Dear beloved friends,
What is a blog? According to Oxford Dictionary, a blog is a “A regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style” (Lexico.com)[1]. An informal or conversational style, hm…. What is an informal style? When I started writing more structured works for the blog in 2018, I hadn’t really looked at the definition, but when I looked it up during a conflict, I saw my own works as informal in the sense that I wrote them in the first person. That is true that the first person is informal. For example, I’m not going to write in the first person on the upcoming AP Lang essay. However, here I want to focus on the more conversational side of informal so that I can connect with you better in what I am about to share. So, with that out of the way, let’s begin.
So, you haven’t heard from any of us on the TLM team in a while except for an occasional email from myself. What happened after Finding Focus 2020? Well, it really started back in the fall when I started having trouble getting myself to write. I could put together an essay for school, and I wanted to write a blog post or my next book, but I couldn’t get myself to write anything. After spending a lot of time on Finding Focus 2020, I exhausted myself and needed a break, but that break never really ended; it overwhelmed me. Additionally, I continued to struggle with a particular sin, and that weighed me down even more into this depression. Reading the Word of God and praying became a struggle as well, and at that point, I couldn’t write at all.
After a couple months of being in that depression, I brought up the topic with Dave and Mr. Diestler. As I started to talk with them about it, I started to feel relief in opening up as they gave me advice, encouragement, and prayed with me, AND EVERYTHING GOT IMMEDIATELY BETTER. I was able to write blog posts and make YouTube videos again… No, that’s not what happened. While I did feel encouragement, the dryness of the season still hanged around me except for breaks from it every time I entered into God’s presence with praise. However, I would leave church or the shower just to fall back into the same spiritual and emotional mess.
When school closed due to Covid-19, my situation didn’t get better either. I dealt with emotional stress from home, drama on a Discord server, and continued homework. Shortly after, as result of being on a Discord server, God opened up an opportunity to heal a friendship. As God restored the relationship, my emotions pushed me to act in a way that led to the destruction of our friendship. As I started to go down that path ever so slightly and then stopped, the secrecy of my feelings flooded me, adding to the dry season. After a couple weeks, my feelings died down, and the friendship became more normal. Additionally, the week of Easter, reading the Word of God and praying became easier, preparing me to write this address to you all as God led me.
So, I just explained what happened for myself, but I would be blind to say that no one else is dealing with stress and anxiety. As a few friends approached me saying that it was becoming harder to write, I realized that it wasn’t just I who was going through a dry season. Was this a coincidence? I think not. I believe that many of us Christians are under attack from the devil, who is bringing a depression upon us, and God is allowing it as a time of testing to build our faith. With coronavirus causing us to stay at home, the struggle is to keep moving forward in life as we need to mix our home and work lives and stay away from the friends and family that we love.
My dear friends, I know that life has been a struggle, and I want to encourage you with the Word of God. First and foremost, one of our stresses in a wilderness period comes from a lack of energy or commitment to endure life. Life has seasons with different purposes. If your hobby is writing, perhaps you are going through a season without a motivation to write. That’s okay if that’s according to God’s will. On the other hand, God may be calling you to write, and the devil could be coming against you with heavy opposition. Either way, you can treat your sorrows with praise and worship of Him. Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) says, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” So, when we, according to Psalm 100:4 (NKJV), “enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise,” we receive the satisfaction and joy of being grateful and dependent on Christ. Through our dependence on Him, God will empower us to do His will and share His love. As He says in II Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV), “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Simply put, your life has meaning, and God will empower you to fulfill that meaning as you experience His joy!
Next, you may find yourself not knowing what to do in these times of depression. In experiencing God’s joy in His presence, reach out to Him and ask for wisdom in faith. James 1:6 (NKJV) says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” The Holy Spirit “will guide you into all truth” and “take of what is [Christ’s] and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14 NKJV), especially in these times of the unknown. Remember to “ask in faith with no doubting” (James 1:6 NKJV) because such people are “unstable in all [their] ways” (James 1:8 NKJV) and shouldn’t “suppose that [they] will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:7 NKJV). I don’t say this to scare you but rather to encourage you to ask God and be 100% sure that He will give you perfect wisdom in this wilderness period of your life.
The first couple points are about praying to God, but in addition to praying, you receive strength from God with the Word of God. As you study God’s Word, the Lord will correct you and instruct you in righteousness so that you “may be complete” and “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV). In other words, God’s Word will give you the tools to do His will for you this season and will change you to be more like Him. When you feel depressed, remember that “in [God’s] presence is fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 NKJV). If you have a traumatic experience, you can know that God is working everything together for your good if you love God (see Romans 8:27-29). If you are anxious, look to Philippians 4:6-7 that you can be at peace as if there were no wilderness period going on. When you see a friend in trouble, you can use the Word of God to encourage that person to live in the hope of God. After all, God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit to fight the devil’s attacks on your life (see Ephesians 6:10-18).
Now this is going to be hard for many, but you need to reach out to someone you trust. My depression didn’t get better by trying to work it out alone, and it didn’t magically disappear when I opened up to Dave and Mr. Diestler, but it did help to pray with them and hear their advice. For example, Mr. Diestler shared that I may not be called to write in every season of life. Maybe God would have inspired me to write that day we talked, or maybe He wouldn’t have put on my heart to write anything for a while. For that season as I struggled with my faith, I believe that it was God’s call for me to focus on reading the Word, praying, and keeping up on my schoolwork. So, my beloved friends, reach out to your accountability partners and closest friends, who should always be Christians, and hear what they have to say. Pray with them and know that when you and another “are gathered in [Jesus’] name, [He is] there in the midst” (Matthew 18:20).
In conclusion to this letter, God put on my heart recently to address you during this time of depression for many, and I want you know that it’s okay because God is allowing everything in your life for your good. I’m still enduring this wilderness season, but it is my plan is to write more often to bring encouragement to you as we endure in Christ together. Until then, look for the moments of joy in the middle of the storms in life and know that there is always hope because God loves you! In the hardest points of your life, reach out to God first and then your godly peers and accountability partners. Let God’s joy fill you and empower you to live the rest of your life in faith in Christ and listen to the godly advice given to you. Lastly, I pray that you will abide in the life-giving Word of God and be set free from your sin and depression by the Truth, Who is Christ!
COMMITTING TO GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE,
Jeremiah Yonemura
[1] “Blog.” Oxford Dictionary, 1884, www.lexico.com/en/definition/blog.