Depression: A Devotional For The Wounded Spirit Намуна

“If things stay the way they are today…” “If I’m always going to feel this lonely, this sad, this empty, this hopeless… ….then I might as well give up.”

The question we are desperate to have answered when struggling through depression or thoughts of giving up is, “when will this end?” Will it always be this way? First, if you feel like giving up, we want you to know you’re not crazy or a bad Christian. Every person on Earth seeks to find a release from the pain, because of the simple fact that it hurts. No one wants to keep hurting indefinitely.

In each of those statements you read, it starts with a conditional statement (If ___, then ___.)

But…

What if that’s not the way things are always going to be? What if one day soon all the pain you’re feeling will have a purpose? What if a year from now, two years from now, you’re at the best place you’ve ever been? What if you stick this through and your dreams come to life? What if things don’t always stay this bad?

Every day may seem like you’re walking through fire, stuck in a storm, or drowning in the ocean. God reminds us that when these things happen “you won’t be burned” by the fire and you won’t be “overwhelmed” by the weight of the rivers bearing down on you. It’s not an “if this happens” statement in the Scriptures, but a when.

The thing about a fire is that it will burn out. A storm will always pass, and a river always finds a shore. You may see nothing but the fire, but God is with you in the midst of it. You may only see the storm that’s been raging indefinitely—it feels like maybe this is all there is and all there’ll ever be.

But what you’ve forgotten is that behind the biggest cloud, the wildest storm, the darkest day is a blue sky.

For a season, you might be in the middle of this storm, but it will pass. Zoom out from your life, see the blue skies, and remember that it’s coming. Set your focus on the clear days to come. Remind yourself you haven’t been abandoned in the storm.

God’s forecast says clear skies ahead. Hold fast.