I was going to title this post something like ‘You are not alone’, but ended up adding ‘in your depression’ because I feel it is high time we talked about depression loudly and in open spaces. No more talking about it as if it doesn’t exist, as if it is all in someone’s head! No more telling people to grow up or snap out of it!
One of my favourite stories in the bible is the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Elijah thought he was alone, he thought he was the only one who still believed in God, but he wasn’t alone. There were others. He had believed in God and had proclaimed that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t…. he believed! He had faith in God! He also believed that God would bring back the rain, and he did didn’t he? In such an amazing manner that everyone knew it was God!
But then something happens. After doing all of that and killing all the prophets of baal, he has a panic attack when Jezebel sends a message that he is going to get killed. I don’t think that the fear of Jezebel was sudden, no, I think he had been under so much stress and pressure for so long, he just snapped! He had been alone for so long, stewing in his thoughts (not in the bible, but I believe he had been displaying signs of depression). Elijah was tired. Tired of being alone, tired of preaching and no one listening, tired of the evil in the land, tired of the king and queen who did not look after their subjects. He was just tired! But God…. God is amazing! He did not rebuke Elijah, he did not leave him or tell him to snap out of it, no! He made a plan to get Elijah out, and he did!
God may not take us away in chariots every time we are depressed, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care or that he is not there. No, he is there all the time! He doesn’t give up on us. He made us so he understands us more than we know. He knows us better than we know ourselves. There is no problem too big or too small.
Elijah was a man, a real man, a prophet, an influential man, a powerful man, a faithful man, a man who loved God! But he was also human. The pressures of the world got to him and when they became unbearable, he turned to the one who knew him better… God! Let’s be honest, you and I are ill equipped to handle a depressed friend. Even if we suffer from depression, it is not the same thing.
When we don’t know what to say or do, can we refrain from making people doubt their feelings. Can we refrain from making light of people’s plight. The world is cold. People are so used to making light things that should be taken seriously. Everything is a joke! Until something happens. And then we start talking about ‘if only we knew’… what would you have done that you are not doing now? Why are you not doing it? It is our fault that our friends are suffering while we laugh and make light their plight! There is nothing wrong with saying, ‘I don’t know what you are going through or how to help you but I can find someone who will’! There is nothing wrong with taking someone to God in prayer! There is nothing wrong with talking about YOUR depression! There is nothing wrong with talking about your struggles! Surely we are all living in this world and we are all struggling and need support.
Let us support each other. In words and in deeds. Depression is not a new thing, it is not ‘all in your mind’! It is real. If you don’t know, just say ‘I don’t know but I can help you find someone who knows’. We can’t keep saying ‘We didn’t know’! ‘We were too busy’! Let us be responsible friends.
And if our friends lose the fight, let us pray for their loved ones, let us pray for the ones remaining, so that they may be strong! So that they may be able to stand!