Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Can you name who is the most depressed person in the Bible? Job sitting on his dung-heap scraping his sores with a potsherd? Or Jeremiah weeping while he writes his Lamentations, or surely Elijah in his cave at Horeb, praying the Lord to let him die? But no, there's Another--Jesus Himself hanging on His cross in the darkness crying out, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He is the Prince of depressed people.
If you are tempted by despair--everything has gone wrong, disappointments and misfortunes seem to shout in your ears that God has forgotten you, and to top it all off you are keenly aware of your own sinfulness--please remember Jesus. It would not be fair for you at last to "sit down with [Him] in [His] throne" (as He promises in Revelation 3:21) unless you have at least tasted a little what He went through. Some "fellowship with Him in His sufferings" (see Phil. 3:10) is a great blessing to you in the end.
If we remember Jesus, we can see how depression is not necessarily sin, even if some well-meaning people rub that in to make your sufferings worse (Job had his three "friends," remember).
Step #1 of course is to remember and believe God's New Covenant promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3) and see yourself as a "child of Abraham" (Gal. 3:29). But Step #2 is important: learning how to believe those promises. Perhaps (in fact, quite likely) you are unwittingly hindering your ability to believe. Many, when they get depressed, gorge on food--the worst thing they can do.
Step #3 is to fast for a while; yes, eat nothing. Give your stomach a rest; let your mind be cleared so you can hear the "still small voice" Elijah had to listen for (1 Kings 19:12).
Step #4 may be to do something that gets your blood pumping (remember the depressed man who wanted to die but didn't want to leave his family a mess to clean up after his suicide, so he got out and ran, thinking he could keel over in a convenient heart attack; and lo, his depression was gone!).
Step #5 can be a good night's sleep (without drugs if possible).
And best of all, #6, a good long quiet visit alone with that Prince of sufferers--all TV, cell phones, iPods turned off. And when you pray, step #7, choose even if you don't feel like it, to believe His promises.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
