Suicide and Depression

December 3, 2011 at 8:32 pm (Daily Devotions, God, God's Desires, God's Will, Grace and Mercy, Healing, Hope, Power, Sovereignty)
Tags: depression, God, Healing, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus, power, sovereignty, suicide

Depression or Suicide
Are depression and suicide outside of God’s will and desires for us?
Yes they are, and here are the scriptures to teach us about such things.
These scriptures and many more can teach us how to abide in God’s sovereignty, healing, hope, and power for our lives.

1. Depression and Suicide reject God’s Sovereignty
What is the definition of God’s Sovereignty?
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary:
Sovereignty of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure.

What is God’s Sovereignty towards us?
1Peter 5:6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (NIV)
Daniel 4:35
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (KJV)
Romans 9:15-18
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (NIV)
What should a person do that has suicidal thoughts or depression to stay inside the will of God?
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Psalm 55:22
22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (NIV)
1Peter 5:6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (NIV)

2. Depression and Suicide reject God’s power to heal

What is the definition of God’s healing?
From the STONGS definition
Greek root word:
therapeuo, ther-ap-yoo’-o
to wait upon menially, i.e. (figuratively) to adore (God), or (specially) to relieve (of disease):–cure, heal, worship.
From the Hebrew root word:
apr rapha’, raw-faw’ or raphah {raw-faw’};
a primitive root; properly, to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure:–cure, (cause to) heal, physician, repair, thoroughly, make whole.

What promise of Healing does God provide?
Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (NIV)
Psalm 147:3
3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (NIV)
Luke 6:17-23
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon,
18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured,
19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. (NIV)

3. Depression and Suicide reject God’s plan of hope

What is the definition of Hope?
From the STRONGS definition

Greek root word:
elpiv elpis, el-pece’
from a primary elpo (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:–faith, hope.

Hebrew root word:
03176. lxy yachal, yaw-chal’
to wait; by implication, to be patient, hope:–(cause to, have, make to) hope, be pained, stay, tarry, trust, wait.

What is God’s Hope for mankind?
Psalm 119:114
114 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. (NIV)
Psalm 119:116
116 Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. (NIV)
Psalm 146:5-6
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– the LORD, who remains faithful forever. (NIV)
Proverbs 13:12
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (NIV)
Romans 12:12
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (NIV)
Romans 15:13
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
Ephesians 1:18-21
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,
20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (NIV)

4. Depression and Suicide reject God’s power over your life

What is the definition of God’s Power?
From the STRONGS definition

Greek root word:
dunamiv dunamis, doo’-nam-is
force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself):–ability, abundance, meaning, might(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.
Hebrew root word:
03581. xk koach, ko’-akh
kowach {ko’-akh}; from an unused root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard: -ability, able, chameleon, force, fruits, might, power(-ful), strength, substance, wealth

What Power does God have over our lives?
Isaiah 40:28-29
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (NIV)
Psalm 29:11
11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. (NIV)

What Power does God give to us?
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NIV)
Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (NIV)
2Titus 1:7
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (NIV)