Pastor Sandy Wright North Patrick Charge – Ross-Harbour & Woolwine
United Methodist Churches
Where has all the time gone? I remember just celebrating New Years’ Day. Someone played with the calendar and now it’s February and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so you know what that means, right? Six more weeks of winter weather!
Six more weeks of cold, blustering wind, with no abundance of Vitamin D in the sun and for some nothing but blue days ahead. Blah, blah! I would not have believed that I would find winter as depressing, overbearing, and constricting. Yet, here I am!
How often do we let life pass us by and say “I’ll call so and so or I’ll visit so and so tomorrow” and tomorrow never comes? There is always something else that fills up your time and your day. You are tired, have a lack of energy, inability to concentrate, and you have no pleasure in activities you used to enjoy. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?
There is medical terminology called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Because the days are shorter and the nights are longer, often we can throw our biological clock out of order which reduces our serotonin levels in our brain and melatonin. These two chemicals in addition to many, many more can change our mood and deprive us of sleep. So, we curl up in a blanket in front of the television and watch the days go by.
We watch programs on television like soap operas, tear-jerker stories of families torn apart, and the news. These three program ideas can rob you of you joy, your laughter, and your thankfulness.
There is so much blame going about in the news that we find ourselves searching for someone else to blame for our troubles. We become engrossed in the angers of society that we carry anger around in our bodies and allow it to lead us in the direction that leads to utter sadness. Fear is one of Satan’s popular weapons because he causes us to believe when we are experiencing ‘dark times of the soul’ that God has forgotten us and no longer close by. When we are already feeling low we tend to listen to the people, the television, anything that speaks to that loneliness and the fear sets in. These practices can only bring us more stress and heartache. If we look to scripture for help and encouragement we can find a plethora of verses that remind us God is ALWAYS with us. For instance, Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go.”
Or Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your GOD; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
And another great one (for there are so many) is, Romans 8:38-39- “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor ‘ANYTHING’ (emphasis is mine) else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD.”There is a time when SAD becomes so unbearable that we must seek professional guidance to work our way out of the darkness we have surrounding us so tightly. And there is scripture that can also be a great source of help. In the meantime, know that I am praying for you to be healed in the name of Jesus!
