Because life isn’t always sunshine and puppy dog tails….and it is OKAY to bring that part of you to the table too. Pull up a chair and have conversation with it….and about it.
Surely we’ve learned by now that life is to short to hide behind the curtain of perfection. Keeping you trapped with the illusion of control, it is nourished by fear. Movements limited by the box you’ve constructed around you. Each layer of protection adding a brick to the pile, building until it towers over you, impairing your vision… and ability to see the future. When hope retreats, the shadows slithers in.
Shining a light on the pieces I’d rather hide leaves me vulnerable. Yes.
It allows space for judgment. Yes.
But where there is light, darkness must flee.
I fight the demon of depression with all my might. Tremendously thankful that he rarely wins these days. However, it isn’t for lack of trying on his part. Like an old boyfriend who thinks there is a snowball’s chance that the love will rekindle, he shows up regularly at the gate holding roses and calling my name.
“Aren’t you tired? Sick and tired? Come rest in my arms.” he whispers
Tossing a small wave as I walk by the pen that contains him, I smile internally. Smirking because today I have the upper hand. He doesn’t know just how blessed I am. Don’t misunderstand, he isn’t interested in hearing. Unreasonable and manipulative, he is. He disputes my truth, throwing daggers into my picture perfect memory. But today I move like a ninja, avoiding his taunts with quickness and agility. My bouncy step flippant to his gestures. His words rolling off my shoulders, crashing on the cement beneath my feet, my ears muffle the sounds.
Admittedly, though, there are times I get a little to close to the fence. Mesmerized by the reflection of self pity, he pulls me in. His breath swirling into mine. Brushing the hair out of my eyes he requests a dissertation of all the wrongs. His arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer as I melt into him. Buying me drinks while we talk, he piles each ill on top of the other. Stacking like a game of Jenga. Trusting him now, I mouth the last crime against my heart. Before the sentence completes, the ills tumble to the ground, embarrassing me with erupting sound of shattering glass in an otherwise quiet room. Heads turning quickly in my direction to see the mess I’ve made. It is public humiliation. Knowing my weaknesses, he pushes my emotions to the top until they over flow, spilling out in the form of tears.
He is no friend of mine.
Yet my feet do not move. Stuck as he dives deeper into my pain exposing wounds that have yet to heal. I’m paralyzed in the darkness. Weak from being in the pit to long, the lack of sunshine and food. I use the last remaining scraps of energy I can muster to rally the truths of Faith. I lean into the scripture they speak, allowing it to form a shield against my body. Limp from exhaustion, their wings carry me to the safety of the sidelines… and I rest.
Breathing in God’s grace until my lungs are full, I rise stronger than the time before. Bones mended, heart healing by the freshly oxygenated blood in my veins. Vowing to never return to this cottage of despair, I stand to brush the dirt from my backside, shaking lose the excess. My legs still wobbly, I walk towards the sun. It’s light eclipsing the mess I’m leaving behind.
Desperate for more control over the curves thrown my direction. I recant the words softly spoken over me in battle.
Choose Life. Choose Happiness.
One of my favorite songs that help me walk into the sun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzGAYNKDyIU
Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave
Chats A Lot 
What a insightful way to explain depression and faith to others! Please share this with with your church.
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