| Depression |
| Finding Freedom in Christ |
| by David A. DePra |
| Most people know what it is like to be depressed. It is a |
| condition into which most people slide from time to time. And it |
| is not a pleasant experience. No one enjoys it. |
| Some of us get depressed only once in a while. Others of us |
| are always fighting depression. To us, emotional ups and downs |
| are a way of life. |
| There are many factors which can contribute to depression. |
| Some of these involve chemical imbalance. Others of us are |
| equipped with an emotional makeup which seems to make |
| depression come easy. Perhaps our upbringing and |
| environment trained us to more easily slip into depression. But |
| whatever the cause, depression is no laughing matter. It is a |
| paralysing condition which can affect all we do. It can, in time, |
| become nothing less than an emotional prison from which there |
| seems no escape. |
| Gladly, depression is not something Christians need to |
| accept. It has definite causes and definite solutions. And it is |
| certain NOT something which is too hard for God. Depression is |
| a condition from which we can find freedom in Jesus Christ. |
| The Root Issue |
| The root issue behind depression is that life isn't going the |
| way I want it to go. So I am unhappy about it. In fact, I have a |
| sense of hopelessness about it -- a hopelessness that tells me |
| that things will never change. |
| For those who suffer from chronic depression, this condition |
| is not because they are "having a bad day," or necessarily the |
| result of some truly terrible tragedy. It is a condition learned and |
| practiced until it has become automatic. It is a pattern which |
| governs them. |
| Notice again the root issue behind depression: I am not |
| getting my own way. This is the cause even if my depression has |
| progressed to the point of being chronic, and is now something I |
| live in continually. It has become a pattern of reaction in me |
| because it is the way I have over and over reacted to not getting |
| my own way. |
| Don't misunderstand. "My own way" does not necessarily |
| need to be sinful, in the sense of open rebellion. It is easy to get |
| depressed, for instance, if something GOOD doesn't happen that |
| should have happened. Or if something really bad happens. We |
| all get depressed from time to time -- not because we |
| demanded this or that -- but because we wished for the RIGHT |
| thing. And it didn't work out. |
| It is also a fact that some people don't get depressed when |
| they don't get their own way. They get bitter, or angry. There are |
| even some people who remain happy. All of these reactions are |
| possible for Christian and non-Christian alike. We each have |
| our particular brand, or manifestation, of the flesh. We have, |
| through our own choosing, developed our individual ways of |
| reacting to life. |
| Depression, then, is really only one of many possible patterns |
| we may have in this old creation. Thus, the principles of |
| bondage which keep us in depression, and the principle of |
| freedom to get us out, not only apply to depression, but apply to |
| any other bondage we may have in this life. |
| Personal Responsibility |
| The suggestion that the root issue behind depression is my |
| not getting my way in life is easy to prove. Simply ask: Am I ever |
| depressed because things DO go my way? When my will IS |
| satisfied, when my agenda IS fulfilled, when my desires ARE |
| brought to pass, does it depress me? Of course not. When |
| things go MY way, I'm not depressed at all. Or, I am not as |
| depressed AS MUCH. Depression, therefore, is hardly the result |
| of things going my way. It is the result of them NOT going my |
| way. |
| But it is here that we must be clear about something. |
| Depression is not CAUSED by the way life treats me. No. It is |
| caused by the way I treat life. In other words, my emotional and |
| spiritual condition is not CAUSED by what life does to me. It is |
| caused by how I choose to react to life. |
| Note that again. In the final analysis, it is never the thing |
| outside of me which depresses me. It is how I react to it. |
| This is true even if the way we react isn't on purpose. Or even |
| if wish we could react differently. Indeed, none of us desire to be |
| depressed. Yet we have developed our patterns of the flesh. |
| Maybe we grew up in a family and were provided a certain |
| example. Or were born with a certain temperment, and over the |
| course of our childhood, we unconsciously and without malice, |
| developed a pattern of expression and self-assertion. Indeed, |
| none of us ever sat down and plotted out our pattern of the flesh. |
| No one ever chooses to be a depressed person. We simply |
| became what we are because we were lost and without God in |
| the old creation. |
| God knows all of that. And He does not blame us for it. We |
| did not create the mess into which we were born. We did not |
| commit the original sin, nor did we ever decide we liked it. We |
| were born into it without giving our permission. |
| So what then IS our responsibility? Just this: To surrender to |
| God. In other words, we are not responsiblity for being born in |
| Adam. But we are responsible, once we see the Truth, for being |
| born again in Christ. Once we see the way out of any sin, or any |
| condition of the flesh, we are responsible for allowing God to |
| deliver us from it. We can no longer plead ignorance. |
| This is even the case regarding salvation itself. God never |
| blames us for being born into Adam. He never says it is our fault |
| for lacking salvation. No. He says, "Here is salvation in Christ. |
| Here is you way out." But then, if we refuse, we come under the |
| judgment of God. |
| This is precisely what John writes in His gospel: |
| For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, |
| that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have |
| everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to |
| condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be |
| saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned. But he that |
| believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed |
| in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And THIS is the |
| condemnation: That Light is come into the world, and men loved |
| darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (Jn. |
| 3:16-19) |
| If we could read this passage without getting lost in the |
| familiarity of it, we would see that it is plainly telling us that THIS |
| IS condemnation: That light is come into the world, but men |
| instead loved darkness. We would see that it tells us that God |
| sent His Son into the world NOT to condemn the world, but to |
| offer this light and salvation. It is only when we knowingly reject |
| the Truth, in favor of our will, and our evil deeds, that we are |
| without excuse. |
| Unbelief |
| Herein we see THE sin: Unbelief. A refusal to believe -- that |
| is -- a refusal to embrace Jesus Christ. A refusal to lose MY |
| life. A refusal to let go of what ails me. A refusal of God -- |
| despite having seen some light. It may seem incredible that |
| anyone would do such a thing. But the Bible reveals that many |
| will do so. Why? |
| Because they want their life -- here and now. They want |
| their way. So they choose, perhaps slowly and gradually -- but |
| nevertheless deliberately -- choose to reject Jesus as their |
| Lord. They want something instead of Him, or perhaps in |
| addition to Him. Something which they cannot possess if they |
| are to be possessed by God. |
| Unbelief is not just a sin which applies to non-Christians. |
| Christians can commit it as well. In fact, since Christians, by |
| definition, all have been given light, and have responded and |
| been saved, the danger of unbelief is somewhat greater. We |
| cannot "neglect so great a salvation." We must continually walk |
| in the light; continually allow God to have His way with us. |
| Freedom |
| The key to freedom from depression, or for any pattern of the |
| flesh, is unconditional surrender to God. If depression, at it's |
| root, is caused by wanting to run my own life, then surrender of |
| that control will break the bondage. This means faith first, and |
| then, as God's gives grace, obedience. |
| This does not mean that I will never "feel" depressed ever |
| again. No. If I have spent a lifetime training my emotions and my |
| flesh to act and react in a certain pattern, I am not likely to be |
| able to step out of that pattern in a second. But the control which |
| that pattern of the flesh has over me IS broken. In other words, I |
| may have a tendency to fall into a pattern of depression, but I do |
| not have to fall into it anymore. I am free. I CAN choose to |
| refuse it. I can instead choose to walk in freedom. And if I |
| choose to walk in freedom, then over the course of time, my |
| feelings and pattern of emotions will change -- be transformed |
| through this obedience to reflect the freedom I have chosen. |
| Is this easier said than done? For some of us, yes. But that |
| fact is, it IS done! It is finished. And if we really want freedom, |
| we need to begin believing it and obeying it. Then we shall |
| experience freedom from depression and from any other pattern |
| of the flesh. * |