Depression: Out of the Darkness into the Light

December 2014

Have dark clouds of depression poured their tears on your soul? Are you stuck emotionally? Do you feel that no one has the capacity to understand life from your point of view? Do you simply exist, knowing that others will never truly know what you’re feeling? People from all walks of life can relate to feeling isolated and alone. Many have experienced overbearing depression—including me.

When I was a teenager, I was depressed about the unspoken pain in my family—secret pain that stemmed from years of dysfunction and deception. My father was unfaithful to my mother, and he was verbally and emotionally abusive to everyone in our family.

Struggling in the darkness of depression, I saw life through a black filter. It was difficult to see any good in my circumstances, and I could certainly see nothing good in myself. Not only did I harbor hatred in my heart, I felt helpless in the here and now and was hopeless about the future. The pain was so intense that I wanted to be gone from this earth. I even wondered if I was going crazy.

I like to use a word picture to illustrate depression’s devastating effects. If you place a heavy iron on a foam pillow, the plump pillow becomes pressed down—depressed. If you remove the iron after a few seconds, the pillow springs back to its original shape. But if you wait several months to remove the iron, the foam pillow would remain flat and depressed. The same is true of the human heart.

When your heart becomes pressed down as a result of the normal pressures of life…

…you will typically rebound or spring back when that pressure is alleviated. However, if you live under the weight of heavy pressure for a long period of time, your heart may enter a state of depression. Jesus cares about your heart and knows you are especially vulnerable when you are heavyhearted.

As a 16-year-old, I was heavyhearted. Then one day I entered into a life-changing relationship with the Lord. The hurt in my heart didn’t go away immediately, but God began lifting the excessive burden that was weighing me down. Today I can truly say . . . 
“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens” (Psalm 68:19).

If you are living in the depths of depression, look at your life from God’s perspective. He cares about you in spite of your present situation and has a plan for your life. The Lord says . . . “I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

I have personally experienced this truth: There will be times when your pressed down heart will break, but God is the healer of broken hearts. God mends the broken heart when we give Him all the pieces.

The Bible says . . . “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).

God has a purpose for everything that touches your life.

Even times of pain are useful in God’s hands. Depression can heighten 
your awareness of God and increase your dependency on Him. Just as storms replenish the dry, parched soil giving birth to new life, the storms in your life can revitalize your relationship with the Lord and give birth to personal growth far beyond what you could ever imagine.

Maybe you do not personally struggle with depression, but a loved one in your life does—and you earnestly want to do something to help make a real difference in their life. What can you do?

Most importantly: Do not avoid them. Find ways to show you care, such as listen to them when they want to talk; provide them with some “me” time by offering to babysit their children; suggest doing an activity together, such as attending a concert, going on a fishing trip or to a car show; do something creative together, such as art classes or another fun activity you think they would enjoy. Realize, you may be their only lifeline of hope, and they need to stay connected. Do what you wish someone else would do for you if you were the one struggling with depression. . . . “Do to others as you would have them to do you” (Luke 6:31).

If you are the one weary or worn out from the weight of depression, my prayer is that you will view this season of life as an opportunity to allow God to comfort you, carry you, and encourage you. God will help you find a way out of the darkness of your depression into the light of His love. That’s what He did for me! . . . “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

Yours in the Lord’s hope,

June Hunt

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