Daily Devotional – I’m Normal.™ I AM Ministries
“To promote Godly living in a culture committed to destroying it”
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Biblical Depression – Part 1 of 2
Yesterday’s devotional discussed how common the affliction of depression is in our culture today. A logical follow up question is: “Has it always been so?” You may be wondering if the Bible has anything to say about this painful and often embarrassing issue. The answer is an emphatic “Yes!” The Bible has a lot to say about depression and the devotional today and tomorrow will examine many of the great men of God who suffered from this affliction.
Depression appears to invade mankind’s world in the earliest record of human history, the Book of Genesis. Even the first family was not immune, and suffered severe impacts. The Bible says in Genesis 4:5-6, “But on Cain and his offering the Lord did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?” Cain was definitely depressed.
It is safe to say Cain was not one of God’s most faithful servants. He did, after all, commit mankind’s first murder by killing his brother Abel. Unrepentant, Cain worried about God’s curse on him and his own safety – whether someone else would do to him what he had done to his brother (Genesis 4:11-12). Cain complained to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” (Genesis 4:13). Cain was then sent off to be a restless wanderer, fathering a dysfunctional family that followed in his footsteps (Genesis (4:23).
In contrast to Cain, the Bible also records men of great faith who experienced bouts of depression. For example, consider Jacob. Upon returning to his home after spending 20 years with his father-in-law Laban, he learns Esau is coming to meet him with 400 armed men. I believe Jacob was depressed when he heard the news. Genesis 32:7 says he experienced “great fear and distress.” He ended up wrestling all night with God. God finally broke him that night and made him a new man spiritually and physically. Despite Jacob’s new hip problem, which might depress many people, his faith in the LORD never wavered again.
One of God’s most faithful servants, Moses, fell victim to depression. Numbers 11:11-15 records a desperate prayer in the life of the greatest leader who ever lived. He was extremely discouraged and depressed from the Israelites complaining about the food in the desert. Moses was experiencing total burn-out. He was ready to quit, and even die. “He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now — if I have found favor in your eyes — and do not let me face my own ruin.” It is easy to see how even a great servant such as Moses could suffer the blues.
Another good example is Jonah. After an incredible preaching campaign in Ninevah that resulted in one of the all-time great revivals, with even the King of Ninevah repenting of his sin, Jonah went through a time of deep depression. When God spared the city, it hurt Jonah’s pride and he was angry with God. Jonah prayed a prayer that went like this, “O Lord is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:3-4). Jonah had suicidal thoughts!
The Bible also tells us positions of power offer no refuges from the ravages of depression. The great and powerful King David was depressed on many occasions. He recorded many of his own periods of depression in the Psalms he wrote. I recommend highly that you open your Bible and read Psalms 6:6-7, 32:3-4, 77:2, 88:3-9, and 142:4. These verses show clearly how King David felt depressed from the many burdens and challenges God allowed in his life.
Then there’s Daniel. When contemplating the spiritual condition of the remnant of the Hebrews left in Palestine, after receiving great prophetic visions from the Lord, and even after speaking with the Angel Gabriel, he was left in a deep depression. Daniel 10:2 records, “At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” Having survived the fiery furnace and the lions’ den, a revelation regarding a pending war was able to infuse Daniel with depressed thoughts.
Fellow prophet Nehemiah also succumbed to depression. Upon hearing the news that the captives who had been allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon had not done anything to rebuild the walls of the city or the Temple, Nehemiah was driven into a deep depression by the spiritual apathy of his people. Nehemiah 1:4 says, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven.” Nehemiah 2 records even King Artaxerxes noticed Nehemiah’s depression. The King said to Nehemiah, his cup bearer, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” (Nehemiah 2:2).
The Bible tells us that great servants of God who are living normal lives in obedience to Him can suffer from depression. If God will allow them to be depressed, He will allow us to be as well. The important thing is to see how these servants react to and learn from their bouts of sadness and depression. Tomorrow we will finish our look at the men of God who dealt with the dilemma of depression.
“I’m Normal.™ I AM.”
It’s God Talking to You
In His love and service,
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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