The Entrepreneur's BattleSýnishorn

Depression: Our Hidden Battle

David is a pretty epic Biblical character. We know that he killed lions and bears (1 Sam. 17:34-37), that he defeated Goliath (1 Sam. 17), that he had a dominant military career (1 Chron. 18), and on top of everything that God referred to him as “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). Seems like he pretty much had it all together.

But then we read some of what he wrote in Psalms, and it sounds terrible. He talks about being lonely and afflicted, being in anguish, and even feeling like he’s drowning. The Bible verses “I will fear no evil for you are with me” and “My God, why have you forsaken me?” were both written by David in consecutive Psalms (22 and 23). How is that even possible?

It’s a cruel irony that we often assume the people who experience the most success usually endure the least amount of suffering. In the story of David, as well as the story of many entrepreneurs, the opposite is true. With high highs usually come low lows. This is the nature of being an entrepreneur—in fact, these highs and lows are often separated by a matter of hours. 

But here’s a profound lesson we can learn from David’s life: he didn’t hide his emotions. When he was happy and having a great day, he let God know. And when he was miserable and depressed, he let God know that too. In all things, he told God what was going on in his heart and mind.

Is the same true for us? We’re happy to post on social media for all to see after our company has had a successful quarter, but are we willing to let anyone see the weight of responsibility we carry when things go wrong? Even forgetting circumstances—whether our company is flourishing our floundering—are we able to put honest words to our real emotions?

Depression is real. It silently affects countless lives, but so much of its power comes from the fact that it’s hidden in the dark. In this instance, David gives us a great example to follow—there’s no reason to hide, no reason to be ashamed, when God already sees it all. We can go to Him, and we can go to the people He has put around us.

Further Thought

• Our friend Max Anderson, in a recent podcast, talked about how entrepreneurs can experience the highest of highs and lowest of lows, just hours apart. When most people think of depression they think of it as something happening months at a time. How do we see the daily battles each hour and seek help in holding these thoughts captive? 
• There’s always more work to do. Unfortunately, it’s a vice that’s readily available to us as we work 50-70 hour work weeks to escape from dealing with our issues. How do we avoid running to our work to escape our emotions? 
• Who is someone in your life that you trust with your honest thoughts and feelings? If you don’t have a person like that in your life, who could you talk to?