I had the distinct privilege of serving Temple Baptist Church in Wilmington twice: As pastor from 1969-81, and as interim pastor from September 1, 2010 to October 31, 2011. I tried to visit our members who were confined to nursing homes every month. Each time I went to Cornelia Nixon Davis Nursing Home in the late 1970’s I would also visit a very fine Methodist lady who had lived directly across the street from my wife and me. Her church did not broadcast its worship services, so she listened each Sunday to our broadcast.
On one occasion as I entered her room it was obvious that she was depressed. Her husband had died a year or so earlier, and her only son had also recently died. Since she was the only member of her family still living, she felt very much alone in the world. Thus, she had a king-sized case of the blues. You don’t have to lose all the members of your family to succumb to melancholy, but this is one of the leading times when it happens.
This precious Methodist lady made a statement concerning her prayers that I had never heard used before. “Preacher,” she said, “I’ve been asking the Lord to take me home so I can rejoin my husband and son. I don’t understand why He hasn’t answered my prayer . . . and, frankly, because He hasn’t, I’m a little put out with Him.”
I replied, “Has it ever occurred to you that there could be some residents in this nursing home who are not Christians, or some who are lonely, who need someone to share the love of God with them? Some of them would possibly listen to your testimony, but would not listen to anything I say or to what any other preacher says, because we are expected to talk about God’s love. You could be God’s ambassador to them.”
Her face suddenly brightened, and, after a pause, she said, “I’ve never thought of that!” A smile creased her face, and I knew that my answer had come from God. The reason God had not answered her prayer and taken her home to heaven is that He wanted her to witness to others who were in that nursing home. She had found a reason for living, and she was depressed no more. She witnessed to the very person who came into her room – and it happened to be a nurse who was a backslidden member of my church. She had not attended a single worship service in well over ten years.
Have you, like the Methodist lady in Wilmington, ever had a bad case of the blues? If you haven’t, you are the exception rather than the rule. The psalmist had a huge case of the blues, for he said, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalm 42:5). One way to deal with the down times in life is by giving in it to the point of whining and complaining. Those who do this are not only miserable but make everybody around them miserable as well. But there are positive ways to handle the blues. Take, for example, the following suggestions:
First, remember that you were created in the image of God, and this makes you an important person. No person who was created by God has to dwell in the valley of despair permanently. It is easy to get upset when you are looking at your problems rather than at the Problem Solver. God would not have made you in the first place if He did not intend to meet your every need. Keeping a positive attitude is simply a matter of keeping your eyes on God.
Second, remember that you are needed. Needy people are all around you. You may be the only person who can meet some person’s needs. When you are depressed, look around to find those whose problems are greater than yours. We all give our lives to something. Giving yourself to others has the power to turn sadness into gladness.
Third, you can go to God in prayer. One of the closest friends of Jesus was John the Baptist. In fact, they were cousins and probably played together when they were boys. One day the news came that John had been murdered. Surely it grieved the heart of the Lord, and it was enough to grieve Him. What did He do? The Bible tells us that “He went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone” (Matthew 24:23).
Remember this wonderful line spoken by Basil King: “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
The Paper Pulpit 
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