Taste and See #3: Good Things

Back in December 2019, a (truly excellent) GP 'prescribed' enjoyable things as part of combating depression. She said, very knowingly, "if I gave you a gruelling exercise regime, you would do it with great commitment..." So, alongside medication, counselling, and CBT, I had to make 'me time.' Doctor's orders.

Seeing friends was (is!) top of my list. Also, I prioritised fresh air and exercise, and rediscovered reading novels, relaxing baths, and playing the piano 'just because.' I'd made quite a bit of progress, but lockdown caused a setback. Socialising became illegal, and juggling work commitments and Home Learning left barely any spare time. (We fought to keep our weekly day off—a very important principle for me/us, but that's for another post.) 

Starting 2021 with another lockdown brought similar challenges, though eased with help from family, and 'keyworker' school days. (I had to fight off false guilt about this, for example one morning when neither nursing nor working for church... just before a night shift!) I've occasionally overflowed with frustration at the isolation, but overall, it's clear that the inside of me is in a much better state to cope with the outer, circumstantial things.

I'm currently facilitating a 'Freedom in Christ' course over zoom, which reinforces what God says about those who belong to Him. It teaches ways to use this truth, to guard against deception and to avoid trying to manufacture a sense of security or significance for ourselves.

In this, one statement that has particularly hit home to me says something like, "Why should I be depressed when I can recall to mind God's faithful loving kindness... and have hope?" Those months ago, I wasn't able to call to mind God's love, or really tangibly appreciate the many good things in my life. But—and it's a lovely but!—in recovering, I have regained the ability to see and delight in the good things. On hearing that, "Why should I..." statement, it struck me that "when I can" signifies something of my own responsibility when able. There is, truly, so much to take pleasure in: birds singing; good food; clean air to breathe deeply; sinking under a duvet. Lockdown and restrictions have affected us all differently, but as these ease a little, it's so good to look someone in the eye and talk—or indeed, to be silent—face to face, to eat together in the fresh air, to share the same sights and sounds.

Whilst we still long for so much more, it makes such a difference to consciously appreciate simple, good things. But there's a reason why that course specifies God's faithful loving kindness as the reason not to be depressed. Some Bible versions use this wonderful word: 'lovingkindness.' It's a solid, unfailing, lived-out love, that flows unceasingly from the very nature of Godself. It is consistent with Who God is—God's very being—and therefore, so long as God is, so it will be.

Our condition on the inside hugely impacts our response to what comes at us from the outside. As we have seen in the past year, so much of what we build our lives around can change in a moment. Knowing God doesn't make us immune to this, or detached from the struggles and pain of the here and now—in fact, it can open our eyes to needs and injustices that we might otherwise overlook. But when people, hopes or plans fail us... when the ducks that seemed nearly in a row are nowhere to be seen... when the carpet is pulled out from under us... we need to be held by something oh-so-steadfast. We were not made to hold our own. We're kidding ourselves if we think we can.

If, as you read this, you identify with reminders of good things feeling like a slap, please know that there is help, and do reach out. Find someone caring to talk to; contact your GP. How much you trust God is not at stake here. And/or on that note, if you simply long for the sure and certain hope that I write about, that underpins life-in-all-its-fullness, reach out as well. Talk to someone that you know lives for Jesus; try talking to Jesus for the first time or as perhaps you once did; open a Bible (find a readable version or try BibleGateway.com or Youversion app) and ask God to speak. God has so many good things prepared for those who turn their hearts to receive.

"O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You;

My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You,

My flesh longs and sighs for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.  

So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary, 

To see Your power and Your glory.  

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.  

So will I bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.  

My soul [my life, my very self] is satisfied 

As with marrow and fatness, 

And my mouth offers praises [to You] with joyful lips."

Psalm 63:1‭-‬5 (Amplified Bible)⬦

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