Greetings, 

The weather outside is frightful! It is wonderful to have a comfortable home and a loving family around when the days are dreary. Christmas time is a time of hope, joy, peace and love, but for some, it is a time of depression and anxiety and loneliness. The Bible doesn’t use the word depression but it uses words like “downcast,” “brokenhearted,” “miserable,” and “troubled”…etc. All throughout the Bible there were men and women who dealt with anxiety and depression. Although there are several examples like Moses, Job, Jonah, Jeremiah, Judas and Elijah, I want to focus for a moment on David.  

David dealt with acute desperation. In many of the Psalms, he writes of his anguish, loneliness, his heart-cry over sin, fear of the enemy, guilt... and in 2 Samuel we see the grief in the loss of his sons. We can look to David, “a man after God’s own heart,” and receive hope because even the great warrior king struggled. 

“My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” Ps. 38:4
 
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”  Ps. 42:11

David did a couple of things that are really helpful in dealing with a mental health crisis. 

1. He confronted it head on. He didn’t let it fester, he cried out to the Lord 
2. He asked questions to get to the root of what was happening. He even asked his soul why it was so downcast. I like that. Sometimes we are left with no answer other than, I don’t feel well. It doesn’t hurt to ask the questions and even ask them out loud. 
3. He wrote to process his thoughts on paper. 
4. He reminded himself to put his hope where it belongs, in the surety of God. 

How can we help those that struggle with depression? I spent sometime praying today with some administrators at Jefferson High School because a young man decided to end his life on campus yesterday. It was devastating and is not something that any of our brave educators should have to experience. However, we all know that there is a great lack of hope among people in our communities today. A person does not need to be a follower of Jesus to see the brokenness in our world. 

We often don’t know what to do to help people who are hurting. 

1. People don’t just need the right words, they need to know that there is hope. Hope, not in a better tomorrow, a brighter future or in new beginnings, but hope in the midst of tragedy. Hope in the center of the storm. That hope is only found in the great news of Jesus’ work of reconciling us to God through salvation, justification and sanctification. It is by His wounds that we are healed and it is by His sacrifice that we can have hope even though the days ahead are dark. So proclaim the Gospel to them. 
2. Try to laugh. Not in irreverence but for the sake of lightening our spirits. 
3. Accept the notion that helping may not be a short walk but a life-long journey 

Rejoice, my soul even though these tragedies surround me. Lord, grant me the wisdom to help those precious souls around me that need your saving grace. 

If you are struggling with depression or thoughts of harming yourself or others, please contact a pastor, friend, or confidant. You’re not alone in this life. 

Love ya,