Depression in the secular world is considered a disorder and is often treated as a disease, meaning the secular view is that there is no cure for depression, only management. Depression is something you have to live with, like diabetes. You have to learn how to live with your disease so you can best manage it. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the following are criterion for clinical depression: 1) depressed mood most of the day 2) a diminished interest or pleasure in daily activities 3) weight loss or gain 4) sleeplessness 5) agitation or restlessness 6) fatigue or energy loss 7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt 8) diminished ability to think or concentrate 9) recurring thoughts of death without a specific plan. According the DSM-IV, if you have five or more of these symptoms, you can be diagnosed as clinically depressed. The scope of this blog is not to critique the secular world’s view of depression, but rather to show how it has seeped into the church and what has God revealed to us on how to respond to depression. What I hope to show is that depression, when rightly looked at, causes hunger, thirst and a hope for God.
Psalm 42 and 43 gives us a great picture of a godly response to a person who is downcast. King David was very aware of pain and sorrow; we see evidence in these Psalms that through David’s pain and sorrow he drew closer to the Lord. My contention is that our pain brings us closer to the Lord. Since the secular way of dealing with depression has seeped into the church, we have been taught by clinicians to move away from the pain rather than towards it. I believe the secular clinical side of depression wants to lead us away from pain and the Gospel leads us to our pain because our need for God is made most real in those dark places and we experience the true redemptive love of God. Let us move to a closer look at Psalm 42.
[42:1] As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. [2] My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? [3] My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
We see in verse 1 and 2 our pain and suffering, when rightly looked at, cause hunger and thirst. This is even spelled out in Matthew 5:6; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”. If we do not trust God, we will tend to run from our pain and suffering and then wonder why we never thirst for God. There are all kinds of reason why we can be depressed; environment, job loss, relational conflict, loss of loved one, or sometimes you just wake up and gravity seems heavier. I would like to draw a distinction on depression. The right biblical view of depression would be walking and enduring suffering and experiencing joy at the same time. That joy is knowing who you are in Christ, that God is in the middle of your suffering and is holding you and walking with you in the midst of your pain. The correlation is my pain causes me to need or in this case thirst; now do I go find something else to drink, or do I drink in the living waters of God? Going someplace else to drink, and that can be literally drinking (alcohol) or some other type of pain reliever which may actually cause a temporary relief of the pain. Ironically if we do not focus on the suffering and keep running from the pain, it will still be there. It’s like God wants us to trust him in the midst of our pain. I believe in adversity, meaning when you are squeezed from the wounds of others or self-inflicted wounds, what you reach for or what you cry for is your gospel that brings you satisfaction. When you squeeze an orange, what comes out? Obviously, whatever is on the inside; likewise, when suffering squeezes us, what comes out? What ever your heart clings to for pain relief.
It is clear throughout scripture that God does allow adversity but that adversity should build our character and hope. With more godly character and godly hope, we are in a better place to please God. We see in Hebrews 11:6, without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever draws near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Our faith, given by God, plays a huge part in this paradigm of moving towards our pain rather than away from it. Romans 14:23 says whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. God is making it very clear, we must relate to Him with our faith. Faith is where our concrete existence meets the eternal God. It is the point of relationship for visible people communing with the invisible God. In addition, God has perfected our identity through this beautiful exchange at the cross of our Savior, my sin for His righteousness. God has chosen to give me His perfected identity in a fallen body that lives in a fallen world. I believe this is where God gets most glory, is when a believer is suffering but worships God in the midst of pain and suffering. The scriptures aren’t clear “why” God lets us suffer, but we know that He gets glory when we choose Him in the midst of pain rather than medicating.
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