I wrote this in 2015, so I don’t remember the situation my aunt and I were discussing. However, my Aunt Betty often reminds me that you don’t get anything free from Satan. When we go into condemnation, negative thinking, complaining, etc., we open the door to Satan, and thus open ourselves to more suffering. In red below are my Aunt Betty’s words to me:

God is giving you awareness. The enemy wants to trick you to use it to get you depressed about it. Instead, hand it over to the Lord, and say, “Teach me.” We are tempted to get depressed with what we learn. Satan would like us to waste time being anxious. Instead, we need to reject what Satan would like to see us do.  Ask the Lord to teach you what good He’d like to bring out of this.

If the Perfectionist is receiving it, she goes into fear, because she thinks she has to do it. The Lord is leading you to give it to Him. “Lord, my Perfectionist is trying to take this as something she needs to do. Nothing happens without You seeking our good. Help me not to miss the good you want to come out of this.” Then either the situation changes, or it doesn’t bother us anymore. “Lord, I’ll give the part of me over to you that wants to complain about it.” Part of our self-centered world is to want things our way. “Lord, teach me to let go, and turn to You.”

Use what you’re going through to draw closer to the Lord. Then the depression won’t be as bad. If something is not to your liking, don’t fuss about it. Take that part of you that’s weary to Nazareth, so you can feel Mary’s love. The Perfectionist puts a lot of pressure on you. Your Perfectionist is noisy. When you settle inside, the noise outside won’t bother you as much.

When you feel depressed, you can track it back to the Perfectionist. When you’re depressed, turn to Jesus and image His Resurrected healing light going in. You refuse to see yourself as depressed, but you keep claiming healing. When St. Teresa of Avila went through the dark night of the senses, she didn’t have any positive feelings. That was part of the cleaning of the senses. Spiritual purification can be mistaken for depression. If someone isn’t at the dark night of the senses stage, when they read St. Teresa’s books, they don’t make sense.

Every time you agree with a negative thought, you open the door to Satan by accepting it. You don’t get anything for free from Satan. He charges heavy penalties for anything he gives you. We run up the bill with Satan. He sends you suffering, because you have a bill. You are cooperating and agreeing with him when you take in his lies. Hand this situation over to Jesus. Image yourself in the arms of Jesus and you stepping back, so Jesus can be the Redeemer. You’re in the way when you try to control it. By not letting go, you’re blocking what He’s asking for from you.

When the Bible talks about hearing the Word of God, that means living it. Truth needs to get locked in our head. If we just collect knowledge, it doesn’t get connected to our faith. We collect knowledge, but we need to live it. It’s a decision of our will. We have to choose to live it. Ask Jesus to help you repent of anything you did by choosing to be apathetic towards the truth or to be doubtful. Give it back to Satan. Renounce Satan’s lies. “By your power, Jesus, we ask to be set free. What belongs to Satan, he can have. Lord, please let me get what You intend from this.”