Bryan Craddock - Overcoming Depression

One of my favorite Bible stories is found in 1 Kings 18. It's the story of the prophet Elijah and his showdown with the prophets of the false god Baal. Elijah proposed a simple contest to show prove whether Baal or Yahweh was the true God. They would set up two altars with oxen slaughtered and prepared as a burnt offering. Then they would each pray to their god and ask him to send fire down to consume their offering. 
The prophets of Baal dance and chant around their altar throughout the day. They even begin to cut themselves--anything to get Baal to act, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Elijah is mocking them. He says, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened" (1 Kings 18:27). But nothing happens.
When Elijah's turn comes, he actually has the people pour water on his offering. They totally saturate the wood.  They even dig a trench around the altar and fill it with water. Then the Scripture says,
At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God." Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there (1 Kings 18:36-40).
Then, Elijah prays for rain. God had withheld rain from that region for three and a half years because of their idolatry. But in answer to his prayer it begins to rain. 
These were incredible spiritual victories. But the next chapter tells a very different story about Elijah. The idolatrous queen of Israel, Jezebel, threatens to kill Elijah and he flees for his life. 1 Kings 19:4 tells us, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, 'It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.'" In just one day Elijah goes from victory to a depression so deep that he wants to end his life. 
The Bible doesn't pull any punches when it tells us about the heroes of the faith. They are real people who struggled to overcome overwhelming problems. They are people like us. I doubt any of us can identify with Elijah's victory, but I'm sure many of us can relate to his feelings of despair. 
Today as we continue our series of messages on "Overcoming Life's Challenges," we want to talk about overcoming depression. I'm speaking of depression in the broadest sense of the term, incorporating anything from the normal feelings of disappointment and discouragement that we face on a daily basis to much deeper and prolonged struggles where people lack the will to live. 
Psychologists tell us that one of the great challenges in dealing with depression is that it is so complex. There is hardly ever a single cause. Now I'm no psychologist, but I do see that the Scripture addresses many of the causes behind depression. So this morning, I would like to walk through Scripture passages that speak to this issue in some way.
1. Physiological CausesFirst, there are often physiological or medical causes behind depression. Certain medical conditions make people feel depressed, and I won't go into these other than to say that when you feel depressed it's always wise to speak to your medical doctor about it. 
There is one physiological cause, however, to which the Scripture does speak. Fatigue. That was probably part of the explanation behind Elijah's condition. The man was exhausted. When you go through physically draining experiences, particularly if you are afraid or worried and unable to sleep, you inevitably begin to feel depressed. I plan to talk about overcoming worry and fear next week, but for now I want to point out that God's Word does show the importance of rest. 
When we look to Exodus 20:8-11 we find that the fourth commandment of the ten says, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."
People have always had a tendency to turn this into some legalistic requirement, but Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). God knows that your body needs rest. We live in a world that runs non-stop, and we can easily get caught up in constant busyness. But incessant activity takes its toll. It wears us down physically, mentally, and even spiritually. We need to learn what it means to rest and simply enjoy God's blessings for a day. 
On the other hand, when you do feel depressed, the temptation is to completely withdraw from life, staying in bed, sleeping more and more. And when you do that, it just seems to make you more and more lethargic. This Sabbath commandment addresses this too. God established a rhythm of life for us. Six days of labor and one day of rest. Certainly there is a place for holidays and vacations--the Old Testament Law included times for festivals. But when we try withdraw from life altogether, it inevitably hurts us dragging us deeper into the darkness of depression.
So one key to overcoming depression is to follow that Sabbath rhythm.
2. Moral CausesSecond, depression can also be traced to moral causes. What I mean is that depression is often tied to feelings of guilt. I addressed the subject of guilt at length in a previous message in this series, but let me make some comments specifically in regard to its connection with depression. 
David expressed the connection between guilt and depression in Psalm 32:3-4. He says, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer." This may have been what David experienced after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged to have her husband killed in battle. 
He goes into even more detail about his experience in Psalm 38:3-11. He says there, "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off." David experienced a host of physical symptoms, but he knew that the real source was the sin he had committed. 
Sadly, many people today experience guilt, but they try to deal with it in ways that are not helpful. Some try to reject moral standards and live as if they don't exist. Some try to blame their behavior on their circumstances or on what other people have done to them. When it doesn't work, people end up looking for something that will simply dull the pain. 
The only real solution is what David describes in Psalm 32:5: "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD'; and You forgave the guilt of my sin." When someone is depressed, we naturally try to comfort them. We say, "It's OK, you're really not that bad." But sin is the cancer of the soul. If we ignore it, it only spreads and gets worse. It has to be cut out. Extreme measures have to be taken. 
We have to acknowledge our sin if we want to be free of guilt. And then, we have to believe that God really does forgive. The Scripture teaches us that Jesus Christ died to pay the price for your sins so that you can receive forgiveness. The only solution to a depression that stems from guilt is to receive that forgiveness. 
3. Circumstantial CausesAfter the physiological and moral causes, we end up at probably the biggest source of discouragement and depression--circumstances. And just about anything fits into this category. It could be as minor as being disappointed that plans didn't work out as you've hoped. Or it could be as major as Elijah's situation--having the queen of Israel calling for his execution. How do we rise above our circumstances? The answer is that you must control the way you think. Let me give you some biblical examples of this. 
In Psalm 103, David begins in verse 1 by saying, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." I think David knew that he should be praising God, but he didn't feel like it. He was down, so he preached at his own soul. We don't know what circumstances he faced on this occasion, but it's clear that he was trying to shake himself out of that downward spiral of self pity. In verse 2 he says, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits." Then he begins to rehearse to himself the ways that God has blessed him. That's what the rest of the Psalm is about. 
Paul gives us similar advice in Philippians 4:8 he says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." This is the same thing that David was trying to do. The challenge is to control our thoughts and direct them to those things that are good and positive. 
This wasn't just theory for Paul. He modeled it in his own life. He endured a host of trying circumstances. He described them in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches."
In spite of all of those difficulties Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
In spite of all that he went through, Paul didn't lose heart and you don't have to either. Even when the outer you, your physical body, is falling apart, it's possible for the inner, spiritual part of you to grow in strength. Paul looked at all of the suffering he had been through and he called it momentary, light affliction. He was able to have that perspective because he focused his thoughts on eternity. He was focused on God.

How do you cultivate that kind of focus on God? First, fill your mind with God's truth. Spend time reading the Bible. Don't just passively rush through what you're reading. Speak with the Lord as you read. Respond to Him. Acknowledge His power. Thank Him for His mercy. Pray for His help. Engaging God through the Scripture that way helps you internalize it. It brings the Scripture to life.

Second, get into the habit of examining your thoughts. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" We have to recognize that because we are fallen human beings, our hearts don't always speak the truth. That reality prompted one pastor to say, "We must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk to us" (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, 20). This was what David was doing in Psalm 103. Thinking this way requires us to set aside time to reflect on what thoughts are filling our minds.  
As we cultivate these disciplines, filling our minds with truth and correcting our thoughts, we can change the way we respond to circumstances. That doesn't turn a bad circumstance into something good, but it gives you the perspective and strength to persevere. 
ConclusionWe've looked at three giants of the faith this morning: Elijah, David, and Paul. Each of them faced overwhelming trials and deep discouragement. Yet, they overcame depression and despair to live for the glory of God. One of the reasons God gives us such insight into their lives is so that we can follow their example. By the power of God, you can overcome.