Depression: Looking up from the Stubborn Darkness

by Edward T. Welch

Try it. When you feel like everything is going against you and suicide seems attractive, ask yourself that question: Do I have a right to be angry?

Let him persuade you to say “no” and to trust him.

He will easily be found by those who seek him. He is even found by those who don’t seek him.

His purposes will never be thwarted.

On this side of the cross, misery persists but the scales are tipped in favor of joy.

It comes down once again to the deepest question of all: who will you trust?

Instead, you simply think less often about yourself.

Then you realize that when you add anything to what Christ has done, it diminishes the glory of God.

It is a rejection of God’s gift as sufficient.

But no matter what we say, when we add something to the gospel we are minimizing the completeness of God’s work, and we are essentially trying to share t...

Do you believe he hears? Do you believe that he is the God of great compassion? Do you believe that his compassion is active—that he is doing something now? Do you believe he gives grace to persevere in trials? Do you believe that he knows the details of your pain and gives you enough grace every day? What difference would it make if you did believe these truths?

From God’s perspective, however, the most important thing he could give us is the power to trust and obey when we feel powerless. In the mind of God, sin is a much more serious problem than suffering. In ours, the order is reversed.

In your despair, can you ask God to give you grace to resist sin and trust him through suffering?

The comfort is that you belong to him.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Physical training is of some value, but godliness [spiritual training] has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

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.

But depressed people, like all of us, are aware of kindness and love that is willing to sacrifice. Love always leaves its mark. As a result, depressed people who do best are cushioned by persevering love.

What depressed people need—what we all need—are daily reminders of spiritual reality. As the truth of Christ is impressed on our hearts, we must offer that to others, and they to us. The target is always Christ and him crucified. The words are not magic, but they are food for the soul. Don’t get derailed. What you need is not something new. You simply need to persevere in applying old truths to present situations.

The principle is this: the more painful and disabling the depression, the more important it is for counselors and friends to provide structure.

As a result, depressed people are often handled very gingerly. You feel as if you are carrying a torch around a bomb with a short fuse.

Wisdom and love, of course, must dominate your relationships with those who are depressed, as they should dominate any relationship.

As a rule, the closer the relationship, the more open you should be with the other person.

There is more to persevering than you thought. It is not simply a word that appears briefly in Scripture. It is a powerful, deeply spiritual response to struggles that don’t quickly disappear. When we persevere with one another, we are imitating one of the glorious facets of the character of God.

“I felt like things began to change when . . . .” 1. I began to talk to myself rather than listen to myself. I began to speak different Scriptures to myself rather than listen to my own voices of hopelessness.

A friend let me “borrow” her faith. My faith was so weak, but I always knew that she was confident of God’s presence and love, for the church and even for me.

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

You can’t always change the way you feel, but you can change the way you think. What thoughts have to change? Start saying an emphatic “STOP” whenever you notice them.

Write up a depression flow-chart. Begin with a recent event that sent you into a tailspin. Be as specific as possible about the steps you followed to restore your equilibrium.

Force-feed yourself Scripture and words of hope.

And keep the cross close at hand.

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Yet the Spirit makes us look more like Jesus, and Jesus certainly loved others deeply even during intense pain and rejection.

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.

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”

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

Hopelessness means that • you are unwilling to wait • you want something more than you want Jesus • you don’t really know Jesus.

There is hope throughout, but sin and death are prominent. That is why the authentic story of hope hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. It is God’s answer to a hopeless world.

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.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

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

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.

And finally, here is a brief summary of this chapter: Learn to say “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). This reminds you that your hope is in a person, and such a hope is certain. His response is, “Yes, I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:20). What is your plan for growing in hope?

You could split the difference and consider joy halfheartedly, but be forewarned: if you even crack the door open to joy, you will get more than you expected.

Even so, joy is better. Thanksgiving is gratitude for a benefit we have received. Joy includes gratitude, but its true delight is in the beauty of God and the deep goodness in all the things that come from him. Joy draws attention outward with a non-possessive appreciation for something that is good.

If creation is glad in the goodness of God, and if unborn children leap in the womb when they hear the news of the Messiah (Luke 1:44), then joy is within our reach as well.

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zeph. 3:17)

This is the double delight of joy. We enjoy what God has given us, and there is a bond—a knowing smile—that we share with him as we participate in his joy. True joy comes when we learn to enjoy the things that God enjoys.