a journey with depression

I think I am finally over this last bout of depression. This one was tough, very tough. There were times I seriously wondered if I would make it through. Depression is my thorn. It has been a friend of mine since I was a teenager. It is a friend I never asked for nor wanted but it kept my acquaintance anyway. Through the years, I have tried many things to rid my life of this thorn. Alcohol was expensive and did not work--oh, I felt amazing when I was full of that spirit, but once the spirits wore off, I was back to feeling depressed. And it hurt my family. Suicide, obviously since I am still here, didn't work. All that did was land me in an ambulance to a hospital. It also hurt my family. Various medications have worked on and off but the side effects are not desirable to me. What finally did help was the one Spirit who I ignored for much of my life. Once He got a hold of me, I started to learn a bit about the ways of the devil and how the devil uses discouragement to eat away at me. I allowed him to do this for so long. I still battle this thorn, and some battles are more intense than others. This last one lasted about 8 days and was intense, yet, I knew I would be okay. Deep down I knew I would come out the other side. I did. Sometimes I didn't want to, but God had other plans. My continued prayer is that this thorn would be removed from me, but if that is not to be, then the prayer becomes that I would be given the grace to deal with it as it rears its ugly head. God told Isaiah that He would be with the Israelites when they walked THROUGH the water..they would not drown, and when they walked THROUGH the fire they would not get burned. Depression is my water and my fire and I trust God that I will not drown or burn in the midst of it, but that He will see me safely to the other side.