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From Henri Nouwen’s “The Inner Voice of Love”:
You are constantly facing choices. The question is whether you choose for God or for your own self-doubting self. You know what the right choice is, but your emotions, passions, and feelings keep suggesting you choose the self-rejecting way.
The root choice is to trust at all times that God is with you and will give you what you most need. Your self-rejecting emotions might say, “It isn’t going to work. I’m still suffering the same anguish I did six months ago. I will probably fallback into the old depressive patterns of acting and reacting. I haven’t really changed.” And on an on.
It is hard not to listen to these voices. Still, you know that these are not God’s voice. God says to you, “I love you, I am with you, I want to see you come closer to me and experience the joy and peace of my presence. I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit. I want you to speak with my mouth, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, touch with my hands. All that is mine is yours. Just trust me and let me be your God.”
This is the voice to listen to. And that listening requires a real choice, not just once in a while, but every moment of each day and night. It is you who decides what you think, say, and do….Choose for the truth of what you know. Do not let your still anxious emotions distract you. As you keep choosing God, your emotions will gradually give up their rebellion and be converted to the truth in you.
You are facing a real spiritual battle. But do not be afraid. You are no alone. … Remember you are held safe. You are loved. You are protected. You are in communion with God and with those whom God has sent you. What is of God will last. It belongs to the eternal life. Choose it, and it will be yours.
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Therese J. Borchard writes the daily blog, Beyond Blue, on Beliefnet and is a regular contributor to the award-winning blog, World of Psychology, on Psych Central. Therese is the author of Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes and The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit. Subscribe to Beyond Blue, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter @thereseborchard.
Meet others on the journey in
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Therese J. Borchard writes the daily blog, Beyond Blue, on Beliefnet and is a regular contributor to the award-winning blog, World of Psychology, on Psych Central. Therese is the author of Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes and The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit. Subscribe to Beyond Blue, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter @thereseborchard.
posted October 20, 2009 at 10:18 am
thanks Therese-
I am going to print this out and carry it with me. Today, right now, I am too worn out to make that choice but I do have enough clarity to know that the choice is there.
you are such an encouragement and blessing to me. I am so thankful for you!
posted October 20, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Awesome.
Thank you.
God inspires you.
posted October 23, 2009 at 8:54 am
Not sure what UGG boots have to do with today’s post. More to the point, I have apparently been host to depression for many a year, but too clueless to acknowledge its presence. I have been working with a therapist now for at least 4 years, and we finally broke the ice early this year. I have also been reading a daily meditation called “Jesus Calling”, written in first person, “from Jesus.” It is inspiring to remember that,to paraphrase Mr. Nouwen, God is with me, I am not alone, I am held safe. “As you keep choosing God, your emotions will gradually give up their rebellion and be converted to the truth in you.” It works.