The Abundant Christian Life

The Why Not Run? Workshop Series

In the last post I mentioned how the Why not Run? Workshop seeks to figure out what holds you back from living the abundant Christian Life. So a good follow up question would be, What is the abundant Christian Life?

I will answer that in the following weeks, but today I want to share about one thing that it is NOT.

The Blinding Deception of Depression

Depression is the act of our spirits being pressed down. It’s a lack of joy, a lack of hope, a lack of passion. It steals our energy, our creativity, and our vision. Our time disappears and at the end of the day we wonder what we did that was worth our effort. We go to bed so exhausted we can’t sleep. We scroll through endless reels on social media, listen to motivating speeches and still feel depleted and empty.

Depression starts small and grows over time. Sometimes we don’t recognize its presence in our life because it’s not extreme enough to need medication.

Depression is not just blind, it’s deceiving.

It lies to us and tells us we are fine.

We begin to believe that because there are others in worse situations that our circumstances aren’t that bad.

We try to look at the positive in life while at the same time deceiving ourselves that we are okay.

But are we?

Are our souls really okay?

Is our spirit really fine?

If we were to be completely honest when someone asked us how we were, what would we say?

Would we even have the words to answer?

Do we even know how we feel; how we are?

Depression was such a normal part of my life that when someone prayed over me and the fog lifted, I didn’t know you could feel happiness to that extent before. Sure I had been happy, but this felt more like joy! Even when I’m sad now, I still have this peace, joy, and contentment that sits deep in my soul. The sadness feels only like a surface problem, not a core issue.

According to my theory, a lot of times, we are so lonely and hurt that continuing to sit in our sadness is actually comforting. And if we have done that long enough, it can become awkward to feel anything else.

For me it was almost scary.

My soul was so used to feeling sad that I would often retreat there in my thoughts. I would find myself missing the attention my sad state got because now I felt lonely. A deep loneliness.

Recently my nervous system has become more comfortable with not feeling depressed and has slowly been accepting the new feelings. I have to keep reminding myself that I will get used to it, I just need time.

To enjoy the freedom of Christ in my heart has been an interesting transition. But one that I know will be worth it.

To prepare yourself for the upcoming posts, the verse below shares more about what the abundant Christian life is better than my mere words ever could. I challenge you to think about this verse and ask God what it is that the enemy wants to steal, what he is trying to kill, and what he wants to destroy in your life. Then ask Him what true life is.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. – John 10:10

In the next post I plan on sharing what the difference is between joy and happiness. Most people seek out happiness as a necessary part of the Christian life. Though, God enjoys making us “happy”, He desires more to give us joy, which is an extremely important part of the abundant Christian life.

But until then,

Happy Running!