Nougat 23

The worst aspect of depression, at least in my opinion, manifests when the affected people believe that they are completely forsaken. This may get to the extreme of feeling God has forsaken us. At that point, it doesn’t matter what the reality is. The sense of total abandonment is the reality. The prophet Jeremiah speaks to this phenomenon in Today’s Holy Nougat

Lamentations 3:18-19 CEVDCI

[18] I tell myself, “I am finished! I can’t count on the Lord to do anything for me.”

[19] Just thinking of my troubles and my lonely wandering makes me miserable.

Depression is Real 4

I recall the gist of the conversation as if it were yesterday. She was an established woman, and all seemed right in her world. Yet, there she was, explaining to me that God was too busy addressing murders, crime and those ‘real life problems’ faced by other people, to address hers. She determined therefore that she would fix her problems to help God in God’s busyness. Perhaps we’ve also been there.

Having never considered that a Child of God could be depressed, I didn’t recognise it for what it was. But, with the clarity of hindsight I suspect that she felt disconnected from God. She had concluded that her issues were of lesser concern to God. Don’t get me wrong, the connection was not so far gone that she had given up on God or attending church, but the desire to assist God suggested that depressive symptoms were present. We chatted for a bit and I reminded her of God’s love for her. I’m not sure what I would have done differently if I had recognised that she was staring depression in the face.

Self-Check

Do we have anything in our toolkit that equips us to address depression for ourselves or in others? If not, let’s discuss that tomorrow, God’s willing.

Application

From the prophet’s lament, one can assume that depression is cyclical or comes at the individual in waves. He (assuming it was Jeremiah) said, Just thinking of my troubles and my lonely wandering makes me miserable. It was as if there was no reprieve. The previous declaration, I tell myself, “I am finished! I can’t count on the Lord to do anything for me.”’, betrays the depth of his struggle. For him, all hope was lost.

I believe that that’s the point at which some persons tell themselves that rather than be a burden to society, they should eliminate the problem. Not all do, thankfully, but if even one person arrives at that conclusion it is one too many. That demands urgent intervention.

At that moment, science and spiritual intervention merge. Depression has clear biological and physiological elements; but that feeling of being forsaken by God is spiritual. The two don’t have to exist apart from each other. They can be mutually inclusive. Especially as we look at solutions and treatment. Helping the person (even if it is ourselves) to regain faith in God and in humanity/themselves becomes paramount at that moment. We cannot lose sight of that.

Prayer Point

Let us ask God for God’s direct intervention for those feeling forsaken and depressed.

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May all we seek be found in Christ