My Redeemer Lives: Depression From the Depressed Christians Perspective

Depression is an unpleasant companion. If you've ever experienced it in any form, then you know what I mean. It likes to stand on your shoulder, shouting in your ear. It often tells you the truth, though many times it is half-truth, truth without context.

As many times as I've gone through that valley, I wish I could say I've learned a lot of things, things that would be positive.

But it's always an arduous season. It's always hard. It gives rise to questions, even the same questions repackaged.

There's no quick exit, no "do this or that," and it's done.

Sure, people will give quips; pieces of "advice" which sound good to most people, but to the hurting, it is like a jagged knife.

For Christians, advice given to us dealing with depression can be simple things like "get over it," "just endure," "it'll get better," "it'll be worth it in the end."

All the while, that little companion on your shoulder is saying, "Are you kidding?"

One thing I think I realize in it all is a conclusion that Job also came to.

We desire a mediator. We desire outside help to rescue us, for we know that the battle is too much for us, our strength too feeble.

When it's hard to even get out of bed or eat right, how can one expect to face all of the problems thrust at us, echoed and amplified by our little "Friend" who rides on our back?

If someone would just come and save us, it would all be made right.

I recognize, however, there are some things for which we are responsible. Is our depression because of our own sin? Then we need to pray that it be recognized and then we repent of it. This will bring relief. But we can know that our Redeemer lives, and He has taken care of the debt of our sin and will cleanse us of that sin.

Is it because we're not doing something that we know we ought to do? Then we seek out a means to accomplish it. Again, we can know our Redeemer lives, and He will finish the work He has begun in us, even as we struggle to do what we ought.

I recently heard something from a secular entrepreneur that stuck with me. Work on your capacity. That is, if you don't know what to do next week, do what you know to do today. You may not know what you need to do tomorrow, but you can try to get a good night's sleep tonight so that you're ready for when it comes. Just do the very next thing. Because our Redeemer lives, we can have power to do all things.

I think that can help in moments of depression. Don't try to eat the whole elephant; Instead, take one bite at a time.

But ultimately, it can reach the point where even those "next steps" are inconceivable to the weary soul.

And oftentimes, it's there that we cry out for help. But sometimes when you reach this place, you've already exhausted your other sources of help. Friends seem as distant as the man in the moon. Your own strength is gone. Your joy is depleted. We start to cry out, "How long, O Lord?"

We want a mediator.

I wish I had an answer. I know from my own experience that complaining to God, a place that Job seemingly approached, is not a good thing. Where were we when God created the world? Answer: Not there.

And so we have to really come to a place of acceptance, yet without all of the answers. This can be difficult. Sometimes, we simply need to keep our mouths shut and know that God is God.

Are we then to accept our situation, cry for help, all the while realizing it may not come on our schedule? I'm unsure, honestly.

It can be easy to justify ourselves, our plight, our anger. We can blame God, judge His character. We move inward, looking at ourselves, our pain. We condemn those around us. We desire that others help us, even if we ourselves show no care for them, perhaps even lashing out at them. We look at this world as if it is our only hope. We can fall into pride and discontentment, two things which are quite honestly a cause for many a season of depression.

But I know a few things from depression. It ought to be a place where we look at ourselves, honestly, at our hearts, our motives, and our desires, and align them back to God's word. It is a place that forces us to call out to God. It is a time where we are forced to stand on God's promises. It is a reminder to look beyond ourselves, showing the love we so desire to be shown us. Not out of some self-serving attempt at making ourselves feel better, but out of love for God and others. It causes us to long for a better country. It ought to show us our need of Jesus and His grace, and reminds us that He is our greatest treasure.

Ultimately, we can know, as Job did, that we have a Mediator. He looked ahead to Him, but we look to the past, to what was done, what was finished upon the cross.

I wish with all of my heart that being a Christian and knowing what Jesus has done on my behalf was enough to quiet the beast upon my back, to still my aching heart, but sometimes it isn't.

But: "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth." - Job 19:25