#003 Dealing with Discouragement and Despair - 86 Seconds Video Devotional - Gary Wilkerson

Everybody gets discouraged and depressed at some time. You might try to confess it away or to affirm yourself away from it. But the reality is sometimes external circumstances get your heart to a place where you begin to be depressed and discouraged.

The question is, what do you do when you get depressed? That's what makes the difference between a righteous man and an unrighteous man. It's not that one will get depressed and the other won’t. It's what they do when they get to that place.

Maybe a more important question is who do you turn to when you're getting downcast and despairing and even depressed? You see, when you're fighting depression and discouragement, you're going be listening to something. Maybe it's yourself, maybe it's selfish ambition to try to get you up out of it and to take and chart a course of action in your life that is full of self-will.

On the other hand, you can listen to the voice of the Lord. Begin to trust him and say, God, what is your way? God, in that still small voice, gave Elijah direction. But not only that, he gave him peace and a sense of his presence. And once Elijah had that presence, he's back up and running again. That same thing can happen for you and I. We don't have to be stuck in depression, nor do we have to fight it in our own strength with our own self-will and self-ambition. We can defeat discouragement. We can defeat depression. We can rise up out of it by waiting on the Lord, by hearing his voice, but not just his voice, but looking to his face saying, "God, restore to me the joy of my salvation. God restore to me that sense of your presence." Because when you have the presence of the Lord, you have everything you need.