Mental Help: A 3-Day Devotional From Josh WilsonSample

Day 2: God’s Not Mad at You

“God’s not mad at you

You are not a burden.

There is always hope.

This is not forever.

Jesus loves you, and so do I.”

-Josh Wilson, “God’s Not Mad at You”

When you read lyrics like “darkness is my closest friend,” or “I am deeply depressed,” you might think they’re from a current top 40 song, but both of those lines actually come from the book of Psalms in the Bible. The feelings of grief and sorrow have touched every human heart. David, the same “man after God’s own heart” who struggled with anxiety (see the Day 1 devotion), was also familiar with sorrow, and even depression. So when we’re brokenhearted, we’re in good company.

Jesus Himself felt deep sorrow. When His friend Lazarus died, the Bible says very plainly, “Jesus wept.” I love the simplicity of that verse. It shows us that it’s human, it’s natural, it’s Christlike to cry. And when we cry, when we mourn, we are not alone. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18). If you are depressed, God is not mad and He is not distant. He’s close! He’s crying with us. He’s holding us together when we fall apart.

Because of Jesus, we do not mourn without hope. We cling to the promise that someday, when we finally see Christ face to face, all of our pain will be undone .In J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Return of the King,” Sam asks Gandalf, “‘Is everything sad going to come untrue?’” We could ask Jesus the same thing about the life to come. Revelation 21:4 gives us the answer.“‘ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain.” Thanks be to Jesus.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you that You are close. You’re close when things are going well, but You’re also close when I don’t feel You. You’re there when I’m hurting, sad, lonely, hopeless, and depressed. Thank you for holding me together when I fall apart. Thank you that You’ll wipe away my tears when I see You someday. Until then, please give me hope, strength, and peace to face another day. Remind me minute by minute of the hope I have in You.