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of every kind are needed to prevent wandering and lostness

• Over the past couple of months, we have been studying depression and specifically how depression, anxiety, and even despairing of life is present in the Bible.

Truth Anchor #1: I will not know everything, but God is in control & He is good. (Job)
Truth Anchor #2: God’s Word is a catalyst for hope & stability. (Job)
Truth Anchor #3: I need godly friends in the midst of depression, even when I want to be alone. (Job)
Truth Anchor #4: I can trust God in the present because of His faithfulness in the past. (Moses)
Truth Anchor #5: God is sovereignly at work in spite of what has been done to me. (Moses)
Truth Anchor #6: I must be on guard against depression after spiritual victories. (Elijah)
Truth Anchor #7: I must be aware that my physical condition & my spiritual condition are interrelated. (Elijah)
Truth Anchor #8: I must cling to my purpose & my calling in every season of my life. (Elijah)
Truth Anchor #9: I am not alone. God is not finished. (Elijah)
Truth Anchor #10: God’s mercy and grace are near to be when I am low. (Jeremiah)
Truth Anchor #11: God wants me to be honest with Him about my situation. (The Psalmist)
Truth Anchor #12: I can cultivate hope through active confidence in the Lord. (The Psalmist)
Truth Anchor #13: The Holy Spirit is at work within me even when I am at my lowest point. (Jesus)
Truth Anchor #14: Even though I haven’t realized it, God has prepared me for this. (Jesus)
Truth Anchor #15: My identity is in the Word of God alone, not in anything in this world. (The Early Church)

•Today, we will head towards the conclusion of our series by looking for a few weeks at what the Apostle Paul would say about depression. To do so, let us turn to 2 Corinthians 1.

Truth Anchor #1:

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is available to me in my depression

• 2 Corinthians 1:3 | Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
• When God permits

, He also provides comfort.
• God provides comfort through the

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of suffering saints (which is why it is so important to be honest in our small groups)
• Guzik >> Often, we never receive the comfort God wants to give us through another person. Pride keeps us from revealing our needs to others, so we never receive the comfort God would give us through them.
• God provides comfort through the

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about Him available to us in His Word, meaning that we just absorb truth, sing truth, speak truth and trust in God to do His work in us
• Ray Stedman >> Affliction is what we today would probably call pressure, or stress. It is what many of you, perhaps, are feeling right now when you think about going to work tomorrow. It is whatever ties knots in your stomach and makes you feel anxious or troubled about what lies ahead. It is what makes for hectic days and for sleepless nights. It gnaws continually at your mind and threatens your well-being; it refuses to go away and leave you alone; it depresses you and darkens the future with forebodings of disaster. Now that is pressure, stress, and we all live in it. But they were not any different in the 1st century. They lived under pressure and stress just as we do. Paul experienced it as well, but along with it he experienced the comfort of God. Now, comfort is more than just a little cheer or friendly word of encouragement. Paul does not mean that. The word basically means “to strengthen.” What Paul experienced was the strengthening of God to give him a peaceful, restful spirit to meet the pressure and the stress with which he lived. That is what Christianity is all about. “Strengthen,” in the Greek, is a word that is used also for the Holy Spirit. Your Bible frequently calls him “The Comforter,” but really it is “The Strengthener,” the one who strengthens you. This is God’s provision for affliction.

Conclusion

• John 4:24 | God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
• In John 14, 15, and 16, the Holy Spirit is identified by two titles: The Spirit of Truth and the Comforter
• The connection is unavoidable. To receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the child of God simply needs to abide in the truth of God’s Word.
• As we abide in the truth, we will experience not only comfort in the midst of affliction, but an encouraging, strengthening, supernatural comfort.