Depression!

Where are you, God? Depression !

Jake’s band had just broken up when he found himself depressed and contemplating suicide. 

Ben had returned from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was so depressed he couldn’t get out of bed in the morning.

Julie was teased so relentlessly that her depression gave way to cutting herself. Depression! Where are you, God?

Jenny didn’t know why she was depressed, only that every day was a battle often ending in tears.

Depression! Where are you, God?

For most of their lives they had heard the Christian message in regards to depression and suicide.

That message was “Just trust God and life will get better. If you love God, you won’t be depressed.” What happens, though, when you love God but the darkness and heavy fog won’t lift? What happens when you would rather go home to your Maker than spend another day on Earth?

For many, there can often be the misconception that when you find Jesus, you’ll stop feeling bad and life will be pretty.

But that’s not reality, is it? Friends and loved ones die. Unjust suffering occurs. Our friends can betray us. Sometimes we’re left in what seems like a never-ending night, perhaps without even an obvious cause.

The good news is that many of our heroes of faith within the Scriptures felt the EXACT same way.

King David finds his soul “downcast.” Elijah asks God to kill him (1 King 19:4).

But perhaps in one of the most stunning passages of scripture, we discover the Apostle Paul struggling through the same as he writes to the Church in Corinth. He openly shares about the suffering and affliction he and others in the early church suffered, and then goes on to say that he was so “burdened” (in the Greek it can be translated as “weighed down, depressed”) that they “despaired even of living.”

That even the Apostle Paul, who we often view as the Superman of the New Testament, isn’t immune to feeling this way helps validate our situation.

Today, find comfort in knowing you are in the company of men and women of faith who have been where you are, and eventually found hope and the strength to carry on. 

In the midst of depression there are days where your only comfort seems to be your tears or maybe even just a song you put on repeat.

While everything around us seems dark, we all want to know the same question:

“Where are you, God?”

Many times, it can feel as if we’ve been abandoned in the midst of an endless night. His presence is nowhere to be found, and though we cry out all we can hear sometimes is… silence.

The Scriptures are quick to remind us that just because there’s no rescue in sight doesn’t mean God is indifferent. They also emphasize that even when we can’t feel or see him moving, he sees our pain and hears us.

In the midst of depression, hurt, and struggle, the only thing that feels real is our emotion. Because our feelings are so overwhelming, they can often block our ability to feel God even though he’s close by.

King David was a man who understood depression and suffering but remembered that the Lord was near to him in the midst of his greatest failures and moments of desperation and hurt.

He reminds us that God hasn’t forsaken us. In fact, the Scripture only tells the story of one man whom God forsook: Jesus.

While Jesus was on the cross, He cried out “Why have you forsaken me?” (A messianic echo of David’s Psalm in chapter 22). This is the last time God ever walked away from a child, and that was his only begotten son. The reason why? So that he would never have to walk away from us because of our sin. While we may feel forsaken, Jesus is the one who truly was.

Each day, look for something that shows God being gentle with you or offering encouragement (ie. A friend reached out, you got a good grade, a sunrise or song). Just focus on anything that’s a break and see if he is indeed close by. 

Look at the moment in history when Jesus was forsaken on the cross. We can often look at our circumstances and logically understand Christ was forsaken, but quickly tell ourselves “Yeah, but he was God.”

For most of us, we feel as though God is waiting for us to “get it together” and get out of this season of depression.

This is because we hear it from other people who are trying to fix us, offering solutions, or oversimplifying the problem (just read your Bible more/pray every day).

People are uncomfortable with pain, and instead of sitting with us in this season, they try to take it away or gloss over it.

Sometimes, the truth is that it can’t be taken away by simple measures. We saw that even Jesus had to experience the pain of the cross, separation from the Father, and betrayal by his closest friends.

The thing we are so often apt to forget is that during this season, Jesus doesn’t offer condemnation or judgment. He offers sympathy.

Because Jesus is comfortable entering into the hurt, whereas others are not, he’s the one who can sit with you in it, sympathize, and help you process.

The author of Hebrews reminds us, that Christ also took on flesh and feels empathy for our weakness because he experienced it as well.

The Psalms remind us that he’s not waiting for us to get it together, or doling out consequences as a result. His great and steadfast love helps remind us that we are not our hurt, our past, or our sins. We are beloved sons and daughters.

Process through the emotions you’re feeling and focus on the fact that Jesus felt many of the same things, and himself was tempted to give up.

As you dwell on that thought, ask God what he feels about what you’re feeling.