Please note – I’m no expert. I’m no professional. I’m just merely living it out and drawing from experiences from dear friends who have invited me into their own mental illness.

I want to and I need to address something that I have recently come across that have tugged at my heart so adamantly that I cannot not share with you.

I was listening to this sermon and the word depressed was used in the context of not obtaining what was desired so a person becomes depressed because of his or her selfishness and at the end wants to kill him or herself. By all means please know that I understand selfishness brings on a world of hurt and can be destructive if not dealt with in light of the Word of God and have it surrender to Jesus. But what I am trying to address is the picture that has been painted for DEPRESSION.

I have friends who once described their disappointment in a TV show as “I was depressed when the show ended.” I also witnessed a situation where depressed was used in the context of dropping food because that said food was no longer edible. Hopefully you get the point I am trying to make. The word “depressed” is used quite a bit in many different contexts.

But what I’m getting at here is I’m talking about the depression that leaves someone so wounded. The depression that is so overwhelming that it is almost impossible to get out of bed or go to church on a Sunday morning. The depression that eats away at the very core of someone’s heart. The depression that turns everything else gray. The list can go on but this is the depression I’m talking about. 

Most of the time it is not black or white. It is not left or right. It’s not simple. Depressed is one of those words that is overly used, overly misused, and overly misunderstood. I’ve seen friends who suffered with depression because of sin, others who suffered because of the change of season, and then others who suffered with no apparent reason or cause. At the end of it all, depression is complex.

From what I have seen and what I know, this is what I have found to be true.

Those who battle through depression are not weak. They’re not messed-up or a lost cause. They are hurting and they need support and partnership. They need someone who will saturate their lives with the Word of God when they can’t do that for themselves. They need someone who will sing songs of joy over their lives. They need friendship and understanding or just the willingness to understand. Their struggle with depression does not reflect their lack of faith or that they just aren’t “Christian” enough.

We need not to condemn, to shame, or to place blame. We need to love and love hard because depression comes to steal, kill and destroy. We need to invite these conversations to happen today. We need to invite those who are suffering into our lives and partner up with them, side by side, arms linked together. We need to not forget those who hurt and are crippled by their minds.

If you’re thinking “Wow, they just need to pray more, read the bible more, and give it up to the Lord” then please stop. It’s not beneficial, it’s hurtful and harmful.

I invite you to do this with me because I’m still learning as well. It starts with community. It starts with the Church. It starts with awareness.

A few years ago, I found myself unable to get out of bed. I just couldn’t do it anymore. My heart was broken and my spirit was weary. One of my dear friends called and asked me if I wanted to go grab coffee with her. I told her that I couldn’t and I did not know why but I just couldn’t. She loved me so beautifully that to this day I truly believe that it was those moments of raw, unfiltered, unconditional love through Jesus that sustained me. She said okay, showed up at my home, crawled in my bed with me, and just held me.

Let’s love and love well. Let’s do this together.

R.

“I tried to be brave but I hid in the dark
I sat in that cave and I prayed for a spark
To light up all the pain that remained in my heart
And the rain kept falling

Down on the roof of the church where I cried
I could hear all the laughter and love and I tried
To get up and get out but a part of me died
And the rain kept falling down

Well I’m scared if I open myself to be known
I’ll be seen and despised and be left all alone
So I’m stuck in this tomb and you won’t move the stone
And the rain keeps falling”

– Andrew Peterson