Handling depression:
The rainy season is here and the very thought of going to school or work in the rain is enough to cast a pall of gloom over us. The sky is full of dark clouds, there are some showers, and it is very depressing.
It is really surprising how many people go through life feeling depressed. Psychoanalysts make a lot of money trying to counsel people how to cope with depression. Depression is common in our society. It is not a recent phenomenon. Abraham Lincoln suffered depression. So do many icons of today. Many kings and rulers suffered depression. Do you realize that Hagar suffered depression when she was alone in the desert with Ishmael? What about King Saul? Read the Psalms closely and you will see that David suffered with depression at times. The book of Job is a classic example of depression. Elijah’s experience after coming down from Mount Carmel is similar to what happened to Jonah after the people of Nineveh fasted and prayed to Yahweh.

1. Avoid self pity. Let’s read 1 Sam.22:7. When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered, Saul said to his servants around him, "Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds?" Is he going to make you all rich? Are you going to his side for political reasons? What about me? Don’t you pity me? It draws you further and further and further down, and if you are not careful, you can not find the way out. If were not careful, the cycle of depression and self pity can drag us down so much that we begin to turn against Yahweh, becomes very serious. We have to avoid that.

2. Do something. 1Ki. 19:15-16.  And Jehovah said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room
What Elohim does for him at this point is, He gives him something to do. When you are down; when you are depressed, do something. When were down, we need to have something that is demanding, that requires concentration, that absorbs us, that draws us in and gets our mind off things. There are many things that we can do like painting, composing music, learning new computer software, maybe writing. But we have to do something. Volunteer work can also be very good, especially for people who are still in good health and they have reached retirement.  

3.Dont stay in the dark.. 1Ki 19:11. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. It is dark in a cave. Natural light makes a huge difference to our mood. Did you every notice that? Do not dwell in darkness. Go where there is light. Simply go for a walk when the sun comes out, go for a walk. Take advantage. It may not last very long. The sun may disappear behind a cloud. When it gets dark, it gets you down. You don’t feel good. You don’t feel energetic. Light has a huge effect on our mood..

4. Get your mind off yourself. Jonah 4. Jonah did not like Ninevites, and he was not pleased about the fact the Ninevites repented. The Ninevites were nasty people and very cruel, and Jonah did not like them even though they repented.
We need to get our minds off ourselves. When we are feeling down, thinking about ourselves makes it worse. We get to feeling bad, self pitying, life has done us wrong, we sit there and were thinking about ourselves. Once we get into such a mood, it gets worse. Isolation makes us feel alone. Sometimes when you talk to people who are going through depression and feeling down and you say to them, "Why don’t you go and talk to someone?"

5. Think of Yahweh. Proverbs: 12:25 - Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but a good word maketh it glad. It is very important when we have these low moments and we go through depression, to maintain our relationship with our loving, caring Father in heaven. We know Elohim cares about us, we know Elohim loves us; but sometimes we don’t know it emotionally. We overlook it emotionally. We don’t feel like praying, we just want to stay in bed. We dont feel like studying the Bible.

We just don’t feel like doing anything. When we are really low emotionally we have to push ourselves to do some things. It can jolt us out of that depression. II Corinthians 12:9 - The apostle Paul had his low moments. Yahweh knows that you have your difficult moments. Paul talking about a revelation he had from Messiah. “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Sometimes when we are weak, Elohim is strong. We need to remember that about our Elohim. Sometimes when we have our problems and our difficulties and our sins, and we think, "I can not talk to Elohim because he will find out about it." He knows it anyway. Sometimes when were depressed, that is the moment when we need to force ourselves to get down on our knees and talk to our Creator. He knows what it is.

King David understood this, a man after Elohim’s own heart. We think he never went through a depression. How could a man after Elohim’s own heart possibly have ever been down?
Psalms 6. David He cried so much that his pillow was drenched. Sometimes when we hit bottom, that is the time that Elohim really intervenes for us. David understood that Elohim intervenes at our weak moments when were down. Psalms. 43: 5.tells how depressed David was. There was no one to encourage him so he continues and tells us to hope and trust in Elohim, he praises Elohim who is the health of our countenance and his Elohim

Isaiah: 61:1 - The Spirit of Elohim is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
V.3 - To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Don’t tell Elohim how big your problem is. Tell your problem how big Elohim is.