A Last Thought on Fighting Despondency

A few more suggestions:

1. Music -- I don't think anyone would argue that music can affect mood. This was certainly true of King Saul (1 Sa 16:23), where David's music is said to have "refreshed the king". And it's why we enjoy various styles of music and associate them with various functions. There are dirges for the sad and rock when we want to jam and classical when we want to relax and the happy birthday song when we want to celebrate, etc. Christmas music, in particular, improves my disposition.

2. Food -- This also affects mood and emotion. So while distressed, I would argue that we should eat particularly healthy (a low carbohydrate diet to avoid the physical lows brought on my fluctuating blood sugar levels). But we may also enjoy some favorite high starch/sugar selections in moderation.

3. Exercise -- This one continues to be a life saver for me. The Apostle Paul did write to Timothy that "physical exercise is of some value" (1 Ti 4:8). I realize that verse in its entirety is used most often to promote godliness, and that is a main point. But nevertheless, it also affirms the smaller but no less real value of "bodily training". I can't quote him at this moment, but C.H. Spurgeon once wrote something like this: that next to the good done to our demeanor by God the Holy Spirit is the good done to it by a brisk breeze in the face. His point was the value done by an invigorating walk through a stiff wind. Both the walk and the wind are God's gifts. 

I began running more than 20 years ago. I have stuck with it mainly because of the good it does my mind, not my body, though the two are not unrelated. Also, lifting weights has proven quite beneficial. There are many options, such as swimming (a great one), hiking, biking, various classes (aerobics, body pump, spin, etc), in-home workouts (P90X, Bowflex, etc). Ideally we can all find a routine we like, or at least are willing to do, for the mental benefits that come out of the physical ones.

Fighting Despondency Even A Bit More

Sex and sleep: Could it be more obvious that these are good gifts or God for our joy and health? You're not super-human. You need to rest (sleep); and you need to be loved on, intensely (sex). So pleasure your spouse often and then rest well afterward (Ps 4:8, 127:2; Pr 3:24; SS 5:1; 1 Co 7:5). To the unmarried, try substituting vigorous exercise for sex.

Books: I once heard John MacArthur say that when he is tempted to feel self-pity he reads a Christian biography of someone who has suffered. In addition, I recommend Job, 2 Corinthians 11-12, 1 Peter 1, Matthew 5:10-12, Jeremiah 20, Ezekiel 24, etc. 

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him -- Ro 8:17. 

Fighting Despondency

It is a fight you know, putting down despondency. It's not an easy task. I know a few people who have never dealt with it because they have the gift of an abnormal and natural light-heartedness. They just stay happy. That's their normal state and they don't work to be that way. But that's fairly rare I think. Most of us work to stay even, balanced, happy. We work to consider the goodness and kindness of God and to reckon that these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to the people of Christ (Ro 8:18). And since a person is only one person, consisting of various aspects like mind, emotion, body, and spirit; it is necessarily that we embrace God's good means to knowing the fullest joy. I wrote on this earlier from 1 Ki 18-19. I want to supplement that a bit today and in the days to come. Some of it will overlap with the earlier post. I suggest:

Fellowship: The writer of Hebrews repeatedly stresses the urgent need for the troubled to be together with other believers that they may be encouraged (3:13), and hold fast (3:14), and stirred up (10:23-25). The way we this happens is through assembling ourselves together (10:25) and taking interest in each one another's lives (10:32-38). This works against our shrinking back, and promotes faith to the preserving of the soul (10:39). God does not mean for a person to go through life alone. See also Pr 27:9.

Nature: The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voices are not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their utterances to the end of the world (Ps 119 1ff). In other words, God has written some of His glory upon the sky, and in all of His creation (cf Ro 1). The created world points to the Creator, and this is therapeutic when we take to heart what it tells us about Him, and us. It was David, the man after God's own heart, a regular sufferer, who wrote the LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. (Ps 23:1-3a). It's good to get outside.