I will be the first to admit that I do not understand depression very well. It is something I have not had to deal with very often in my life, but, I meet people on a routine basis that struggle with it daily. My devotion today talked about God giving us a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. We all get discouraged. We all despair at times. Some of us struggle with this more than others. It is part of the human condition. I am thankful that modern medicine has helped us to better understand issues surrounding depression. Through the wisdom that God has provided, there are many helpful medical solutions to treat these issues. Isaiah 61 is full of amazing promises from God that were fulfilled when Jesus came to the world two thousand years ago. (Isaiah 61:3 And provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They shall be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.) I am not sure how it works for others, but the less I focus on the negative things in my day, the more I am able to live and experience the positive. The more I realize God is in control and in charge of everything that happens to me, the more I am able to keep that heaviness from settling on my shoulders to carry all day. My prayer today is that we would all see the bigness and greatness of our God and Father. I pray that we would all receive a supernatural perspective from heaven itself and the result would be that God would clothe us with a garment of praise in exchange for a spirit of heaviness. Pastor Don [image: image.png]