The preacher got up and looked at the congregation. ‘Too many of you are taking tablets for your depression. Where is your joy in the Lord? If you were depending on God, you wouldn’t need to take medication!’ I wish I could say that these words are fictional, but they are not. I have heard of depressed and anxious people having guilt added to their distress by such careless words.
Many godly people struggle with their mental health
The first thing that we should note, as we look at depression and spirituality, is that many godly people have struggled with their mental health. The great nineteenth–century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, battled depression throughout his life. Speaking of a bout of despondency that occurred when he was twenty–four, he wrote, ‘My spiritus were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for.’
Then, of course, there are the psalmists. Many of the Psalms can be classified as individual laments, which means that they are the divinely inspired words of an individual who is pouring out their pain to God. While many of these Psalms travel from despair to hope, Psalm 88 ends with the psalmist claiming that darkness is his closest friend.
Don’t forget, too, that Jesus was a man of sorrows who was familiar with grief (Isa. 53:3). Spurgeon wrote of Jesus that, ‘No sin is necessarily connected with sorrow of heart, for Jesus Christ our Lord once said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” There was no sin in Him, and consequently none in His depression.’
But what about the fact that the fruit of the Spirit includes joy?
I asked my friend, Peter Orr, who lectures in Moore College in Sydney, about this. He replied, ‘I guess joy is not simply an emotion. And so, someone with depression can still (though it would be harder) rejoice – have confidence in the Lord.’ Peter pointed me to Psalm 31, where the psalmist can speak of rejoicing in God’s love, at the very time that his soul and body are filled with grief (verses 7–9).
Joy is more than in a feeling
Many people are too one–dimensional about what a spiritual person looks like. Were the psalmists less spiritual when they cried out to God with their questions? Was Jesus less spiritual when He wept in Gethsemane? The joy of the Lord is very different to simple happiness. It is a deep–rooted confidence that God is in control even when every feeling in our hearts may struggle to take any comfort from that. The lives of many godly Christians, the experiences of Jesus and teaching of Scripture all affirm that struggling with depression does not make you less spiritual than other Christians.
God’s truth and the Brain’s lies?
A friend of mine gave me a booklet which stated that spirituality is good for your mental health. The interesting thing is that this booklet was produced by a secular charity. Andrew Simms, former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrist, comments that, ‘The advantageous effect of religious belief and spirituality on mental and physical health is one of the best–kept secrets in psychiatry.’
One of the factors that can contribute to our depression are the lies we believe. But the teaching of Jesus Christ is a message than can really help our emotional battles.
Just compare the Christian gospel of grace with society’s teaching on self–esteem. Popular culture tells us to seek our value by searching ‘for the hero inside yourself.’ The problem is that when I examine my life, I see many things that make me feel ashamed. Instead of a hero, I often see a villain. If my emotional well–being is built on the existence of an inner hero, then I am going to struggle within. Trying to convince yourself that you are really good at heart is a poor foundation on which to build your mental health.
The gospel of grace says that I am a flawed and rebellious person who is loved by a kind and forgiving Creator. This God cares so much for us that He sent His Son to die for our past, present and future guilt. This God treats me not as my sins deserve, but according to His loving–kindness. If you have taken hold of this gospel of grace, then you need to be reminding yourself of it every day, especially when God seems distant or absent.
The gospel of grace says that I am a flawed and rebellious person who is loved by a kind and forgiving Creator. This God cares so much for us that He sent His Son to die for our past, present and future guilt. This God treats me not as my sins deserve, but according to His loving–kindness. If you have taken hold of this gospel of grace, then you need to be reminding yourself of it every day, especially when God seems distant or absent.
One of the most unhelpful things we can do is to ruminate over feelings of guilt. ‘There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1). It does not honour God to keep on reminding ourselves of past failures. After all, if He has chosen to remember your sins no more, who are we to remind Him of them?
Indeed, becoming a Christian is more than forgiveness, it involves being a child that God delights in. I asked my friend, Andy, if he believes that God rejoices over him (Zeph. 3:17). He replied that it seems too good to be true. But it is true!
Ed Welch writes, ‘Just think what it would be like to be certain that the God of this universe loved you. That alone would probably change the contours of depression.’ Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit would teach our heart of the love that the Father has for all of us who are trusting Christ (Eph. 3:16–20).
