My friends and I were recently talking about "Moms' Night Out" and I mentioned that I thought it was great that the main mom, Allyson, was able to find happiness as a stay-at-home mom of three young children (which, at the beginning of the film, overwhelmed her). In just two semesters working with clients, I have seen moms who are living their dreams as stay-at-home moms but who just aren't happy.
There are moms who are overwhelmed with rearing children. Moms who fear they're losing control. Moms who end up across from me in the counseling room because they just don't know what to do anymore and they've become depressed.
My friend said that
of course it ended with Allyson finding contentment--it wouldn't have been very Christian if she ended up depressed.
Not very Christian?
So I started thinking about depression--and mental health in general--and the way the church overall seems to view it.
Oh, you have depression? You don't have enough faith. You just need to pray more. Stop being so anxious. You're blessed; you have no reason to be sad. Here, read these Bible verses. ...
But have you looked at how
the Bible views depression?
Or maybe even just Psalms?
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. -Psalms 6:2-7
Now, I'm not saying that I could go down through the DSM-5 criteria for any diagnosis of depression and say, "Yep, that's his principal diagnosis." But let's think about this: David's "
bones are in agony" and his "
soul is in deep anguish." He says, "
I am worn out from my groaning" and his eyes are weak with sorrow--which makes sense when you consider that he's been spending his nights flooding his bed and his couch with tears. (So maybe he's having a hard time sleeping and can't decide whether the bed or couch is more comfortable?) It sounds like he's having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. ...
... which sounds a lot like some things I hear from people who have depression.
But even if David doesn't meet depression criteria by current mental health standards, I think there are some people who have depression who could identify with David's thoughts.
So if David, mighty David, great king and a man after God's own heart, could experience depression,
why is it so taboo among Christians today? David's words are Scripture.
And if "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16), are you really going to tell me that David didn't have enough faith and just needed to pray more?
Now, I'm not saying that all Christians should/will experience depression at some point in their lives. But I think
it's a lot more common than we would like to admit, both today and in the Bible.
Elijah, a prophet, prayed for God to kill him (
1 Kings 19:4), even though God had just used him in victory over prophets of Baal. Paul, apostle and writer of a lot of the New Testament, says that "we despaired of life itself" (
2 Corinthians 1:8).
However, none of these people stayed in despair. Shortly after asking God to take his life, Elijah traveled to the mountain of God and heard the voice of God. Paul came to a new understanding:
Indeed,
we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that
we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He
has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us
again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. ... -2 Corinthians 1:9-10
And David, in spite of his anguish, still wrote praises to God and knew that God listened to him. And by Psalm 9, David's enemies are being defeated. I don't think depression itself shows a lack of faith. God doesn't promise to remove all hardships from our lives after salvation--John 16:33 says that we
will have trouble in this world. But it also says that Christ has overcome the world; we have hope. Likewise, these men also kept their eyes fixed on God in spite of their hardships. Their faith did not immediately fix everything and remove every problem they came across, but it carried them through the difficult times.
Your faith will not immediately fix everything and remove every problem you come across, but it can carry you through the difficult times.
