Depression - A Disability You Can Do Something About

Depression & Learned Behaviors

A man once wrote, “I write this with all reverence: God Himself cannot deliver a person who is not in trouble. Therefore, it is to some advantage to be in distress, because God can then deliver you. Even Jesus Christ, the Healer of me, cannot heal a person who is not sick. Therefore, sickness is not an adversity for us, but rather an advantageous opportunity for Christ to heal us. The point is, my reader, your adversity may prove your advantage by offering occasion for the display of divine grace.”

On an another occasion, this same man said, “I often feel very grateful to God that I have undergone fearful depression. I know the borders of despair and the horrible brink of that gulf of darkness into which my feet have almost gone. But hundreds of times I have been able to give a helpful grip to brethren and sisters who have come into that same condition, which grip I could never have given if I had not known their despondency. So I believe that the darkest and most dreadful experience of a child of God will help him to be a fisher of men if he will but follow Christ.”

Who wrote and said these things? Charles Spurgeon!

When observing depression in the life of its “victims” whether they be Biblical characters like Job, Elijah, Jonah, or Kind David; historical figures like Abraham Lincoln; great Christian leaders like Charles H. Spurgeon; or people like you and me; you’ll observe two learned behaviors manifested in nearly every case.

FIRST: They allow their emotions to interpret the seriousness of their situation, which provides fertile ground for depression to set in.

SECOND: They allow their emotions to prevent them from seeing anything beyond themselves, which gives root for depression to take control of their life.

It must be understood that your emotions do not tell you what is true. They simply tell you how you feel about your situation. And for those of us who battle depression, we must learn how to free ourselves from the control our emotions have over us.

In order to illustrate what I’ve just stated, we are going to examine the real case history of a great man that we find in the Bible.

In 1 Kings 19:1-4, we find a man by the name of Elijah. Elijah has just experienced a remarkable victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. But when Ahab tells Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets of Baal, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah telling him she intended to have him killed within 24 hours. What did Elijah do? He RAN! That’s right. Here we have this great man of God, who had just stood up against and defeated 450 prophets of Baal, running from this wicked woman, Jezebel! He runs into the wilderness, sits down under a juniper tree, and asks God to kill him. He has allowed his emotions to take control of his thinking, to the point he is now suicidal. Why? What happened to this great man of God, who had before demonstrated such courage and faith? Let’s diagnose the situation.

FIRST: He allowed his emotions to interpret the seriousness of the situation, instead of understanding the situation in light of what was true. What was true? God was just as capable of delivering Elijah from the hands of Jezebel, as He was to hand him the great victory over the 450 prophets of Baal. He allowed his thinking, and resulting behavior, to be ruled by his emotions, instead of what he should have known to be true. We must remember in the “dark times” what we learned in “the light” of God working in our lives.

SECOND: He allowed his emotions to prevent him from seeing anything beyond himself; instead he needed to look to God for understanding.
Simply stated, Elijah lost sight of two fundamental truths that all of God’s people must learn to live by. ONE: The situation is never outside of God’s control; i.e., God was certainly capable of helping him. TWO: God is always going to act in our best interest. God’s working in our lives will ALWAYS be motivated by His perfect love for us, no matter how it feels while we are going through it.

The problem we have is, what we feel is in our best interest (our emotions), and what actually is in our best interest (what is true based on God‘s perspective), many times conflict with one another. And it is at these times we must discipline ourselves to shift our focus from what we are FEELING to what is actually TRUE. When our focus is on what is true, we are enabled to rise above how we feel.

In upcoming articles, I will be discussing the four bedrock truths of Scripture; truths that if we’ll learn to apply them to our lives, will help us through any trial or period of despair, and will actually changes our lives by empowering us to gain the victory over depression.

Rev. Gary E. Williams, B.D.
Email: biblical.counselor@yahoo.com

Depression - A Disability You Can Do Something About

DEPRESSION

Is There Any Real Hope of Victory?

Long-term victory over depression ultimately requires addressing the underlying causes, instead of merely treating the symptoms, such as what is commonly described as “chemical imbalance.” Even though we recognize that studies indicate a link between depression and certain neurochemicals (such as a surplus of noradrenaline, the presence of the stress hormone cortisol, or the depletion of serotonin), depression is still triggered by some traumatic or stressful event. Therefore, the underlying cause of depression is not a direct result of physiology or a genetic propensity to become depressed. Rather, the underlying cause of depression is a direct result of how we cope with the trauma or stressful event that carries with it the potential to trigger depression.

Simply stated, learned beliefs and behaviors play a more significant role in depression than does human physiology. One of the most important truths we must learn is that the stressful and traumatic events in our life do not cause depression. Rather, what we believe about those events determines how we emotionally cope and whether or not depression results.

I will illustrate. A man receives a phone call from his wife, who is frantically requesting that he leave work and immediately rush to the hospital emergency room, as their young daughter has just collapsed on the playground and remains unconscious. Nearly panic-stricken by the news, the husband rushes to the hospital with his mind being flooded with self-defeating thoughts; thoughts like, “why is this happening to me?; why does life have to be so hard?; why doesn’t God love me?; why is God treating me so unfairly?” As fear and confusion builds in his mind, depressing thoughts begin to capture him as he approaches the hospital. As he runs into the emergency room, his wife rushes toward him, weeping. His heart leaps in his chest, as he now anticipates the worst.

Now, let’s pause the scene. What this man didn’t realize, was that his wife’s tears were not tears of sadness or tragedy, but tears of joy! Why? Because his daughter’s collapse on the playground was the result of nothing more than a minor blood sugar imbalance. However, because of the tests conducted at the hospital, the physicians discovered that his little girl had an aneurism, that if left undetected and untreated, would have likely resulted in her death. What he thought to be a curse, was actually a blessing. What he felt to be an unfair event in his life, turned out to be God showing him favor!

We have to learn to think differently, and therefore react differently, during the stressful and traumatic events that happen in our life, if we are to have the victory over the vicious cycle of depression.
The truth is, it is not the events in our life that shapes our life. Rather, it is how we see those events. Some call it attitude.

We'll discuss this in greater depth in our next article.
Rev. Gary E. Williams, B.D.