Depression is all to common, and Christians are not immune. COVID-19 has magnified an already painful reality for God’s people. How does a person of faith understand depression? How can you cope when your personal world seems to have “fallen apart” or some of your worst nightmares have come upon you? It seems worse when you don’t know where the depression is coming from. It becomes almost impossible when God seems silent and seemingly absent from your life and your world.
Some people seek help and encouragement from their faith community but instead are treated as lepers, as pariahs, or even avoided. Maybe you are told by your church that depression is caused by sin but you have confessed any sin you are aware of and still no change. Or you are told that depression is caused by a lack of faith, yet you know that you belong to Jesus and such a statement feels like a cold, hard, indictment (which it is!). You long for compassion, understanding and acceptance but you begin to realize other are “squeezing” your life into a simplistic system of logic, almost a “dead orthodoxy”.
Or maybe there have been hours of counselling, advice and medication yet still no deeper understanding of “where this all came from”. Much analysis, little or no healing. Then there’s an endless number of self-help books, but you lack the energy or motivation to follow “those simple steps”, which just adds to the depression.
The Psalms, and most notably the Book of Job, provide deep insights and answers to the questions and feelings above. In my audio message, I attempt to give an exposition of the entire Book of Job from the viewpoint of suffering from depression. While this incredible book of the Bible helps to understand the “problem of evil”, it nevertheless speaks volumes for people of faith wanting to understand their life with depression while longing to connect more deeply with the living God. The end of the book of Job reveals the answer to this quest of the soul. But you will have to listen to the message to find out!
