Can a Christian be depressed?

For some reason many Christians feel they cannot admit to having feelings of depression; I actually talked to a doctor who is a Christian one time about depression and he told me depression is strictly a spiritual battle and if I read my bible more and prayed more I would get better. I tried that for a few years and when it didn’t help, thankfully I had the wisdom to go to a different doctor and get the help I needed.

In Psalm 42:1-6 it is apparent that David battled depression. The scripture records he wrote: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.”

If you are battling depression today, let me suggest three things that hopefully will help you get past it. First, you have to admit there is a problem. In Psalm 42, David is not trying to hide it; he is openly admitting he has a problem. Charles Spurgeon battled depression. He once preached a sermon entitled The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing where he said, “I was lying upon my couch during this last week, and my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for—but a very slight thing will move me to tears just now—and a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself, that I did not know what to do; wondering why I should be in such a state as this; while this poor woman, who had a terrible cancer, and was in the most frightful agony, could nevertheless ‘rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” In Numbers 11 Moses asked God to kill him so that he didn’t have to deal with the Hebrews pettiness any longer? In Job 3 Job asked why didn’t he die when he came forth from the womb? Jeremiah battled depression as he wrote in 20:14-15 “Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me! Let the man be cursed who brought news to my father, saying, ‘A male child has been born to you!’ making him very glad.'"

Second, to deal with depression, you have to acknowledge the possible causes of it. For some it is money problems and for others it involves people problems. For some it is a matter of perspective; a bad attitude will ruin a good day every time. For others there are physical problems, sickness or lack of exercise for instance, that contribute to the depression.  For some there are emotional issues like the sudden loss of health or a relationship and for others there are definitely spiritual causes that contribute to depressive feelings.

Third, you must attack the feelings of depression. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah is depressed. He’s just witnessed a huge victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, only to have Queen Jezebel put a contract on his head. He finds himself under a ‘broom tree’ and the way the Lord ministered to him is I believe the way He will minister to you today. First God didn’t tell Elijah to ‘suck it up’ or ‘get over it’. God didn’t judge him or chastise him. What he tells Elijah to do is rest. Our bodies are designed to where we need rest and if we are not getting enough, they tend to break down physically and emotionally. Second, God wants to make sure Elijah rediscovers Him. He sends the prophet to Mt. Horeb which is called the ‘Mountain of God’ some 200 miles away. There from outside the cave Elijah hid in, God called to him and he rediscovered God. Third, Elijah experienced reassignment; he was told to start serving others once again. And fourth he was told to build relationships. Elijah was isolated and felt alone, and after he rested and rediscovered the Lord, God provided for him a genuine friend named Elisha. God made us for relationships; with Him and with others. One of the best ways to deal with emotional pain is through personal contact with a friend.

For some of you reading this God is calling out to you. He’s not calling from the fire, wind, or earthquake; He calls to you from His still small voice. He is whispering to your soul, ‘It is time to leave the cave.’ As Max Lucado once said, “God likes you just the way you are but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.”