Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness

by Edward T. Welch

The comfort you are looking for is available, and it can be found in Jesus Christ.

everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.

The basic rule is this: physical treatments can possibly alleviate physical symptoms,

but physical treatments don’t treat the guilt, fear, self-loathing, and other distinctly spiritual symptoms.

God created you to trust him and love others. When you are not trusting or not loving, you are disconnected from your purpose, and hopelessness will thrive.

What depressed people need—what we all need—are daily reminders of spiritual reality.

The principle is this: the more painful and disabling the depression, the more important it is for counselors and friends to provide structure. Structure could include the following: Go to bed and get up at the same times each day. Eat at appointed times. Exercise at appointed times. Have a schedule for the day. Write down one thing you agree to work on every day. Follow through on agreements you made with other people. Let your “yes” be “yes.”

Start slowly. Help people set very basic goals initially, and then work together to gradually increase the number of tasks and goals in a day.

I began to talk to myself rather than listen to myself.

see outside my own world.

A friend didn’t give up on me.

I saw that it was 90 percent pride. I felt like I deserved certain things from certain people. It had been about me.

I began to believe that I was in a battle and realized that I had to fight.

I began to understand God’s grace. I began to see that my wallowing in guilt was a form of works righteousness, not godly sorrow.

I don’t really know what God used. It was lots of little things.

People gave answers before they tried to listen. It seemed like everyone had a remedy for me.

People talked too much.

Take one biblical story, read it every day, and write down ten (or more) applications of it.

Write out your purpose for living. Allow it to be revised by others. Memorize it. Then write it out again using different words.

Become an expert in what God says to those who suffer.

Write down things from the Sunday sermon that are good, important, and true.

Keep a sharp eye out for grumbling and complaining. Like gossip, these sins are acceptable in our culture, so we don’t see their ugly roots. What does the grumbling or complaining really say?

Consider these questions: In this culture, have we forgotten the benefits of hardships? What are the possible benefits to suffering? (Ps. 119:67, 71; 2 Cor. 1:8–10; Heb. 5:8; James 1:3)

Since the label “depression” cannot capture the complexity of your experience, what other words (especially words that can be keyed to Scripture) more concre...

Search for a depressed person. Speak a word of encouragement.

If you think of your own history of depression, you can find early warnings. For example, physical warnings could include fatigue and sleep changes. You lost interest in food. Colors were not quite as vibrant, and you didn’t feel your usual responses to people and activities you once enjoyed. Spiritually, you might notice anger, loneliness, or a lack of comfort in remembering that the sovereign, loving God is in control.

Etch this in stone: if depression gives you an early warning—and it usually does—bring everything you have to the fight.

If you are willing to be trained by it, expect depression to be a good teacher. That doesn’t mean that you should seek it out, and it certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to alleviate it. But most people who are willing to be taught by suffering look back and are grateful. Those with chronic illnesses can testify.

After three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, a British officer who found Christ in that camp said something that only a follower of Christ could say. “Well,” he said, “it’s all over. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. True, it was rough. But I have learned an awful lot that I couldn’t have learned at university or anywhere else. For one, I’ve learned about the things of life that are real; and for another, I’ve learned that it is great to be alive.” ... Suffering no longer locked us up in the prison house of self-pity, but brought us into what Albert Schweitzer called the “fellowship of those who wear the mark of pain.” We looked at the cross and took strength from the knowledge that it gave us, the knowledge that God was in our midst.

One of the arguments that counselors make against drug abuse is that it medicates away suffering so addicts avoid it rather than face it, walk through it, and learn from it. As a result, they can seem immature and short on character.

Since Jesus came, suffering is redemptive. It is part of the pilgrim’s path, and it is a good one. We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Rom. 5:3–4) Suffering is a teacher. It taught Jesus (Heb. 5:8), and it can teach us. But it only truly teaches us as we fix our eyes on Jesus. If you avoid him in the midst of pain, expect to be embittered by it. But if you look to Jesus, you will no longer be alone. You will be strengthened, and you will be changed. Expect to say, “This is exactly what I needed. Through depression I have learned things about God and myself. It would have been nothing short of a tragedy not to have learned them.”

One of the lessons God gives is about love. “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23). Love God and love others—that is a summary of your purpose. If you are willing, expect to grow in loving others.

When we set out to love others even during our own suffering, the glory of Christ is unmistakable.

On this side of heaven, love will not grow without a fight. Any time the glory of Christ is in reach, you will find a resistance in your own heart that is abetted by dark powers. Such warfare is found in a number of common responses.

Love for others comes from saying, “Jesus, I need you.” It comes out of faith and trust.

If you are going to find joy in loving others, it will come from seeing that you have done something more important than relieving your depression. You have just seen the Spirit of God at work in your life. You have just seen evidence that you belong to Christ, and he is using you to accomplish his purposes.

We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16–18)

Paul delighted in the present benefits of the cross, but he knew enough about misery and sin that his sights were always set in front of him. He was especially looking forward to the eternal glory—the glory that was to come. Somehow, that hope changed everything.

Depression gives you tunnel vision. Scripture gives you vistas that extend from the beginning of creation to eternity. If you aren’t dazzled by the expanse that Scripture lays in front of you, be persistent. As you keep looking, you will see more and more. One of your goals is to let the apostle Paul be your eyes until you can see more clearly.

Like a reader who reads the last chapter first, you see the hardships in a very different light. Scripture tells you the end, and, if you have put your faith in Jesus rather than in yourself, it is your end too. Jesus wins. His justice prevails. His love is seen for what it really is—boundless and irresistible. Our unity with him exceeds our imaginations. We will see that life was much more purposeful than we thought. Everything we ever did by faith—because of Jesus—stands firm and results in “praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:7).

knowing the end reveals that sorrow and death don’t win. For those who know Christ, life and joy are the last word.

hope is a key issue in depression. The critical transition is from hopeless to hopeful.

God prizes hope. It says to him that we will not try to find our homes on earth, but we will look forward to the very best—to find our home in his presence.

God’s self-revelation as Creator is a comfort because it reminds us that there is no other god who can thwart God’s intent. His plans will prosper.

If you are hopeless, there may be many contributors, but two are certain. First, you have placed your hope in something other than God—a person, money, personal reputation—and it has let you down. Second, you may understand that Jesus conquered death, but you live as though he is still in the grave.

Given a choice, a sinless eternity with the loving God is much preferred over a pain-free one where sin still bedevils.

When you purposefully make God’s universal story your own, you will always be looking in two directions. You will be looking backward to the cross and looking forward to the time when you see Jesus, the object of your hope.

You know that your work will not be in vain; the master builder has determined that your less-than-professional attempts will contribute to the final masterpiece. Nothing we do because of Christ will be in vain. This brings purpose and diligence to the present.

When you look around at yourself and the world around you, it is easy to be pessimistic because the future doesn’t always look very promising. But when you know the conclusion—that the church will win and Christ will reign—you are able to see the Spirit of God move in the details.

Change does not come easily or quickly. We stubbornly cling to past interpretations and old stories even when God’s universal story is much better. The reason is not that we lack education and knowledge, but that we overflow with pride.