One of the greatest temptations facing us today is depression. We can get depressed very easily from unrealistic expectations, disappointed hopes, stress, overwork, not enough rest, sickness, physical disability, post-traumatic stress, inability to solve problems, financial challenges, tragedies, accidents, and frustration with circumstances beyond our control. As we enter into older age and we have to accept physical limitations we can get depressed over not being able to do what we have always expected we could do.
St. Paul had good reason to be depressed. He experienced “troubles, hardships and distresses; beatings, imprisonments and riots; hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.”
“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.” (vv.8-9) The weight of the stress was too much for them. They were plunged into despair and hopelessness. These are the symptoms of depression.
Major depression affects about 15 percent of us. It is likely to be the second-leading cause of global medical disability. The classic definition is “malignant sadness,” the inability to feel pleasure. Unmanageable stress leads to depression symptoms. While sadness and disappointment is common to us all, lingering sadness leads to despair. When we experience loss of any kind: a loved one, a valued relationship, a job, a secure community (when we move, or leave school) we will experience normal sadness. Joy seems out of reach for us. In our relationships we tend to focus on our problems and pains.
Our twenty-first century culture does not permit us time to grieve and to allow sadness to take its course in our lives. When we feel bad we look for quick fixes. We are urged to “get over it”, to “go on with our lives.” While anti-depressant medication may be necessary for those who are experiencing long-term debilitating depression, there is a temptation for many of us to turn to drugs prematurely, to short-circuit the process of recovering from loss. All medications have side-effects which can cause other problems.
St. Paul did not have access to psychotropic medications to change his brain function. He had to endure a period of emotional pain that he described in terms of a death sentence. He despaired even of life. Here was this soldier of Christ, filled with the Spirit, engaged in missionary work, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, who was under great pressure far beyond his ability to endure. You may be a saint of God but you are not immune to the hardships of life which can bring you to the point of despair. All of us are flesh and blood, subject to physical trauma and shock, vulnerable to sadness and disappointment and failure. The number of psalms expressing depression are many. Psalm 88 is a cry for help to God in the midst of trouble, despair and loss. Even Jesus experienced this despair in the garden of Gethsemane. “He began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’” (Matthew 26:37-38)
So how did St. Paul deal with his depression? He writes “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (v.9) Was Paul’s depression affected by self-reliance? Had he gotten too self-confident? Was he relying too much on his gifts, his contacts, his abilities, his physical strength, his knowledge, his past successes, his reputation, and his track record? Spurgeon talks about the disease of self-trust – the tendency to trust in ourselves. It is so easy for us to take pride in our own common sense, our own prudence, our own planning, our own self-esteem, that when we experience unexpectedly a severe shock or loss, we are taken by surprise that we hadn’t anticipated it. If St. Paul in all his humility had to learn not to rely upon himself how much more do we need to learn the same?
Self-trust is a form of idolatry. We can grow proud of our prudence. We can become conceited of our wisdom and our ability to rise above our circumstances and conquer every disappointment. Self-sufficiency is seen to be a virtue in our culture. We want to be self-reliant. Yet self-reliance can only take us so far. Too much self-reliance can result in a sense of failure that contributes to depression. When we rely on ourselves and not on the Lord, or the help he sends us in others, we set ourselves up for disappointment because none of us can be self-sufficient.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
Sometimes we have to go through the loss of all things we value before we learn not to rely on ourselves. It is only when we feel the sentence of death, when we have lost a dear loved one, or we have received the fatal diagnosis of our own illness, that we learn that we must rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. We must adopt an eternal perspective that sees hope beyond this mortal life.
Remember that Paul had already written to the Corinthian Christians about the resurrection power of God. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-20)
One cause of depression is a tendency to magnify the effects of setbacks….To the extent you see a failure as something that is lasting, and which you magnify to taint everything in your life, you are prone to let a momentary defeat become a lasting sense of hopelessness….But if you have a larger perspective, like a belief in God and an afterlife, and you lose your job, it’s just a temporary defeat. You know that justice will prevail in the long run and you don’t plummet into depression. (Martin Seligman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on the study of depression, cited in Daniel Goleman, “A Rising Cost of Modernity: Depression,” New York Times, Dec.8, 1992)
Deliverance from depression comes from the larger perspective of relying on God who raises the dead. He has raised Christ from the dead, and he will raise us up with him to life eternal. There is no enduring sentence of death. Death has been defeated. We can despair of this life, but we have the hope of the resurrection life. In fact we can enjoy the resurrection life in the here and now.
St. Paul witnessed to his deliverance from the deadly peril of despair and depression. “God has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (v.10) We are told to pray: “Lead us not into the temptation of relying upon ourselves, but instead deliver us from the evil of despair by relying on the power of God in the resurrection of Jesus.” When we have accepted our mortality, the losses of this life, and have come in humility and faith, we can experience deliverance from depression and death. Loss can lead to depression but also to deeper faith in Christ. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things…I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” (Philippians 3:8,10) Our losses are nothing compared with all of God’s blessings in Jesus. We can cultivate an attitude of gratitude for all that he has done for us.
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