WARNING! Very personal & a little(?) preachy . . .

Scripture:  Good for Mental Health

A Personal Update

If you've been following my entries, you know that I've been struggling with a depressive cycle, including a lot of anxiety, since AUG. I seem to be working my way out of it, & I attribute this in no small way to prayers & encouragement from many, especially my spouse, who has had her own share of struggles alongside me. [Plus, she teaches 1st graders!]
      I think the news that my insurance company upheld my appeal & extended my disability benefits until FEB 2017 removed a huge source of anxiety for both of us. There is some anxiety over the pending likelihood of an early retirement date for me in MAR, but there is also a sense of closure.
      In the first year following my "sabbatical" from Lutheran High, which began in NOV 2014, I found myself with no excuse to set aside "quiet time" every day, usually in the morning after I got up. I've written about this before. My quiet time includes scripture, devotional readings, hymns, prayers. As I come to the end of the book I've primarily used during 2016, I've come to realize a big difference between this past year & my first year of "sabbatical."
      Many times during that first year I got lax with my quiet time. It wasn't unusual to get as much as a week behind, yet my OCD compelled me to follow-through with all the readings. I was using "A Year in the Old Testament," & I'll give you an example. I might have skipped a week of devotions, then spent the next week week doing two every day, just to cross off every reading in the book.
      That's no way to conduct meaningful quiet time--except that God's Word continues to have the effect that God intends.
      During this past year, I have found the spiritual energy to keep up with my devotional readings in "A Treasury of Daily Prayer," one of the resources that my brother Mark gave to me two years ago. [Thanks, Mark!] Rarely have a missed more than a day or two in a row, & when I do, I don't feel compelled to revisit the days I've missed & sweat over every "jot & tittle" that makes up every daily devotion.
      I still have a long way to go in my personal journey with the Lord. It's a daily struggle to keep my quiet time from becoming an obsessive exercise instead of the spiritual conversation with Jesus that it's meant to be. I continue to find solace in His Word, & I've included some Bible references that may look familiar. When I was excerpting entries from the sectional I presented at the L.E.A. Convocation last November, I included these Bible verses that provide some comfort & encouragement for me. This is the first time I've included all of them at one sitting. [And they represent a fraction of Scripture that provide hope & comfort for this life & the next.]
     My prayer is that if you struggle with depression, you find the Lord speaking His Truth to you from a place that is filled with truly glad tidings of great joy.

 Truth & Hope from Scripture

• “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
• “And we know that in all things God works for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
• “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
• “Therefore, my dear brothers & sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:58)
• “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith--& this not from  yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:8-10)
• “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s right hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
• “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)   
• [Jesus said], “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials & sorrows. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

A closing, prayerful (I hope) thought

Yesterday (SUN 12/18) I attended church at Trinity Lincoln w/my daughter & two grand-daughters. One of the hymns was an Advent favorite, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." * Stanza 6 really hit home for me, so I'm including it.

"O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall Come to thee, O Israel!

* LSB #357