It was over, and I was drained. With a big, loving smile, Mary Anne gave me a warm hug and said, “God moved on your behalf today, Stormie. You’re going to feel like a new person.”
“I know this may seem like a strange question,” I continued, “but do you think I should change my name? As a child, I used to hate being teased about it, and even though now it had proven to be a name that people remember, I’ve always wanted to have a normal name. As long as I’m a new person, should I have a new name?”
Mary Anne replied immediately, “No, I believe you are supposed to keep your name and let it be a testimony to the work that God has done in you. You’ve come out of a stormy childhood, but God has calmed the tempests in your life. Whenever someone questions you about your name, let that be your opportunity to share about God’s goodness.”
I knew she had again given me a word from God, so I laid that issue to rest once and for all. I thanked the two powerful prayer warriors and hugged them goodbye.
As I drove home, I tried to remember all that happened. I had gone there without much hope. I believed that God could do something, but I didn’t know whether He would do it for me. I still wondered if all that anxiety and depression would come back tomorrow.
The next morning I awoke without any feelings of depression whatever. No thoughts of suicide, no heaviness in my chest, no fearful anticipation of the future, no anxiety. I waited all day for them to return, but they didn’t. Day after day it was the same.
I never again experienced those paralyzing feelings. I am not saying I was never depressed again because depressing things happen in life. But depression never controlled me from that time on. I learned about the keys. If I began to feel depressed about something, I could go to God and use the keys He had given me to rise above it.
I realized many people suffered with depression due to a chemical imbalance and needed medical treatment to balance that out. I carefully made that distinction when talking to others about what happened to me. I didn’t say God couldn’t heal them too, but I didn’t want people to go off medicine they needed until they and their doctor knew they were ready.
I thought every day about what had happened to me. I had gone into that counseling office knowing Jesus as Savior, but I came out knowing Him also as my Deliverer.
Stormie Omartian is the author of Out of Darkness, The Power of a Praying series and Lead Me, Holy Spirit. She and her husband, Michael, have two married children.
Taken from Out of Darkness. Copyright © 2015 by Stormie Omartian. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon. www.harvesthousepublishers.com.
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