I know the darkest hour. A spiritual shroud envelops me like a cocoon from Satan. Yes, I understand what it means to be a depressed Christian. Hope seems to be the lowest. Belief that nobody likes me grips like an iron fist. It’s not that I don’t want to smile; I find it practically impossible to do it. In a crowd of friends I feel alone. No joy is discovered when my thoughts are negative. It’s like a hundred pounds of weight hold me down, keeping me from getting off the couch. The wish that I could go to sleep and never wake up is my dream at these low points.
 
Deliverance is possible.
 
Jesus understands with sweat drops of blood how I feel when I am downhearted. Empathy rains down His cheeks. With great sorrow our sins are cleansed. The Bible does not promise emotional wellbeing. The Bible is not an always a feel-good book. God’s Word does guarantee hope for those who persevere in strong effort to overcome. God doesn’t get a black eye when I feel depressed or any other bad feeling. Major depressive episodes come to those with mental diseases. The depression the majority of people have is not clinical major depression. Even so the Bible offers remedies.
 
As the butterfly is resurrected from its tomb, life comes with liberty for me as I die to my guilt and shame. The Lord is big on changing our thought patterns. Metamorphosis that He wills for me is to die in a divine cocoon. When I change my thinking from a drive of emotional force I am swallowed with and learn to trust God despite how I feel, I learn an education from grace. God is constantly my refuge and strength. He is the light that I now see dimly at the end of that parabolic tunnel.
 
When I reason with the Scriptures, I learn that while I am blue solutions come from reflecting on becoming active. One meek action to take is to get off the couch, no matter how heavy the weight is, and go out to do something for someone else. Love is not selfish, which is something I tend to be when I’m forlorn. I realize that I am too blessed to be depressed. God changes attitude. Attitude changes emotions. My mood becomes more balanced when taking the Lord’s counsel. Prayer gives hope. Hope is the enemy of a foul mood. It conquers and I find deliverance from depression. I know much more to becoming alleviated from depression than pulling up the bootstraps, as people say. All this is a process, one which has to be repeated for each episode.
 
-Donny Weimar
Online Instructor TBC