have money to buy anything they want to buy. But they have found out that having all these things can’t buy happiness.
WHERE DOES REAL LIFE COME FROM? Jesus said, in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Conclusion:
We can overcome depression when the GOOD and the BAD face us.
Illus: When Christopher Reeves was thrown from a horse and paralyzed from the neck down, it changed his life completely.
• One day his daughter said to his wife, "Mommy daddy can’t walk anymore can he?" "No," Dana replied, "Daddy can’t walk any more."
• "Mommy," she asked, "Daddy can’t move his arms anymore can he?"
• "No," Dana answered, "Daddy can’t move his arms anymore."
• Then she sat up real straight and look her in the eye and said, "But mommy, daddy can still smile can’t he?"
So can we! When you reach the conclusion that Solomon reached, you can smile again. After trying everything that the world had to offer to find peace and satisfaction, Solomon finally found it.
Look at Eccl. 12:13-14, we read, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
In other words, he said that life is all about Fearing God and keeping His commandments.
We have looked at:
I. THE CAUSE OF DEPRESSION
II. THE CURE FOR DEPRESSION
