Deadly Depression

Read Job 13:20-14:22

I had a friend when I was younger. His name was Kurt. Actually, I was good friends with his brother Daryl, but I knew Kurt well enough to call and be called friend. One day I found a message on my answering machine from my friend Mike: Kurt had killed himself. He had never been able to overcome is nagging, persistent depression. One day it overcame him to the point of exhaustion. His story ended.

Depression is nothing to scoff at. What accompanies depression are nagging and haranguing thoughts of death. Look at Job 14: 1) Man…is of a few days and full of trouble (1), 2) he does not endure (2) 3) his days are numbered (5) 4) he breaths his last and is no more (10) 5) he lies down and does not rise (12) 6) if only you would hide me in the grave (13) 7) if a man dies, will he live again? (14). Job is very unhappy with life, but who could blame him?

Not every person of a depressed nature ends their life. Some do, some do not. Some try, some fail. In this happy land of opportunity resides some of the most depressed people on the planet. For all that this world has to offer we still suffer from a nagging inability to find happiness. Job expresses the thought well in verse 22: “He feels but the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”

There are various ways depression is explained. Some is because it is a rainy day and we are bored. Sometimes it is due to chemical imbalances in the brain (they make pills to fix it!). Sometimes it is due to remorse or guilt for sin. Whatever the cause of depression, whatever form its expression takes, it is all bad and nothing to be taken lightly.

Life is so frail and so foolish. Life is so full of twists and turns that one day we can be the most carefree person on the planet and the next living in utter, self-imposed solitude. Job, however depressed he may have been, was a trooper though. For all of his unhappiness he is a fighter. He says, “All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.”

David Atkinson speculates that Job might even be thinking of resurrection. I think I agree with Mr. Atkinson’s speculation if for no other reason than it is true. You see, this is another expression of Job’s hope and faith. Furthermore, it is an expression of resolve, endurance and contentment. Job may not have enjoyed or even liked God’s silence, but Job could endure and would wait because He had hope that God would one day enjoy his creature once again.

Christians share this conviction too. Though we are outwardly wasting away inwardly we are being renewed. Paul wrote, “If we have been united with him in his death we will most certainly be united with him in his resurrection” (Romans 6:5) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

Prayer Thoughts

Pray for someone who may be depressed. Pray for their healing. Pray for their hope. Pray that they might know Jesus Christ. Peter’s words on this subject are so beneficial because our hope is not stagnant, but living, vibrant and animated, alive and well.