Suicide is a leading cause of death, surpassing automobile collisions, and this insidious plague shows no signs of abating in the immediate future.

The fact that God has handpicked us from the billions that live on the earth should give us a quiet confidence that God is providentially caring for us.

Mainstream media has perfected the technique of keeping people in perpetual fear, with the objective of scaring gullible viewers into conforming to their will.

Even loyal servants of God have had to contend with depression and discouragement. Antidotes include rest, refocus, right expectations, and obedient actions.

Discouragement paralyzes one's efforts to overcome temptation or to lose patience in a trial, ultimately leading to deterioration or the destruction of faith.

It sometimes appears that people outside the church have fewer problems and anxieties, having been spared Satan's onslaught of temptation and deception.

God taught Elijah that He is not in excessive displays of power or showy miracles when a voice will suffice.

God's saints are not immune to depression. Job, Moses, and Elijah all felt so overwhelmed, they wanted God to take their lives.

When things go wrong, an improperly rooted person becomes hard and cynical. This disillusionment happens if our hope or trust are in the wrong place.

We all have low days, but when our despondency turns to self-pity, we have a problem. 'Woe is me' can hamper our growth because it is self-centeredness.

Even Jesus had to cope with feelings of anxiety and loneliness in Gethsemane before His crucifixion, a time when He experienced separation from His Father.

God does not want us to have confidence in ourselves or other people, but only in Him. Consequently, it is a mistake to trust the media or the leaders of nations.

Feelings and emotions may throw our faith off course. Our moods are mercurial and we must control them with daily prayer and Bible study.

Would we have the same courage to stand spiritually as the brave unarmed man who resisted the tanks of the Chinese Red Army in Tiananmen Square?

Failure to obey from the heart, and not having an accurate picture or appraisal of God, is the chief contributory cause of spiritual depression.

Fellowship with God is the only antidote to overwhelming feelings of despair, doubt, and self-condemnation.

God narrows in our way because He loves us, just as we hedge our children because we care about their lives. God loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

Fear and anxiety are normal human emotions. But through changing our focus from earthly to heavenly things, we can rise above the concerns, remembering Who is with us.

It is necessary to begin with a conviction of sin in order to experience a need for Jesus Christ and to receive the joy in the forgiveness of sin.

The practice of rending clothes symbolizes sorrow, agony, despair, and hopelessness, a realization that God alone can restore the profound loss.

Jeremiah compares studying and meditating upon God's Word to physical eating, enabling a person to receive spiritual energy, vitality, and health.

The church must forcefully deal with the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness or it too will succumb to the terrifying vortex of despair.

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds. Contributory factors include depression, deteriorating family life, media glorification, and drugs.

Only those who have fellowship with God can have any hope, understanding, peace, or rest. The world remains under the sway of Satan, unable to live righteously.

The expressions of sorrow in the Psalms far outnumber expressions of praise, indicating that the Hebrew culture has almost made the lamentation an art form.