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by Sharon Dickerson (Author)
In the early 80's, before depression became an epidemic, I was a little girl that suffered dreadfully with depression. At the age of 12, I decided that I was done with life. I attempted suicide multiple times with multiple psychiatric hospitalizations. After 35 years, despite already being a Christian and a successful citizen, I finally figured out that this attack was spiritual. I started doing spiritual warfare with depression and OVERCAME it. I went on to help other people for which depression left and never came back. I believe that it is my calling to help other people learn to overcome depression.
Once, while watching television, I saw a commercial about depression. The Ad featured a woman walking down the street on a beautiful day. However, there was a robe, which representing depression would suddenly appear from behind a tree or any hiding spot it could find. The robe would latch onto her back as soon as the woman was happy. She would wrestle with the robe, tear it off and continue her walk. Unfortunately, the robe would be waiting around the corner for the next opportunity to jump on the woman again. This cycle continued repeatedly. Eventually, the woman resigned herself to the idea that the robe would always return, causing her never to stay happy.
This was my life for many years. Finally, God showed me that it was a spiritual attack that would require spiritual warfare to be defeated. After that, I put on my armor and fought. I can truly say that I finally won the battle with depression. This does not mean that I never get sad, but it does mean that I am finally happy. After learning how to fight depression and suicidal ideation, God placed it in my heart to help others. You may feel hopeless, but if you stay with the principle of fighting in the Spirit, I promise God's word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). If you believe in God, He wants and is willing to help you, But you must know what you are fighting against. There is a devil in the world, and his job is to destroy God's plans for your life.
Suppose you are embarking on a journey, and there is no option to skip it. You must take the journey.. On this journey, you have been warned that there are landmines buried, so you must walk carefully. However, imagine if I called you from the other side of the journey and said, "Hey, I have a map of where the landmines are." How would you treat that map? Would you put it in your pocket and look at it later? Would you leave it at your starting point? Would you look at it once a day? Or would you decide to refer to it frequently for guidance? You might say, I don't want to waste my day on something that might not work." But most of us spend hours on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Studies show that we spend approximately four hours and 37 minutes on our phones each day. While some of the things that we watch are useful, much of this time adds nothing tangible or necessary to our lives. It often leaves us feeling empty as we compare our entire day to someone's 5-second snapshot. I encourage you to think about what you get out of those four hours and 37 minutes. Invest in yourself. I hope that this book will be reference along your journey.
You may just be better off for it.
