Dealing With Depression (Part 1)

Psalms 69:20  “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” 

God needs some comforters today to help folks who face many difficult circumstances. I believe the greatest weapon the enemy is using against God's people is depression. Hopefully I can share some things this week that will assist you in knowing how to minister to individuals who face this terrible affliction in their lives. We've all been there, but God was faithful.

If you love someone who is depressed, please resolve never to ask them why.  They don’t know.  Depression isn’t a straightforward, thought-out response to a tough situation, depression just is. Be mindful of the darkness, lethargy, hopelessness and loneliness they’re going through.  Be there for them, day in and day out, until they come through the other side.  It’s hard to be a true friend to someone who’s depressed, but it’s one of the kindest, finest and most impactful things you will ever do because depression is not something a person consciously chooses.

When you’re lost deep in those woods, it might take you some time to realize that you’re lost.  For a while, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’ve just wandered off the path and that you’ll find your way back any moment now.  Then night falls, again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and although it’s agonizing, it’s time to admit that you’ve disoriented yourself so far off the path, so deep into the woods, that you can’t even tell which direction the sun rises or sets from anymore.

You’re not choosing to be where you are, but you can’t see a way out.  That’s how depression feels to people who are struggling through it this very day.

Depression is one of the most helpless and tiring emotional experiences a person can live through:

-Sometimes it’s feeling lost.

-Sometimes it’s feeling despondent, 

-Sometimes it’s feeling absolutely nothing at all.  

There are times when depression can leave you feeling completely dead inside, incapable of moving and doing the things you used to enjoy.  Depression is not just a bad mood, and it’s certainly not something you can just “get over” when you feel like it.  No one chooses to be depressed, and no one can turn it off or on in an instant whenever they feel like it.

Be the comforter God wants you to be. Help those that you can with prayer and a kind ear. You'll never know how much of a blessing you will be.