“Elijah was a person just like us”

James 5:17
 I was only in my second year of preaching when I first encountered the serious reality of depression within the church. One of the members was dealing with feelings that she could not control. It was more than sorrow. It was depression. She could not describe it. Nothing was “wrong” in her life. Shouldn’t she feel happy? Was it a lack of faith? Each time she came to church she felt guilty for feeling the way she did. It was affecting her family and work. She needed help, not shame.  

The challenging reality of depression is that there is not always an obvious “cause” as one might assume. The human creature is a complex mixture of mind, body, and spirit so wonderfully constructed that only our maker is fully aware of how it all works. Our mental and emotional makeup can be affected by any number of factors.

Some of the greatest people of faith have struggled with feelings of depression. Few in the Bible could compare to the faith of Elijah, nor could many compare with his extreme depression. We remember him as the model of the “prayer of the righteous.” Do you remember that Elijah also prayed for God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4)? When we look at the heroes of faith we think about the miracles, courage, and victories God worked through them. We often forget that these were ordinary servants of an extraordinary God. They were afraid…they had sins…they had weaknesses. Some even struggled with emotional and mental well being. They were not immune and neither are we.

  When we or someone we know in the church is struggling with depression they do not need someone telling them how they should feel. It is not that simple. It may be that they need professional counsel and help. We can be much more beneficial to our brother or sister struggling when we listen to them rather than simply talk at them. Thankfully, we live in an age when medicine is often able to help when our bodies are in need. God uses many things to help us. We need to be sensitive and compassionate to the struggle. Show love. Be prayerful. Be patient.