Finding Hope When You’re Depressed

For years, when I was depressed, I thought my only hope was to find the problem and fix it. I looked everywhere for the thing that was making me feel so bad, and guess what? I found problems. Lots of them! Because we live in a fallen world full of fallen people.

My marriage had problems. My job had problems. I had problems. Everywhere I looked, I saw problems. And it was overwhelming and I couldn’t cope. So I retreated into myself and only did the bare minimum to survive. I was able to keep a job, but my depression was one of the major reasons my first marriage ended.

My mind told me I was worthless and why bother. My mind told me the world was cruel and I was stupid. My mind told me I was broken. And I believed it.

It wasn’t until I realized that I could ask God for help with my mind that I started having hope.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All those people in the 12-step programs kept telling me that there was hope. Step 2 of the 12 steps says, “We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

II Timothy 1:7   NKJV
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

God knew that my mind could be unstable. He knew that fear could be crippling. So He gave me His Spirit, who is full of power and love. He gave me His Word, which is full of power and love.

II Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

As I said in my post, God’s Word is the Best Medicine, when I read and speak God’s Word, I am breathing God Himself into my soul. And He can change things that I can’t.

When my mind tells me that I’m worthless, I can breathe in God and His truth about my worth.

Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

I don’t feel wonderfully made. I feel like a huge mistake. I feel like a waste of space. But that’s a lie from Satan, the father of lies. And he has used depression to make me believe that lie.

The key to changing the way I feel is to change what I believe. Breathing in God’s Word and His Truth is what makes that possible.

So when my mind is telling me that I’m broken and there is no cure, God’s Word tells me He’s right there beside me.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

It doesn’t say that He berates those who are crushed in spirit. He doesn’t abandon those who are crushed in spirit. He saves them.

My mind says, “why bother?”

Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

God isn’t a motivational speaker. Sometimes, “you can do it” and, “just keep swimming” are not what a depressed person needs to hear. When I can’t keep going anymore, and my mind can’t give me any good reason to try, Jesus tells me it’s OK to rest.

He doesn’t say, “it’s OK to give up”. He says, “Come to me.” He is a safe place to rest. And that gives me hope, because it means I don’t have to keep fighting all the time. I can rest in Him and know that He’ll take care of everything else.

God’s Word gave me hope, even while I was depressed. Eventually, His Word turned that hope into faith. Then, continued faith in His Word brought me out of the depression.

What is your mind telling you that’s draining you of hope? Let’s find what His Word has to say about it, and bring your hope back to life.

Photo Credit: ColiN00B

• Depression
• Hope