Depression, including anger which is one of its most common symptoms, is a God-given emotion. It is an alarm, a warning signal that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. So is anger. Both are valid emotions and in and of themselves they are not sin. But a child of God’s response to the depression or anger – what he/she does with them – can either be sinful or righteous. I will explain in a moment but first I want to lay down one definition as a ground rule.
As a child of God we are called to live by faith. Faith is one of those words that people struggle to define, so I am going to give a definition which I think will help as you decide whether or not you are going to walk by faith through trials. Faith is believing the Word of God and acting on it, no matter how I feel, because God promises a good result. Did you catch all that? True faith says that the Bible is God’s Word and therefore it demands an action in my life.
The key to this definition is the “no matter how I feel” phrase. Let me put it this way – are you a parent? When I tell my children to do something, I don’t want them to wait until they feel like obeying, I just want them to obey. I can see the big picture, I know more than them and I want them to obey because what I am asking is in their best interest. It’s the same with God – when He instructs us through His Word, He doesn’t want us to wait for our feelings to get on board, He just wants obedience. If you are not sure about this, read Luke 17:7-10. Jesus is pretty straightforward in demanding obedience.
So, faith means that we believe that the Bible is God’s Word – it tells us the truth (including, and most importantly, the gospel) and we chose to act on its instruction, no matter how we feel at the moment, because we KNOW that God’s way is the best. I encourage you to memorize the faith definition because I have found that it comes in handy many times throughout my day, let alone in life in general!
Did you know that Genesis records the first bout of depression right after Adam and Eve are thrown out of the Garden of Eden. If you look up Genesis 4:1-8 you will read the story of Cain and Abel. When God rejected Cain AND his offering verse 5 tells us that “he became very angry and his countenance fell.” Anger and a fallen countenance – the two most common signs of depression. Cain was depressed.
And then God gives Cain His counsel for depression – verse 6,7 – “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you but you must master it.” God says, if you do what is right then you will feel better. We live at a time where the secular counsel is “You can’t do what is right until you feel better – so here are some medications and when you feel like it, then return to your regular activities.”
Now, I am not against medications. But my point is – in faith, we have to believe that God’s counsel is truth. He says to do what is right (if you do well) – do what I command you to do. Apparently Cain knew what God instructed for an offering and he chose to offer something different. God told him to do what he had been instructed and his feelings would improve. That goes along with our faith definition – if we obey, no matter how we feel, our feelings will follow. Now we know God’s counsel for depression – do what is right – obey me – know my Word and do it – and your countenance will be lifted – the depression will lift.
If you feel like God is not answering your prayers remember that God never does not answer prayer. Perhaps the answer you desire is not the answer He has given, but I am pretty sure He has answered it. We often expect God to give us what we ask for and we do that taking passages like Matthew 7:7-11 out of context. Prayer is not to bend God’s will towards ours, but to bend our will towards God. When we pray for His will, when we ask for things that He would desire in our lives, then we see the positive answers that we are looking for.
Perhaps you are praying for the depression to lift or the anger to dissipate. Of course these are good things, but often times the Lord has a purpose for these emotions – to get our attention to an area of our life that is lacking. If he takes away the trial, you may never learn the lesson. In addition, when you submit to God, even when the trial is heavy and burdensome (remember the garden of Gethsemane and Christ) then you are becoming like Jesus and God is using that situation for good in the conforming process. (Romans 8:28,29)
If you feel like God is ignoring you remember that God never ignores His children – Philippians 4:6 commands us to bring our prayers to Him. So in faith, even when you don’t feel like it, in obedience you need to continue to bring your requests to Him. He has given you the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:3-5) and one of the Spirit’s responsibilities is to bring your prayers before the Father, especially during times of great distress (Romans 8:26,27). So in faith, you need to believe that you have not been abandoned or ignored.
If you feel like God is not helping you I need to ask you what your definition of help is – has He not given the life of His only Son for you? I think this is a matter of perspective. Often times when our trial does not dissipate we associate that with a lack of love or interest/involvement on God’s part. But James tells us that we are to consider it joy when we are in the trial, knowing that the testing of our faith is producing endurance and that endurance is so that we can be perfect and complete (James 1:2-12). So God is working in you through this trial – perhaps it is to make more of Himself and to make you more dependent on His counsel and guidance. But you have the responsibility to know Who God is and what He offers you. You do this through the study of His Word and then the practical application of it. This James passage is actually a wonderful one…please read it!
If you feel like God has abandoned you and that He doesn’t care at all or if you wish to be separated from knowledge of Him then you have bought into Satan’s lies and it is darkening your understanding of God. Stick with the basics – do you take lightly the sacrifice made on your behalf? How can you honestly accuse God of not caring when your salvation cost Him the life of His Son? I know that when you are in the valley of the shadow of death that it is a lonely and frightening place to wander through, but as David says, you need to fear no evil. Let God’s rod and staff guide you and comfort you. Don’t turn on the most precious and most important relationship in your life. You must stop living in the here and now and set your eyes on eternity. Colossians 3:1-4 tells us to set our minds on the things above and not on the things that are on the earth – we must live with an eternal perspective, which will put the earthly difficulties into proper perspective.
You are not abandoned. You are not alone. You are greatly loved by God. He is intensely and intricately involved in your life. Just because you can’t see Him doesn’t mean He’s not there. What does your pursuit of God look like? Is it prayer? I like to refer to our relationship with God as a two-sided conversation. If you spend a lot of time in prayer, then you are doing all the talking and the relationship will never grow. You have to let Him do some of the talking – actually most of it! How do you do this? By being in His Word. Everything He wants you to know about Him is in there. What makes Him angry, what brings Him joy, how He feels about you, what He desires for you – it’s all in there. If you take your eyes off of yourself and put them on God, and if you study the Word seeking to see HIM and NOT the solution to your problems, you will find that things will change for you.
You do not need to stay where you are – your life doesn’t have to be crippled by anger and depression. The process of change is not an easy one, however. It would be so nice if we could just sprinkle fairy dust over our heads and everything would be fine, but that’s not life. But you have everything you need for a good life and for godliness (II Peter 1:2,3) and that is in the Word of God with the power of the Holy Spirit intervening and giving understanding. If you have these two things, you can put aside the lies of Satan and change your life. But you have to roll up your sleeves and determine not to buy into the lies that you have embraced any longer. Believing these lies is sin and you need to confess this sin to God. Then in faith, make the choice to believe God’s Word and act on it, NO MATTER HOW YOU FEEL, trusting that God’s way is best.
Below is a list of some Scripture that may help in seeking God’s will and involvement in your life.
• Read Ephesians 4:17-32 – how a person changes and grows – list what you should put off and what you should put on – any time you take off a sinful characteristic, you must replace it with a godly one – what do you need to put off in your life? What should you put on?
• Romans 8:31-39 – this is a great passage to pray over – use His Words – do you believe these to be true? Is God a liar?
• Read through the book of John (gospel) and journal – Who is Jesus? Who does He claim to be? Who do others say He is? Once you see Who He is, how does that relate to you? How can He be these things to you?
• Read through the book of Proverbs and list out the characteristics of a foolish man and a wise man. Which list do you find yourself on?
• Read through Psalm 119 – what benefit does the Word of God have in the life of a believer?
• Read Matthew 6:25-34. Summarize the teaching. How can you practically apply this to your life?
• Read I Corinthians 13:4-8. List out what love is and what it isn’t. Then journal how God has displayed His love through His Word (for each word on your list) and then write out how you need to show love to Him practically for each word. For example, because love is PATIENT I will show my love for God by patiently waiting for Him to work in my life as this time of difficulty continues. Because love is KIND, I will speak kindly of God to myself and others, focusing on His goodness and what He has afforded me through salvation. Because love is NOT JEALOUS, I will not look at others who are prospering and long for their lives, but I will thank the Lord for the life He has given me and I will list out my blessings every morning when I rise…etc.
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