“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Depression is a word we hear a lot nowadays. It is defined as: the act of pressing down; or the state of being pressed down; a low state. That was Webster’s first definition. His fourth was this: a sinking of the spirits; dejection; a state of sadness; want of courage or animation. Can people be genuinely depressed? Yes. There can be several causes of it.
One source would be physical. We get depleted from our busy lives or maybe a sickness and our body weakens. We are exhausted and maybe in pain and that’s when depression can set in. Remember what Proverbs 17:22 says? “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Jesus would have his disciples go apart for rest and rejuvenation. Sometimes that’s all we need is, physical rest and then we can get back into the work.
If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold,
And you have to get along with meager fare,
Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird;
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Another source is Satan. He knows, sometimes, just when to attack us at our weakest and cause us to despair or be saddened. II Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” If he knows our weakness then lets show him our strength and he will flee. And let us not leave out James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail,
Don’t forget that God in Heaven answers prayer;
He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
And then another source is a psychological cause. Some people have a personality that leans toward sadness and depression. They will need to work a bit harder than some of us so as to rise above. One of my favorite verses is found in Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain,
And your soul is almost sinking in despair,
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal;
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Usually we can see a pattern to depression. The first would be self-protection. A person will get hurt by someone and retreat into themselves. Psalm 34:18 reminds us, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart…” Self-protection usually leads to self-pity. They start feeling sorry for themselves and think that they just want to be alone.
This leads to the third step of self-punishment. They become so sure of their guilt that they condemn themselves to a life of misery. It’s no wonder then that these people can sometimes take the next step of self-destruction. But Psalm 34:17 tell us this, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” As soon as you feel depression coming on, surrender yourself to Jesus Christ and tell Him what the hurt is that is causing the depression.