Sometimes having to stay home from church is a real blessing. One of my boys is a bit under the weather, so here I am having a day of rest in the relative quiet of having only two boys at home instead of four. I tried to read my Bible, but I couldn’t concentrate… So I grabbed a book I have been meaning to read for several years now. It’s just a little book, and I’ve heard great things about it, but I’ve never managed to get past the first few pages before. Today was different though -and I praise God for it!
The book is called Slaying the Giant: Practical Help for Understanding, Preventing and Overcoming Depression by French O’Shields.
When I was a little girl, Dr. O’Shields lived across the street and was the pastor of our church. My mother assures me he was a wonderful preacher, but before I was old enough to appreciate him he wasn’t our pastor anymore. He had developed a rare vocal condition and had to leave the pastorate. As a result of this, he fell into a deep depression. This little book is a chronicle of how God led him out of the pit. My mom has always said it is one of the best books on depression ever written -but every time I tried to read it…Well, I think I was too depressed to get into it. 
But right now I’m only a little depressed. Besides, I am motivated for you…and you…and you. I know you are in the depths right now. As I told one of you in an email, I know that place where you are. I have a cottage there! But I don’t want to live there anymore - and I don’t want you to either!
So, it is with tearful excitement and rejoicing that I begin this series of posts from Dr. O’Shields’s book. I thought about buying a bunch of copies and giving them out to you, but I firmly believe that a person is more likely to read a book if she buys it herself. Taking that step of purchasing the book is a baby step towards improvement. It’s currently out of print, but you can buy a used copy here for very little.
In the first few posts, we’re going to look at a few snippets from the early chapters. I want so badly to jump to the end…because that is where the real treasure lies. But I think some of the foundational information might be helpful. So here we go…
First of all, from the chapter Depression and the Christian:
There are two points to grasp with respect to depression and the Christian:
1. Unconfessed, unrepented of, and thus unforgiven sin in our life can cause depression, but not all depression is caused by sin.
2. Even though Christians can and do get depressed, being a Christian does make available to us the resources needed to live free of psychological depression. However, it is not guaranteed. These resources must be appropriated.
When someone tells you real Christians don’t get depressed, give them credit for good intentions and be grateful they care about you. Then totall disregard and immediately forget what they have said. It simply is not true. It only indicates they know nothing about depression. It is also possible they know very little about being a Christian
David, Elijah, Jonah, Job, and even Jesus experienced depression. Although it is all too easy to feel like you are - as I have put it about myself - the “world’s worst loser-Christian” because of these feelings of pain, sorrow, despair and hopelessness, depression does not mean that at all. Like everything else in our lives, pleasant or unpleasant, depression is an opportunity - a season of apparent barrenness - a spiritual winter. But God can and is working under the surface through our time of fruitlessness. Spring is coming for our souls!
I’m going to order a copy on Friday, as soon as hubby gets paid. Thanks for posting this.
Comment by Carrie — October 1, 2006 @ 2:34 pm
I would have declared that I just posted on this…..
anyway thank you so much for this! I am looking forward to it. I can’t pay for a copy of the book so your reviews and insights will be wonderful for me….
thank you!
Comment by Maria — October 1, 2006 @ 4:54 pm
Yeah well…so I’m cross-posting.
I know that there are people who read my site who don’t read this one - and I don’t want them to miss it! The stuff from that book is THAT good!
I was just doing the homework that comes from the end of the book - and it is just torturing me to wait to give you guys that! It’s so AWESOME! But I really think you need some of the stuff that comes before the homework to be ready for the homework… Patience, patience…
Comment by blestwithsons — October 1, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
duh — I just realized that I posted on both sites — you would think that the different color scheme would have clued me in….
Comment by Maria — October 1, 2006 @ 7:26 pm