Depression: The Sun Always Rises

The Gospel for Real Life #6

by Margaret Ashmore

“My dear friend Margaret Ashmore loves the Lord, she loves his Word, she loves people, and she loves to see hearts transformed and lives set free by the power of his truth. God has used this faithful servant to help many struggling pilgrims find hope and help by way of the ‘old rugged Cross.’ ”—Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Author; Revive Our Hearts Radio HostChoosing God’s Light in a World’s DarknessThe periods of depression that we all share can range from having a bad day to grieving the loss of a loved one. Our fallen world harbors a broad spectrum of suffering that, while never the same for each individual, has always been part of the human condition.Yet Margaret Ashmore reminds us that however difficult our circumstances, they cannot determine whether our lives are ruled by joy or by depression . . . the choices we make in light of those circumstances do. She lays before us a set of godly choices we can make in our own “dark night of the soul” to seek God’s freedom from our dominating depression.The Gospel for Real Life booklet series by the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC) applies the timeless hope of Christ to the unique struggles of modern believers.“The gospel isn’t just an ethereal idea. It’s not a philosophy, and it’s not static. It moves and shapes and transforms. I am grateful for ABC’s work of letting the gospel bear its weight on these real life sorrows and pains.”—Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Flower Mound, TexasMargaret Ashmore serves on the board of the Association of Biblical Counselors and served on the support staff of Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas, for fifteen years. She speaks at conferences and retreats throughout the United States and encourages women through biblical counseling.

Genres: Christian

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Margaret Ashmore serves on the board of the Association of Biblical Counselors and served on the support staff of Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas, for fifteen years. She speaks at conferences and retreats throughout the United States and encourages women through biblical counseling.

Reviews

[Adam Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was impressed by just how compact, focused, practical, and balanced this 37-page booklet is. Her tone was perfect, stemming from her own fight against depression and, in fact, she points out that it is a normal part of everyone's living in some degree or another. After clearly and wisely pointing out that depression does sometimes have physical causes and physical solutions, she sets out a "list of resolutions [in every sense of the word] infused with truth to help you fight the good fight against depression and fight for joy in a world hostile to it."

This booklet is excellent for anyone, whether currently depressed or prone to depression or who lives in this real and broken world or who cares about people in any of these circumstances.

[Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me understand the root of depression and how people can become depressed. It also allowed me to understand how to present God's truth to a person who is depressed.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a work that is a part of The Gospel for Real Life Series put out by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing written by those who are a part of the Association of Biblical Counselors. This particular work addresses the topic of depression. In this review I want to briefly summarize what the author Margaret Ashmore has to say followed by the positives that I found in this book.
I appreciated Ashmore’s point that she makes to the readers that depression and fighting depression is a choice. This provide the structure for her booklet in which she gave six points of what to choose. Among them are the points that we must choose gratitude, we must choose to see God’s sovereign love, we must choose to relinquish rights, we must choose to dwell on Truth, we must choose to move forward, and finally we must choose a Christ-Centered, Not a Self-Centered Life.
Several points stood out to me from this booklet. The author gives us memorable analogies and illustrations to make her point. I appreciated the section “Choose to relinquish Rights” immensely. The expectation that we have deserve certain things and that we have rights to them must not be underestimated as one of the root of our depression. Here the author has a memorable quote: “The sharpest, most effective axe at this virulent root is the relinquishing of rights” (20). Ashmore makes a good observation from the example of Jonah of how a self-entitlement mentality leads one to an attitude of anger and depression and even suicidal tendencies as we see in the case of Jonah. Very insightful from the book of Jonah and also a very helpful section. I also found this booklet was insightful when Ashmore pointed out that there are two kinds of angry people: those who express it outwardly and those who channel it inside internally, with one of the results being depression. Furthermore under the section “Choose to move forward,” I found the author’s practical point of “doing the next thing” as helpful exhortation. Finally since the author is tackling depression from the standpoint of Biblical counseling you see the God-centered approach that is taken when the author identified that our biggest problem isn’t depression but our sins against God. Fortunately because of Christ this bad news should lead us to the Good News that goes beyond merely fixing our depression: “God didn’t come in to our lives to fix our old lives. He came in to our lives to give us his life!” (32). That of course means Christ died for our sins so we won’t be judged by God but be saved from His wrath.
Overall I enjoyed this book and found it a helpful counseling resource for pastors and church leaders.

[Stephanie DeMeritt · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone with lived experience (2 close people to me struggling deeply for years with depression), this book struck me as very unrealistic and patronizing. While it was not anti-medication (thankfully there was a brief paragraph saying that meds can be helpful), it was anti-secular therapy. It also seemed to emphasize “choice” (you are *choosing* to go there with depression) in a way that felt excessive to me. While I’m sure some people could become depressed through their choices, at least the people I know with depression are being tormented by a disease and are fighting it valiantly - they are not *choosing* to dwell on angry or negative thoughts.

There was a very real emphasis on God’s sovereignty (interpreted as God *causing* all of the hardships and trials in your life in order to refine you — and one day when He decides it’s done he will lift it off of you). I strongly disagree with this theology — it does not hold up when someone is in a domestic violence situation, or in a brothel trapped in sex slavery (the horror of imagining telling a young girl in that scenario - “God sent you this trial to refine you” - makes me want to vomit). I cannot imagine this misguided theology being something helpful or comforting to tell someone who is depressed — and yet this was repeatedly touted as helpful and comforting.

I found one of the other books in the Gospel for Real Life series to be very helpful, but I probably will not continue in this series after this disappointing experience.

[Jason Skeffington · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love of God lifts you up

There are many great books on depression. This booklet speaks to an appropriately balanced approach on dealing with depression (clinical, emotional, and spiritual), but emphasizes the power of unconditional love of God. God and His Love are ultimately what will lift you up from the depression you feel in your soul.

[Ashley Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tiny 37 page booklet. It was pretty full for being so short. There was one part near the beginning where I felt like the tone was a little off, but otherwise it is a solid little book. She also offers a resource list at the end for longer more thorough books.

I’m always looking for short—easy to read— resources to have in my back pocket for people.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depression

Margaret Ashmore

Publishers Summary:The periods of depression that we all share can range from having a bad day to grieving the loss of a loved one. Our fallen world harbors a broad spectrum of suffering that, while never the same for each individual, has always been part of the human condition.
Yet Margaret Ashmore reminds us that however difficult our circumstances, they cannot determine whether our lives are ruled by joy or by depression . . . the choices we make in light of those circumstances do. She lays before us a set of godly choices we can make in our own “dark night of the soul” to seek God’s freedom from our dominating depression.

Review: I have waited years for Margaret Ashmore to write a book! I was so excited that I read it quickly. She writes the same way she teaches with honesty and good solid Biblical principles that are truly a blessing!!! It was truly a blessing to come to understand a more Biblical view of depression. The most memorable thing to me was something her father said, ‘I knew the sun would come up in the morning.’ and the idea of fighting depression rather than surrendering to it. It goes on from there with little gems of truth and wisdom that I believe the Lord has richly blessed Margaret with. I look forward to other books from her. I hope she does not keep me waiting another 10 years!
I would like to thank Net Galley and P & R Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.