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ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM S.A.D.? (Seasonal Affective Disorder) Introduction: Where you SAD last Monday? According to Fox News last Monday, February 22nd was the worst day of the year for people with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). They have trouble functioning and become depressed. I think we can get like that spiritually and suffer from Spiritual Affective Disorder. I) ) Let me ask you a series of questions. 1. Do you ever treat the worship like a drive up window? I will take 3 hymns, a prayer, some Lord's Supper, a little sermon on the side and please hold the rambling. 2. Do you leave the house more excited about lunch or a ballgame than worship? Not every worship service will be exciting, the best ever but if often leave feeling blah then something is wrong. (Story of man not wanting to go to church because no one wanted to talk to him, no one liked him, and no one wanted to shake his hand. His wife explains he has to go because he is the preacher!) 3. Do you wish you did not have to go to church of Sunday morning, or Sunday night, or Wednesday night? 4. Is it a regular practice for you to come to Bible class without reading your lesson? What can be the cause for these feelings and corresponding behavior? II) Spiritual Affective Disorder Can Be Deadly A) People that quit or go back into the world, 2 Peter 2.20ff 1. Bible speaks of those that left their first love, Revelation 2.4 2. Others we read about that just drift away, Hebrews 2.1 a. It is not that they intentionally give up but they through time become indifferent. B) They quit obeying what is commanded, Romans 12.11 1. Many don't see the relevance of the Bible and its study. 2. All of the Bible should be relevant to you. Old Testament Romans 15. 4. C) Lacking zeal makes Christ sick, Revelation 3.15-16 1. We may not quit but we just go through the motions. D) It makes our worship vain, Malachi 1.6-10 1. We don't get anything out of it. Of course if we don't put anything into it we won't get anything out of it. 2. God is not pleased. He is only pleased if we give Him our best: time, effort, thoughts, etc. III) Common Causes of S.A.D. A) Spiritual depression. 1. One thing most people understand is depression because 75-80% of the population suffer from clinical depression. a. Can come after a spiritual high like with Elijah in 1 Kings 18. Baal is proved to be a false god, the false prophets are killed, and nothing changes. b. Jezebel is out to kill him. He goes from Mount Carmel to a cave. 2. We can go from a "high" to a low. a. Churches that plan and build a new building often have this strange thing to happen. While planning and building everyone is excited and working. The building opens and everyone is excited. But as the new wears off the excitement leaves and the work stops. b. New Christians are excited. Grow to teaching classes, saying prayers, reading scriptures, etc. But once the new wears off the excitement leaves and the work stops. 3. Depressed person is just not interested in doing anything because everything is hard. The same goes spiritually. B) Spiritual doldrums -- complacent, bored 1. Church at Laodicea were like this, Revelation 3.17 a. Had money in the bank, good building, carpet, name, etc. b. They had it made in the shade. c. Spiritually they were in bad shape. 2. 1 Corinthians 10.12 do we think we are standing? a. Have we arrived or are we still working it out? b. There is work each of us has to do personally and as a group, 2 Corinthians 13.5 C) Spiritual burnout - just worn out 1. Perhaps you are going all the time or you feel like no one notices what you are doing. 2. Easy to become disenchanted and just quit. 3. Moses seems to of been there in Numbers 11.14-15 a. Constant complaining, the people seem to of been going from one problem to another and Moses was hearing it all. b. He was not getting any pats on the back or cards for being the best prophet. IV) Ways to overcome S.A.D. A) A balanced diet (no quick fixes), Romans12.9-15 1. Love others in word, in your actions, and in your time, vv. 9-11 2. Look for the joy in life (the little things), don't over react to your problems (why should you and I be any different), be diligent in your prayers. 3. Think of others and ask, how can I help somebody else, v. 13 4. Work on your attitude, find time for joy and weeping v. 14-15 B) Exercise, Revelation 3.18 was a call to refocus 1. Physical exercise is hard but it invigorates, renews us, gives us endurance and strength 2. The Lord's vineyard is a place to work out C) Change your lifestyle 1. Moses had to learn to do some things differently, Exodus 18.17-18 2. He learned to delegate to others what they could and should have been doing, Numbers 11.16-17 3. Burnout demands we change our schedule and priorities. a. Went to see someone in the hospital this last week. He said he was going to have to change his work load and do things differently. b. We need breaks and periods of rest, we need exercise, and we need to do doing the right things. Conclusion: Are you suffering from S.A.D.? While is can be deadly it does not have to be. First, the diagnosis and then the cure. (Adapted from a lesson by Carl McMurray "Beating the Spiritual Blahs" )
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