By Judith Cooley

The word “Downcast” is synonymous with words like: dejected, gloomy, despondent, broken hearted, miserable, wretched, grief-stricken, crushed, and depressed. I’m here to tell you that if you’ve ever felt like this, you’re not alone. Many Christ followers have felt this same way at some point in their lives.
Acknowledging and addressing feelings of depression in our lives is hard. It’s hard because we feel broken, flawed, shameful, guilty, and alone. Being vulnerable is hard to do, and admitting we struggle makes us feel extremely vulnerable. Sometimes we feel like we will be judged, misunderstood, or cause others to worry about us, so we stay silent. The problem with staying silent is we cut off lines of support. God created us to be a community. We aren’t meant to carry our burdens alone.
There will be times in our lives when we need a shoulder to cry on, and other times we will be the one who has to uphold someone else. If we stay silent, though, we don’t allow room for God to move. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says: “ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
The word “Depression” originates from the Latin Depressus which means” to press down”. Feeling pressed down, can happen for a variety of reasons, but all reasons can be grouped in three categories: Physiological, behavioral, and circumstantial. Physiological relates to our bodies’ chemistry, our hormones. Behavioral relates to our personality type- how we think and process the world. Circumstantial means the things that happen to us- the situations we find ourselves in, the disappointing, the painful, or the traumatic.
Dr. Jeremy Pierre from “honest answers” and Southern Seminary said “depressed thoughts are actually an accurate interpretation to a fallen world.” Philippians 3:20 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven” which means until we reach heaven, things will go on being broken. But John 16:33 says: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus was telling His disciples and us, don’t despair, with me you can have peace through the trials, because I am victorious.
Suffering is an unfortunate part of life, but God has wonderful, amazing plans for you if He’s given you life. He created you for a specific reason, trust Him through the hurting. Never grow calloused to His tender hand.
In the Christian circles, at least from my experience, depression is a taboo subject. It’s just not talked about. But, depression isn’t some shameful thing that people in the Bible never faced. Infact, several men in the Bible had documented episodes of depression. King David battled feelings of anguish, loneliness, and guilt relating to his children trying to overthrow him, enemies encircling him, and gut-wrenching remorse over his sin. Feelings of depression are peppered throughout the psalms demonstrating how a Godly person, who loves the Lord wholeheartedly, still has to deal with feeling pressed down. The prophet Elijah became fearful and weary when Jezebel threatened his life. He despaired so much his thoughts became suicidal, but God sent an angel to refresh him. Jonah, Moses, and Jeremiah all fought times of depression.
Job, a man, blameless and upright who feared the Lord and shunned evil suffered such loss and extreme devastation and physical illness so much so that he despaired and considered never having been born as a better alternative to what he was living. We might not be able to see a way around our pain, circumstance, or obstacle, but God can, and He will deliver us.
Psalm 34:17- 19 promises us: The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;
Don’t beat yourself up by feeling guilt or shame over feeling pressed down when life has been harsh with you. God is full of mercy and grace. Corrie Ten Boom said, “ When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” When life becomes too hard, rely on God to fight for you. He after all sees the entire plan, and He is good.
When we hide God’s word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him, we remember verses like Psalm 119:50-53 which says: “ My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.” John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”