And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever.
— John 14:16
Do you know that even the ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of lifting up? When Jesus ascended into heaven, He said to His disciples, "I am going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon you to be your Comforter." The Greek word from which the word "Comforter" is translated in this verse is parakletos, meaning "called to one's side, i.e. to one's aid." In other words the Comforter is one who comes to stand alongside to encourage, edify, and exhort. Everything the Holy Spirit does is to keep us lifted up. He is our permanent "pick-me-up" to keep us from becoming depressed.
According to Webster's II New College Dictionary (1995), depress means "1. To lower in spirits: SADDEN. 2. To press down: LOWER. 3. To lessen the activity or the force of: WEAKEN."
When Satan comes against you and me to depress us, he is trying to lower our spirits, sadden us, press us down, lessen our activity and force for God. He is trying to keep us from moving forward, because one of the synonyms of the word depressed is backward. Satan wants to use depression to "pull our power plug," to drive us backward, while God wants to empower us and propel us forward. The question is, are we pressing on or are we being pressed down?
Each one of us has to face and deal with disappointments and discouraging people and situations every day of our lives. However, we have been given the Holy Spirit to help lift us up and see us through.
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