Depression? It’s Healthy to Grieve, Don’t Bottle It!

Some people have experienced abandonment by their spouses, others have had friends betray them. You probably have a story of your own in which you’ve been wounded, perhaps even at the hands of those closest to you and endured some very dark times. Depression? It’s Healthy to Grieve, Don’t Bottle It!

Many times, when we are within the clutches of despair, depression, or hopelessness, we can have a tendency to try and act strong. Suck it up. Put on a happy face. Internally, however, we are in anguish.

It’s important in this process to grieve, and more importantly grieve what we’ve lost (whether that be a family member, friend, a relationship, business or even our happiness).

When John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus lost his cousin. So, he withdrew to a desolate place to be alone. This wasn’t him isolating from community, however.

Jesus needed time alone to grieve just like many of us do when the weight of the world bears down on us.

You may be in a situation, however, where what you lost wasn’t necessarily good for you, but there’s still a gnawing hurt and weightiness in your soul.

During King David’s rule, he found himself estranged from his son Absalom.

Absalom eventually plotted to overthrow and attack his father, which he succeeded in doing for a time.

When David finally returned to power after a battle with his son, he broke down in grief due to the loss of the relationship and death of his son.

Three times he cried out his son’s name and proclaimed, “would that I had died instead of you.” Even though their relationship was strained and marred by betrayal, David mourned the loss and grieved over his son.

Today, you may find yourself torn over whether it’s healthy to grieve the loss of something that was unhealthy. Grieving is a natural process that even the savior of the world engaged in. Don’t block your feelings. Perhaps it’s time to grieve.

Depression? It’s Healthy to Grieve, Don’t Bottle It!

Yes, it’s okay to grieve. However, sometimes we can make the mistake of isolating for long periods of time when what we really need are other people to share the burden of what we’re feeling.

In the midst of depression or a sense of worthlessness, we can feel our burden is too much to bear by others. And it just might be.

Imagine the death of a loved one, going through a horrible break-up, and losing your job or business all at once. This scenario could easily cause many of us to spiral quickly into despair, and we’d need a lot of support.

This is why community is so important in the midst of our hurt because it’s a lot of heaviness for just one or two people to bear.

We can often turn to one person all the time instead of God, and look to them to fix our depression or have them act as our functional savior.

When you turn to multiple people the weight of the burden is shared.

Each of them can also help point you to the cross and our true Savior who sympathizes and mourns with us better than any of our friends really could.

The Scriptures remind us that it’s important to “weep with those who weep,” so having a biblical community that can sit with you in your grief and encourage you is essential. The complex emotions you’re experiencing may bring you to tears in front of your community, and that’s okay.

Even Christ himself wept in the midst of his friends when he learned Lazarus has died. He allowed himself to experience grief with the family and others in the story.

He didn’t negate the pain of the moment, even though he knew that Lazarus would rise again and live. Instead, Jesus wept with those who were weeping, reminding us that he also cares for our afflictions, even though the beautiful ending we can’t see may be on the horizon.

Depression? It’s Healthy to Grieve, Don’t Bottle It! Try finding a different person in your church / community / friend group for every day of the week who will help encourage and sit with you in the midst of what you’re going through.