Recently, I had a 26-year-old spiritual granddaughter move to heaven due to a blood clot. It came out of nowhere. On Saturday, she was having a great day with her fiancé, on Sunday, she was teaching small children in Children’s Church, and on Monday, she was fighting for her life.
Emily was an amazing young lady. She loved deeply. She loved people who were hurting from depression and anxiety. You see, Emily battled the same thing. There was a difference in the way she fought. She stood up against it. She never took ownership of depression and anxiety.
This doesn’t sound like a depressed person, but a person who had a desire to help those fighting battles of their own. A coworker posted on Facebook,
“We were assigned to work in the storage room working together both battling depression and anxiety. We turned that storage room into our worship room. We sang and praised every day in that room. We swapped stories of how good God has been to us. Sometimes we cried and talked through our emotions. A lot of demons were battled in that room every day with us. I made sure to tell you on a regular basis how you saved me during that time in my life. Brought my light back and helped me put my focus back on God and not my sinking mental health.”
This doesn’t sound like someone who battled anxiety. Emily had figured out that God was her source. She realized without Him, she would lose her battle, but with worship and praise, nothing was impossible.
Psalm 9:1 (NLT) “I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart, I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.”
Psalm 30: 11-12 (NLT) “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent, O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!”
Psalm 28:7 (NLT) “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
Emily’s roommate, a dear friend from high school, posted on social media,
“Emily was a friend to everyone. She spoke life into those she loved. She would scold you if you tried to say anything negative about yourself. She made sure you knew your worth.”
Again, this does not sound like a person battling depression and anxiety, but she did. She would take her eyes off herself and love others because she knew the thoughts and feelings she dealt with.
As I have pondered the life this young lady lived, I thought about my own insecurities, anxieties, and times of disappointment. How do we fight these thoughts? How do we overcome them and not let them control us by taking away our joy? In Lamentations, we are reminded that God’s mercies are new every morning. That means every morning we should know that God is with us and nothing can control us as long as we allow God to be first and foremost in our daily walk.
When we take the thoughts in our minds captive and refuse to let the negative take control, we can overcome what is trying to destroy us. My dear friend decided to take her pain and use it to help others. She decided this was how she would fight the battle.
When Brandon Lake released the song Hard Fought Hallelujah. Emily told everyone about the song. It became a favorite of hers. Since she moved to heaven, I looked up the lyrics, and now I know why she loved it. It spoke the words she felt so many times.
“I don’t always feel it
But that’s when I need it the most
So, I’ma keep on singing
Til my soul catches up with my song
There’s times when my hands go up freely
And times that it costs
There’s days when a praise comes out easy
Days when it takes all the strength I got
I’ve wrestled with the darkness
But I’m trying to reach for the light
The struggle keeps me honest
And it breaks down the walls of my pride
Cause faith isn’t proven like gold
Til it’s been through the fire
My head, heart, and hands are feeling heavy
But that’s when I lift them just a little higher.
I’ll bring my heart-fought, heartfelt
Been through hell, hallelujah
I’ll bring my storm-tossed, torn sail
Story to tell Hallelujah
God, you’ve been gracious
Faithful, whatever I’m feeling or facing
I’ll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt, it is well, Hallelujah.”by Brandon Lake, November 2024
To overcome anxiety and depression, we go to God in every situation we are dealing with and surrender it to Him. In Psalm 55, it says to cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will sustain you. I believe that when Emily took her negative thoughts and cast them to the Lord, she would be able to encourage someone to do the same.
If you believe God, take the negative thoughts captive, decide to take the focus off yourself, and look to help someone else, you will become stronger. Cast your cares on God, and He will take care of you.
Patti League
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#pattileagueblogs