Depression

Snow had already begun falling on that Thursday night for the monthly teaching of the “Learning to Pray” series and I was thinking that nobody would be coming out on this nasty night to hear a message about depression. Honestly, I was not very pumped up about it either! Fortunately, several people came and the presence of the Lord during our time together, particularly during the prayer time, was unmistakable. The next morning I heard some awful news that reinforces the need for discussing this topic. A girl from my hometown, had found her husband (the father of her two sons), dead from a successful suicide attempt.

Let me inject a little bit of hope, found in I Peter 1:3-5, before we go down this dark corridor.  “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.”

Clinical depression is a major psychiatric disorder that is rapidly increasing in our society. Recent statistics reveal that clinical depression plagues about 18-20% of the population. According to the World Health Organization, depression is expected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide by the year 2020 (after heart disease).

The church is guilty of playing-down the need for treatment of what can be a very debilitating disorder. A Christian may actually feel shame over their depression because they may believe they are a moral failure. Like if they were a “good”  Christian, they would not feel the way they do or just be able to snap out of it.

Scripture reveals a lot about people experiencing discouragement and depression in the Bible. The Psalms, which speak to the human condition, are filled with emotional moods, ranging from complete joy to utter despair.

Elijah is known as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets and after one of the most incredible victories in the OT, he told the Lord he was ready to die! (I Kings 18 & 19.  King Saul was tormented by a demon. I Samuel 16:14, 23

Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet.” Think about the story of Job!

King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived had this to say in Ecclesiastes 1:1,2m “Meaningless! Meaningless!, says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What does a man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun”.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus falls into near despair as he takes on the sins of the world. He comes out to his disciples for comfort three times, but they are unable to comfort him, for they are suffering from their own sorrow. God sent an angel to comfort Jesus. Mark 14:36-45 and Luke 22:39-45. Following his betrayal of Jesus, Judas became depressed and committed suicide.  Matthew 27:3-5

Unfortunately, depression is as prevalent in the Christian population as it is in the secular world. Many famous ministers have struggled with depression. Charles Spurgeon was a famous English preacher and he struggled with depression throughout his life. The writer of the famous hymn, “Come thy fount of every blessing”, Robert Robinson, was only 22 when he wrote that song in 1757. Unfortunately, he committed suicide after years of depression.

Depression is not just someone needing to have a better attitude or just being able to snap out of it. Depression is a medical condition and illness that involves brain physiology and function. There is a depletion of neurotransmitters in the brain, mainly serotonin and norepinephrine, which are necessary for normal brain functions.

What are the causes of depression?

A)   Physiological: The brain decreases the production of necessary neurotransmitters. Antidepressants try to stabilize or supplement the brain’s production of these neurotransmitters.

B)   Socio-psychological: Severe trauma that occurs in childhood causes the brain to be modified.

There are different levels of depression. Not everyone who is clinically depressed will display all of those symptoms but depression is a form of suffering that cannot be reduced to one universal cause. Like most forms of suffering, it feels private and isolating. David wrote in Psalms 88:18 that “darkness is my closest friend”.  The entrance to Dante’s version of hell read, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

But it is not just pain. It feels like meaningless pain. If pain leads to childbirth, it is tolerable, but if it just leads to blackness or nothing, then it threatens to destroy us.

Abe Lincoln thought that pain would lead to death, that his body could not tolerate it. “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally, distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell; I awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better, it appears to me.”

What are some of the causes of suffering?

Other people are one cause of hardship and depression. When you look through the Psalms you will find that about half of them are cries to the Lord because of oppression by others. People can betray and abuse.

We ourselves are a cause of suffering. Fears, anger, selfish desires, can all be lurking behind some depression. Anger, especially is known to be a notorious cause. A friend of mine has said to me many times, depression is anger turned inward.

Our bodies are another obvious cause of suffering. Disease, old age, post-partum struggles and chemical imbalances are just a few of the physical causes relevant to depression.

Satan, our enemy, is another cause of suffering. He lies to us and he can affect us physically. His purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. Although we know that Satan caused Job’s suffering, Job did not. Evan after his fortunes were restored, he never knew why he suffered. Although he asked for an audience with God to plead his innocence, the only thing God revealed was that he is God and Job was not.

Instead of teaching us how to identify the causes of suffering, Scripture directs us to the God who knows all things and is fully trustworthy. Turning to God and trusting him with the mysteries of suffering is the answer to the problem of suffering. Suffering is intended to train us to fix our eyes on the true God.

The age-old question is “How could God allow such a painful, life-draining event in your life? How could such a God care? How could He be good?

There are two ways to ask those questions. One is with a clenched fist; the other is with an open heart.

So, as a sidebar, what difference does it make when you see your own struggle with depression as a form of suffering?

Life is about desiring to know Him or to avoid Him. Whom will you trust in the midst of pain? Whom will you worship? Lets look back at Job again. In Job 1:2, we read, that when he lost all his children, he fell to the ground in worship, and made a shocking declaration, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised”.

One important question is, “Where do you turn – or, to whom do you turn – when you are depressed?” Suffering is not a journey that we should not take alone.

If you ever think God is far away and indifferent, here is a surprising revelation. From the foundation of the world, God knew your sufferings and declared that he himself would take human form and participate in them. This is not a distant, indifferent god. Jesus Christ did not come to take away our pain and suffering, but to share in it. Jesus was called a “man of sorrows” in Isaiah 53:3. Jesus suffered and he knows our suffering.

So how can depression be treated? The most successful way is to treat all three levels of who we are, as children of God. Jesus taught us that we are comprised of a body, soul, and spirit. We are a seamless being of body, mind and soul.

The body can be treated by medication prescribed by a physician.

The mind can be addressed by praying against spiritual strongholds – replacing the lies we have come to believe with truth. What did Jesus do when he was tempted by  Satan? He quoted Scripture. Try to catalog or figure out what “lies” the enemy keeps throwing at you. Then, find a Scripture that speaks to that. Write it down on an index card and tape it to the mirror in your bathroom where you get ready in the morning, put it in your car, take it to work, etc.

The spirit can be addressed by praying the truth of scripture.

            Examples…

“O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God”.

Psalms 59:9-10

“My shield is God Most High”. Psalms 7:10

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress….the horn (strength) of my salvation, my stronghold”.  Psalms 18:2

 “Do not worry” Luke 12:22-34

 “Perfect love casts out fear.” I John 4:8

God invites those who experience depression to learn that, whatever the cause, depression may reveal our faith and serve as a catalyst for growth rather than the reason for despair.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4

“Trust in him at all times, O people: pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” Psalms 62:8

“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” I Peter 1:18