The Problem of Depression
Depression and anxiety have been part of the human condition since the beginning. Depression is when you feel alone in the world, without hope and without God. Depression is what Adam and Eve must have felt, after sinning against God. Genesis 3:23 says, “God sent Adam away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” What a depressing prospect. From dust we came, to dust we shall return. There’s no up, up, up just down, down, down into the dust. The future can feel so bleak and empty.
And if Genesis 3:23 doesn’t seem quite so severe, there is also Genesis 3:24, “God drove the man [Adam] out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.” Not only were Adam/Eve destined for dust, but from all appearances, their relationship w/God seemed permanently fractured. There was no going back to the place from which they fell.
Sometimes depression is a mood. A mood can readily change, or it can persists days, weeks, or months. Sometimes depression is a mindset, a worldview, a way of thinking, an attitude about life. And sometimes depression is medical—which means there are underlying physiological issues. After a baby is born. After a major surgery. After a traumatizing experience (or series of events).
I would caution you against seeing depression as just “one thing.” Depression isn’t just medical, or just a mindset, or just a mood. It’s a combination of dynamics, and there are spiritual dynamics too. I would caution you against treating depression as “only” a medical problem. Let’s suppose that 20%, or even 30%, of your depression is physiological. First of all, who can really know. But secondly, if you could reduce the other 70 or 80% of your depression, wouldn’t you want to?
The Problem of Anxiety
Anxiety is when you feel fearful, worried, our stressed out about the future. Anxiety is what Cain felt after he sinned against His brother Abel, and murdered him. God asked Cain, “Where is your brother? What have you done?” In Genesis 4:12 God tells Cain, “If you work the ground, it will never give you its fruit. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” What a word picture—a “restless wanderer.” You’re never going to feel satisfied. For the rest of your life you’ll scavenge for food and water. You’ll best labors will be frustrated.
But of course, Cain imagines his curse to be even worse. He anxiously says to God, “My punishment is too great to bear! Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, not only must I hide from your presence, AND become a restless wanderer on the earth, BUT whoever finds me will kill me.” Notices how his worry, stress, anxiety, and fear compounds from one thing to many things.
Depression is the sense of being without God, and without hope. Anxiety is the loss of confidence about the future. What it holds. How things will play out. I mention depression and anxiety, because I don’t think Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25-34 is just about one or the other. Often people have a mixture of depression and anxiety.
The Scope of Depression & Anxiety
So what kinds of things do we get depressed and anxious about? In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” We can worry about anything from, “Oh no, what am I going to wear today!” to “What’s for dinner?” to “I’m so thirsty!” to “What’s going on with my body?” to “How much life do I have left?”
But Jesus also mentions other topics. In Matthew 6:26, he mentions self-worth, “Aren’t you worth much more than the birds of the air?” God knows what the birds need. God feeds them. Aren’t you worth more then them? You see, there is a spiritual, theological aspect to depression and anxiety. “Is there a God? Does God know me? Does God see me? Does God care about me? Does God love me enough to provide for me? Is there hope?” Wrong thinking about God has a way of exacerbating (aggravating, escalating, intensifying) whatever underlying “condition” might already be there. If you imagine the universe is for the birds but against you… that God is for others but against you, you’re mental wellbeing is going to suffer.
The Nature of Depression & Anxiety--Inner Self Talk
We get depressed about a spectrum of things from clothing, to eating & drinking, to health, to our bodies, to our health, to our self-worth, to life, to God, to eternity. But what exactly is depression and anxiety—what is the part that we have control over? Depression and anxiety is more than just a mood—its this kind of inner dialogue that goes on constantly in our mind. It’s our inner jibber-jabber.
In Matthew 6:31 Jesus plays a couple of these mental soundbites. He says, “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink’ or ‘What will we wear?’” We live in a pretty affluent nation. Its possible that you worry very little about food, water and clothing. But the people in Jesus day, and 95% of people in our world, worry a great deal about these things. You do worry though about your health, your livelihood, your status/identity/self-worth, your future. You worry about God. At times you obsess about some sin, some wrong, you’ve done. You obsess about some shameful experience you’ve had, some wrong, some humiliation, you’ve suffered in life. There is self-blame, there is guilt, there is anger…
But the way all this manifests itself is through internal dialogue. You are speaking words to yourself… about yourself… about your past / present / future… about other people… about God Himself. And what’s even worse, this depressive/anxious dialogue spills out of our mouth, and infects other people’s brains. *This internal jibber jabber has to be challenged, but more than this, it has to be changed.
The part of modern clinical psychology that terrifies me… is that part that suggests, that… “because you have some clinical condition [Fill in your condition here…], you’re no longer responsible for your own wellbeing.” Through Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus says, “Don’t worry… Don’t say… Don’t seek…” He uses reason and logic, “Consider this… Aren’t you? Can you? Why do you? Observe… If this is true, then how much more is that true…”
In clinical circles some of this is called “cognitive therapy.” As Christians we like cognitive therapy. There are thoughts, and ideas, and internal jibber jabber that is distorted and wrong and that needs to be challenged and replaced. But as Christians what we really love is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Great “Counselor.” The Holy Spirit convicts, confronts, challenges, and He never enables or disables. And the Word of God? Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
A well-trained, reasonable, logical, even secular therapist can “help” you immensely. They can connect dots that need to be connected, and expose falsehoods that need to replaced. But always keep in mind, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are sufficient to not only to “help,” but to actually “heal” the deepest parts of your soul. A truly Word-based, Spirit-led counselor, is worth his/her weight in gold.
1) Weight Your Worries
So in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus confronts the inner jibber-jabber. First, he asks us to weigh our thoughts. So make an inventory of your thoughts. You’re worried about your life, what you’ll eat and drink, your body and your clothes. Okay. Not all of these things are equal. Matthew 6:25, “Isn’t life more important than food? Isn’t the body more important than clothes?” Excellent question right? Worry distorts all thoughts. Big things become little things. Little thing become big things! When people commit suicide its often because of some little thing… but that little thing got so distorted!
2) Weight Your Reality
Second, Jesus asks us to weigh our reality. Matthew 6:26, “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t so or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?” Earlier Jesus says God causes his son to rise and rain to fall on the righteous and unrighteous. “Okay, okay. God even feeds fat-old rocky the squirrel, and sparrows.”
3) Weigh Your Productivity
Third, Jesus asks us to weigh our productivity. Matthew 6:27, “Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying?” There is no practical value to worry. It’s a ridiculous waste of time. And time is life. Worry is a waste of life. Every hour, day, month, year wasted on worry doesn’t add a single minute to your life… it just spends more of your life.
4) Weigh Your Theology
Fourth, Jesus asks us to weigh our theology. Matthew 6:28-30. Okay, you’re worried about clothes. Reality check—Jesus says, "observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread.” Now a theology check—Jesus says, “Not even [King] Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown in the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?” Do you really think God cares more about a tree than a human being? More about a field mouse or lily than a human being? Seriously? Is your faith in God really that scant?
Matthew 6:31-32. How about some correct theology? “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Cain became a “restless wanderer on the earth.” How much of your restlessness, your depression and/or anxiety, is because of REALLY BAD theology?
Let me end with a very practical suggestion. How did all the depression and anxiety begin in the first place? Depression began when Adam and Eve, instead of seeking God, sinned, and found themselves cut off from God. Anxiety began when Cain, instead of seeking God, sinned, and found himself a restless wanderer. Hear me very clearly. God doesn’t cause depression and anxiety. Until the consummation of the age, depression and anxiety are part of the curse. But here is the good news… the good part about depression and anxiety is that it has a way of driving us right back to God.
Three Ways to Seek God
In Matthew 6:33-34 Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [life, worth, food, water, clothes] will be provided for you. Therefore, don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Did the depression and anxiety escalate because your were seeking God, and seeking his Kingdom, and seeking his reign? Or did the depression and anxiety escalate when you banished God from your mind?
What’s it look like to seek God? First, have some faith. Trust in God’s goodness. He loves you, He cares for you.
Second, put first things first. I know you are worried about far more than basic necessities. You’re worried about the health of your marriage, adultery, divorce, your family, court cases, death of truth/integrity in our world, your job, your well-being, evil people, your personal safety. Do you realize that the whole Sermon on the Mount is itself a prescription for living a life with less-drama. How much of your depression/anxiety is because of self-induced drama? You can curtail 95% of the drama in your life by seeking first God’s kingly kingship and kingdom and his righteousness. Do you suppose that will have positive affect? You bet it will!
Third, function well today. Depression and anxiety paralyze us from taking action and demonstrating personal responsibility. Take things one day at a time… Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”