Does feeling depressed mean something is wrong with my faith? - Depression - TouchPoints

1 Kings 19:3-4Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. . . . He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die.

Lamentations 3:20The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Matthew 26:36-38Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Even God’s greatest servants faced times of depression, and even Jesus faced great sorrow and anguish when he approached the cross. Sometimes, as with Jeremiah, depression comes from a prolonged period of apparent failure and discouragement. Other times, as with Elijah, the high of a great victory collapses into disillusionment and despair. Still other times, anxiety and depression combine in anticipation of dark times to come. Feeling depressed does not mean something is wrong with your faith. Often, it means something is right with your faith—and Satan sees you as a threat. During such times, cling to prayer, Scripture, and fellowship, just as Jesus did.

1 Samuel 15:22-25Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? . . . So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.”

1 Kings 11:1-3Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. . . . And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

1 Timothy 6:9-10People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Depression is not a sin, but sometimes, depression can come from seeking happiness and meaning in the wrong things. King Saul made public opinion his god, and this made him anxious, jealous, paranoid, and self-centered. King Solomon surrounded himself with pagan wives who led him into idolatry. The apostle Paul warned Timothy not to seek money because he had seen many led astray by its false promises. Whenever we try to fill our hearts with cheap replacements for God, the hollowness that it creates can manifest as depression.

Psalm 35:9I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because he rescues me.

Psalm 40:2He [the Lord] lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

Matthew 14:30-31When he [Peter] saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him.

God is able to lift us out of the pit of depression and fear, but we must let him. We are only truly in trouble when we convince ourselves that God cannot or does not want to help us.