Alone in the Dark? On the outside, looking in?
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? PSALM 13:1
What purpose could possibly be served by depression? Why would some of God's greatest servants be touched with it?
Some people believe the words Christian and depression should never appear in the same sentence. They believe that a person whose Bible proclaims, "The joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), should know better than to be unhappy.
King David, we know, cried out in melancholy many times through the psalms. "God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus" (2 Corinthians 7:6), written by Paul, certainly knew seasons of darkness and despair. Biblical figures such as Moses, Job and Elijah went through overwhelming valleys of doubt and fear.
So if either of you find yourself under the heavy weight of depression today, grappling to work free but not always able to win the fight, you're not alone in your struggle. Your suffering is not unknown by God. Your dark circumstances are not beyond His power to heal, restore and redeem.
As you seek God for relief, take a measure of comfort in your good company.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 29:11
In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. Psalm 18:6
If you are greiving, desparaging, crying, aching, the people you know may understand how you feel. The words they lend as a tender helping hand may not feel like much at all. But always know, God meets you right where you are. He gave His Son to feel the weight of this world and to live in our world, to die for our world, so that He may have compassion and empathy for His created ones. Take comfort in knowing, our Creator gave us the tools, the love, and the voice to express even our saddest emotions. He is always listening, He is always here.
