SAD SAINTS: SERVING GOD, FEELING BLUE

Thoughts on an article from the January-March "Encounter With God" daily devotional.

"... then faced the misery and disappointment of the prayer the next time I see them ... and the time after that."

Yeah, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

"One belief is that a Christian has more cause for joy than sadness, so we should not be depressed."

"Joy" as found in the Bible is a contentment. It isn't to say Christians never go through bad times (see Psalm 34 19), but through it all, though hard times may be accompanied by sadness, frustration and other emotions, there is a contentment in the knowledge that Jesus is with us.

"Another belief is that depression is the result of sin. Maybe, occasionally, depression is the natural outworking of a decision to disobey God ..."

Actually, depression is a lot more than occasionally caused by sin. In fact, depression is one of the consequences of disobeying the Lord in Deuteronomy 28.

Interestingly and unsurprisingly, the writer, Joe Sweeny, does not at all mention demons as the cause of depression, even though it's known that demons have caused depression in many instances. In cases where depression is genetic, this could be due to demons travelling on DNA or the manifestation of a generational curse on a family for an ancestor's past sin. (See Exodus 20)

"... depression is a medical condition, not a spiritual one."

An out and out lie from the pits of Hell.

"It can be provoked by an external cause, trauma, bereavement or life change. It can be a side effect of medication or another medical condition such as a stroke. Or it can be an organic imbalance in the chemistry of the brain."

People do need to recognize the above-mentioned things can cause one to be depressed, but, on the other hand, people need to realize there is a difference between someone who is severely depressed and someone who is sad because of a death in the family or their kids leaving home.

"Repentance is not the answer; medication and talk therapy are."

Repentance is not the answer? When those gathered in Jerusalem asked Peter "what must we do", he told them to repent. (Acts 2 36-38)

As far as medication is concerned, the writer is talking about pharmaceutical medication. Pharmaceutical comes from the Latin word pharmachea, which means and is translated in the Bible as witchcraft. These antidepressants are conduits for demons. It is well worth noting and should be publicized that all the school shooters so far have been on psychotropic medications.

By talk therapy, Sweeny most likely means lying on a psychiatrist's couch complaining about your mommy till Lady Gaga comes out with a song that's not totally stupid. Talking to a pastor or Christian counsellor may be helpful, but psychiatrists and psychologists, who are also themselves sorcerers in the vein of what I talked about above, are not the solution to depression.

"My response to that would be that: 1. God doesn't need us to scrub Him up and make Him look better; He is awesome and holy and radiant and anyone who seeks Him will find Him ..."

By that logic, why try to live the Christian life at all? If He will shine through our faults, why not just live the way we were living before we got saved and whomever looks for Jesus will eventually somehow have a saving relationship with Him.

"Biblical Heroes With Black Dogs"

True, Elijah possibly got burnt out and ran in fear from Jezebel, but he did more for the people of God than these Christians who constantly whine about how screwed up they were will ever do.

The writer also cites David as an example of a depressed Biblical hero. Sure, David went through a lot of stuff, but there is nothing to suggest he was chronically depressed. Christians all go through trials and we have natural emotional and physical responses.

If you are a Christian struggling with depression, I pray the following suggestions will help:

commit to reading a significant portion of the Bible every day, prayerfully getting into the Scriptures and learning more about God;
pray more, especially that God will reveal Himself more to you in everyday life;
make a sincere efert to try to find the possitive in daily situations;
accordingly, be thankful for every good thing, even if it's small: thank God for warm beds, hot coffee, electricity, running water, hot showers, indoor plumbing, the fact He put your nose on straight, all the diseases you don't have.

It's funny how Sweeny recommends a book whose subtitle is "a journey out of depression."