Repurposing Depression for Spiritual Growth

Repurposing Depression for Spiritual Growth

I was speaking with a firend about my intention to write a sermon addressing depression. They said, oh you’re going to use the old Phillipians 4:8 "whatever is true, whatever is noble, wahtever is right, pure, lovely, admirable... think on these things...". I said no, I want to do more that tells depressed people to snap out of it and start thinking happy thoughts... that has never worked for me.

Today, I would like to discuss how we can repurpose depression, sorrow, and emotional pain through the discerning power of the holy spirit... and use it as a means to grow in spirit. Depression is a fact of life, plenty of people go through it, God made it, so it must serve a purpose. Let's talk about that!

Why Build Depression Into The Human Condidtion?

Ecclesiastes 3:11 a deep longing for a better way to interact with others is built into everyone made in God's image [the kingdom of God]. A painful understanding that we do not live an eternal life is missing is also part of every human being [holy spirit].

Ecclesiastes 9:b the heart of flesh is inclined towards madness, folly, and self deception.

When human beings try to imagine ideal worlds they usually envisions people living in a condition of serenity, peace, and contentment. But that is not the world we inhabit, nor the people who inhabit it. Some regard this as proof that no loving God could be responsible for creating all this. Some speculate that God must have made a few mistakes when creating the material world and the people living in it.

But the world as we find it serves a purpose... it is a place of beginnings... not the destination.

God equiped humans with a built-in alarm system... pain. Which is neurotransmitters, and brain chemicals firing off to tells us something bad has happened, or is happening. Pain drives us to make changes.

Kick a  boulder with your bare foot you're going to feel pain. Your mind figures out... don't kick large rocks in your bare feet. You hit your thumb while hammering a nail... your mind adapts... be very careful with hammers. Pain in your left arm tells you a heart attack is coming... seek help.

Depression/sorrow is a type of pain. Depression/sorrow is your mind and spirit telling you something is wrong... and you need to do something about it.

You see a world that is wicked and unfair... people who are unfaithful, deceitful, abusive... possessions that never make you feel as safe and secure as you thought... you're getting old... you're going to die. We have a lot to become depressed about.

Consider this; God sees the same world you do... sin, violence, futility. He's pretty open that is makes Him sad... but God responds to sorrow differently. God’s all about drilling down to root causes...  providing answers, solutions, hope, and joy.

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 Sorrow is not a mistake God made in creation… something to cover up with coping mechanism, drugs, pleasures, distractions, or pumping ourselves up. Sorrows is call to redirect our lives, to find answers, solutions, hope, and joy.

Humans Seeks Solutions to Emotional Pain

Depression is emotional pain... we don’t enjoy it and we naturally want to get out of it. Left to our own devices we usually address the emotional pain of depression and sorrow like so:

· We address our sense of helplessness by pumping up our self esteem [personal achievment, fashion, beauty, physical prowess]

· We distract our mind with pleasures or pursuit of knowledge [philosophy, science, false religion]

· We use drugs to chemically induce the feelings of pleasure, heightened awareness, self esteem

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 Solomon's sought to escape his sorrow [depression], sense of hopelessness, perhaps even guilt... by following 3 categories of thought and behavior... which he labels: wisdom, madness, and folly.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 Solomon's attempts to escape his mental and emotional state of despair and hopelessness actually parallel the DSM-5 criteria for mania and  bi-polar disorder:  heightened sense of self importance, frantic goal related activity, multiple overlapping grandiose projects, extreme/indiscriminate sexual behavior, substance abuse, partying, gambling, risk taking, loud boasting, extreme mood swings.

The DSM-5 observes that wealthy people/wealth nations are the most likely to fall into these patterns of thought and behavior... [depression, manic bipolar disorders etc]. Rich people are more prone to trust in self. Rich people have more time to dwell on themsleves. Solomon was of course uniquely wise, privledged, and pleasured beyond most of humanity.

I am not of the opinion Solomon had a mental disorder... I merely think Solomon’s God given wisdom, and the free time wealth gave him, made him keenly attuned to the desperate reality of the human condition and it made him deeply depressed.

God caused Solomon's existential rollercoaster ride to be recorded… why? For your benefit! His sorrow and depression is used to pass along some important biblical truths.

Depending on Your Own Understanding

Solomon made some huge mistakes... He sought the antidote to depression and sorrow in all the ususal [but wrong] places]... and found them unsatisfying. Like most of us, he looked first to his own understanding to find a way out...

Ecclesiastes 2:17, 20 after all his efforts Solomon "hated life"... there was no meaning in all his own efforts... he entered an even darker sadness... perhaps even entertaining suicidal thoughts.

BOTH the bible and psychiatric practitioners agree that it is normal to lean upon our own understanding when seeking to escape depression and emotional pain… However, BOTH the bible and psychiatric world also agree that it is next to impossible to overcome depression these ways. At best you cover it over your sorrow and grief for a time until it comes back sometimes even stronger.

You might then respond with even greater pumping up of your self esteem, or turn to even more powerful disractions, or more medication... creating a reinforcing cycle of ever increasing highs and ever greater lows. If you end up in a psychiatrist’s office they will label you as bi-polar. If you fall into the clutches of a pastor they will probably say you are too worldly.

Human Solutions Have Some Merit

Solomon never said his many worldly responses to depression were worthless… He simply said they were not enough. The truth is human activites will improve your state of mind, increase or balance the flow of seratonin, endorphins, and other feel good chemicals in your brain... But covering up emotional pain through distraction, activity or pleasure will falter in the end.

1 Timothy 4:8 people in cities like Ephasus, Corinth, Phillipi were devoted to pursuit of physical beauty, public display of athletic prowess, building the self up through training and exercise, possibly a good body pump. Paul mentions athleticism multiple times in his letters [so I will too]. He never says its worthless... a good run will release a flood of fell good chemicals in your brain... but they will fade.

Exercise is an excellent way to deal with the short term symptoms of depression, anxiety, or emotional pain. But it will not address the root of the matter. In the same way, personal achievement, pursuit of beauty, a quest for knowledge, even a glass of wine with friends, have some value.

The bible is not opposed to these things... the answer is moderation in all things. We are advised not to invest so much into distractions, pleasures, or self medication that we lose the desire and motive to drill down to the heart of the matter an find real answers.

So what is the heart of the matter?

Connecting Sorrow and Salvation

Sorrow comes from awareness that something is horribly wrong... without sorrow would we seek solutions? Without sorrow would we see a need for… and seek, salvation?

Psalm 34:18 a crushed spirit is the precondition for being receptive to the call of salvation. To find true hope we must lose hope in all other forms of hope... knowledge, madness, folly... art, tribal pride, personal schievment, drugs... none of these will take you where you really long to go.

Luke 6:21-26, James 4:7-10, Ecclesiastes 7:2-6 God’s word actually encourages you to embrace sorow rather than push it out of your mind by any means possible.

God is not going to wave His wand and make all sorrow, depression, emotional pain go way… that’s actually not in your best interest. However, He does offer you Jesus Christ [himself a man of great sorrows] to take your hand and walk you through the deep dark places. With Christ, and His spirit within, you  will be given the necessary understanding to work through the pain, discerning the good it can create in you.

Accepting sorrow [rather that trying to cover it up with distractions, amusements, achievments] is what leads to a positive perspective, gladness of heart, and focus on the joy set before us… IF you let it motivate you forward to seek the solutions God has in store…. humility [rather than pumping up the self] … service to others, hospitality, fellowship, loyalty, faithfulness [rather than distraction]… truth [rather than mere collection of facts, fantasies, or empty philosophies].

God’s answers to emotional pain are counter-intuitive. The flesh and blood mind does not automatically see how these could fill the emptiness within them… or lead them out of emotional pain. But, if you try them you will find that they work. Because they are counter intuitive you have to trust God.

Sorrow & Trust

Consider Job... who had great sorrow [Job 6:2-4].... his sorrow lasted a long time [Job 7:3]... the loss of his beloved children never went away... he lost hope [Job 7:6-7]... he suffered insomnia and panic attacks [Job 7:13-16]. While Satan intended evil... God saw an opportunity to teach him about the worthlessness of human attempts to achieve righteousness.

Job's intense depression and sorrow caused him to openly call out God as unfair and unjust because he thought he deserved better treatment in life... [Job 40:3-8]. In his own mind Job thought he didn't deserve pain and sorrow... God answers "what do you know about it?"

Bottom line Job had to trust God knew what He was doing...

Jeremiah 3:14-17  Jeremiah felt alone in the grief of witnessing God's holy nation going down in flames ...  the kingdom of God was falling into ruin. How could this possibly be a good thing?

Bottom line, Jeremiah had to trust God know what He was doing... Lamentations 3:21-32.

God Also Witholds Sorrow

Although sorrow serves a purpose in God's spiritual training program... too much is too much. He will not send us more than we can handle. He has great compassion and therefore, just as I encouraged you to embrace sorrow… it is also worthy of your time to pray for relief.

Luke 22:41-42 Jesus prayed for relief... but instead was strengthened so He could bear it.

Philippians 2:27 He might intervene so that we are not overwhelmed

Paul had plenty to be sorrowful and depressed about, loss of reputation, innocent blood on his hands, persecution, disaster, betrayal of friends... through his writing he talks about it with you... hinting and sometimes explicitly stating the emotional pain it gave him. His concludion was that through it he learned to rely on God. To trust God.    

Conclusion:

Some of you have been treated badly, some of you have experienced horrors of war/crime/abuse [sexual, verbal, violence], some of you have been abandoned or betrayed, some of you have experienced great loss [money, loved ones, status], some of you are simply like Solomon… very clever and able to see the emptiness of mortal life with great clearly.

You all have a story... and you all have cause for human sorrow. But, through God's calling and choosing you are given a power of discernment that can change how you understand emotional pain... that can change how you respond to sorrow, depression, emotional pain.

Through faith in Him, through trust in Him, through Jesus Christ.