Depression is such strange topic. How do you talk about something you can’t put your finger on? I don’t know about you, but my depression feels like an ominous cloud that looms and keeps me from enjoying things fully. I don’t choose it. I don’t want it there. But it’s there.
I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and he made a comment that hit home with me.
God wants you to experience complete joy.
I heard that and was rattled. The past few weeks, I had been feeling cynical about my depression. I mean, I have seen healing in regard to OCD and anxiety. I have even seen plenty of healing with depression as well. But, the cloud still looms. It steals something. I don’t know what, or how. But, it robs me.
That is the scary thing with depression. It leaves me helpless. It is one of the things in my life I cannot get rid of. No amount of my mental flexing helps me “feel” anything different. So now what? Am I just screwed? Full joy is available to all….unless you have depression? You get the Dollar General version of joy.?
God impressed upon me the thought of a “thorn in the flesh.” A thorn in the flesh is a term used in the Bible to describe a certain affliction the apostle Paul wants God to take away. Paul begs God, “Please remove this thorn.” He says he prayed that 3 times.
Maybe you have prayed something similar. “God take away ____.” Whatever that blank is for you might be your thorn.
God responds with something many of us may not want to hear at first.
“My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.”
That response makes us cringe a little. Why? Because (sometimes), God doesn’t take away the thorn! He says “It’s not your circumstances that need to change. It’s you. My grace, My help, My protection, will be enough for you. I want you to trust me.”
God had a deeper intention for Paul’s thorn. God wasn’t solely concerned with Paul’s temporary comfort. He was interested in giving Paul something so much better. He wanted him to have complete joy. Complete joy only comes from knowing how much God loves you. God was telling Paul, “I will take care of you, allow your thorn to push you toward me.”
After this, Paul would go on to be arrested for his profession of Christ. And while he was in prison he wrote the following…
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul has learned the secret of full joy, even while he was in prison. But, God had to teach him.
Rather than choosing to view my depression as a hindrance to complete joy, God wants me to view my depression as a springboard to knowing Him better. Every time I feel that twinge of depression, I pray. Nothing crazy. Nothing super sexy. But, it’s what Paul did. And, it’s what God wants. He wants me to trust Him and in doing so, find the abundant life, the complete joy for which I was designed.
“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Free to be Funk 