One of the most serious problems we have is what to do when we feel depressed. It’s easy for some one to tell you, “Snap out of it!” But you can’t. All kinds of remedies are suggested: some say, “Go take a drink of alcohol”—we know that’s not good! Or, “Take some drug”—that’s not good. Or, “Get out and help somebody else in trouble”—always good advice, but when you’re depressed, you don’t have the energy to do so. “Go see a psychiatrist”?—Well, that depends on who the psychiatrist is. If you spell it with a capital P, your divine Psychiatrist, your Saviour, I say YES. But often we don’t know how to talk with Him; does He listen or answer us? Let’s be honest: we do need help.
Here’s where it is—at the cross of Jesus, for without understanding His cross we can’t understand His High Priestly ministry. No one has ever been so depressed as Jesus was as He hung there in the darkness, “made to be sin for us who knew no sin,” feeling forsaken by His Father, without hope, seeing no light ahead. His broken heart cried out sincerely, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
If you are depressed, you need something more solid than a shot of pop psychology to stir your emotions. You need some rock-bottom truth to stand on, irrespective of your feelings. And here it is: when Jesus felt totally forsaken by His Father, the truth was that His Father was near, suffering with Him. His Father had never forsaken Him! Jesus only FELT forsaken, because He had been “made to be sin for us.”
A “broken relationship” does not mean that God has turned His back on you. There in the darkness Jesus chose to believe that His Father accepted Him when everything else, His feelings, said the opposite.
There in the darkness He built a bridge called THE ATONEMENT, the reconciliation, on which you and I can walk into the light of eternal life. Jesus was “made to be sin” itself, yet He believed and trusted, while in the total darkness. So can you; and so WILL you as you appreciate what it cost the Son of God to save you from the darkest hell. Say Thank You, even though it’s dark outside and inside. “Be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------
