Christians Are Not Depressed or Anxious

Introduction

We are quickly coming to an end in this series. I’m thankful for Frank’s work in putting this together. Satan’s lies are not easily pushed away. We are bombarded by his lies because he knows how to deceive us. He is the father of lies and has been lying from the beginning. He is really good at lying. He’s got lots of practice. These lies are so easily believed unless we are in God’s word and God’s word is in our hearts. We have so many things to see and engage that God’s word gets pushed aside. From Instagram to Facebook to TikTok to Netflix and all other forms of media, we do not lack for things that appeal. And we are inundated with worldly messages.

To combat Satan’s lies, we must spend time with God and allow God to be with us. There will always be something that pulls us away from the word. Today’s lesson is no different. One of Satan’s biggest lies sounds reasonable but it is nonetheless a lie. Here’s the lie — my faith keeps me from struggling. That’s demonic. That lie is pretty easy to dispel. So Satan tries a different form. My faith should keep me from depression and anxiety and anger. Or to put it another way, if I had a stronger faith, I would not have depression, anxiety, or anger. This lie is not easily shunned. After all, it seems that these feelings and faith are not consistent with each other. This is what makes the lie believable.

In our time this morning we are going to deal with this lie by looking at the life of biblical characters who exhibit these emotions and how God encouraged them to shun the lie and live in truth.

The Lie

I grew up at a time that mental health issues were just coming to the forefront of congregational life. I remember my mother telling me about a woman who had a nervous breakdown. I had no idea what that was, but hearing it made me wonder what that looked like. I heard veterans from both World War II and Vietnam talk about nightmares. As a teenager, I worked briefly with a guy who lived in his car because it was easier than scaring his wife and kids almost every night with his nightmares. These events and others like them affected how I saw life and people. The complexity of life cannot be explained simply. This is not to excuse behaviors but it is to try to understand that people often do things that they know they shouldn’t for complex reasons.

Move forward almost 50 years and we are far more accepting of hearing terms like depression and anxiety and trying to understand what is going on. God has much to say about the complexity of life while speaking about the need for us to grow in our faith. Satan lies to us by telling us that we don’t have enough faith if we are struggling with depression or anxiety. So let me speak to both of these briefly.

While we do not know the causes of depression or anxiety, we do know that their existence is real and can be quite debilitating. The more severe the depression or anxiety, the more difficult it is for a person to engage life. We also know that the presence of either alters the way a person views reality. A person with depression or anxiety will view life negatively. Even on good days, they see life through a lens of negativity. Good things cannot be fully enjoyed and negative things are usually seen as far worse than they are.

Through all of this, Satan is at work. He tells you that as a follower of Jesus you are worthless, unlovable, or helpless. He tells you that God has abandoned you. He tells you that God isn’t loving because a loving God wouldn’t allow you to feel this way. He tells you that you will never succeed. He tells you that there is no way out. Then he points to scripture to convince you that you are lost. Philippians 4, don’t be anxious about anything. Matthew 6, Jesus says don’t worry. These lies and several more solidify the depression and anxiety so that life becomes more complex and it appears that there is no way out. The truth really will set you free. Let’s listen to God’s truth.

The Truth

Let’s start with the two passages in Matthew 6 and Philippians 4. Both passages use the same word translated in NIV as worry or anxious. The word means to “care for to such a degree that you are distracted.” It is to set your life on hold or to lose a sense of direction because you are pursuing something that you deem more important. In Matthew 6, Jesus says don’t pursue clothes and food to such a degree that you set aside the kingdom of God. God has lifted that burden from you. He will provide. In Philippians 4 Paul writes that in the context of the disharmony in the body (the fuss between Euodia and Syntyche) that the response to that is not to get distracted but to pray and to think about those things that lift up. Neither of these sound like God condemns the anxiety but that we tell ourselves the truth about the anxiety. It is present, but there is something more. This takes effort on our part to be in the word and God’s word in us. If you believe Satan’s lies, then you will find it easier to believe that any anxiety is wrong rather than believing what God has said about it.

What about Jesus? In our text, he is so sorrowful that he thinks he is going to die. While it is a different word than what is found in Matthew and Philippians, does it not sound as if Jesus could easily be distracted? How did Jesus handle that? Nothing simple in prayer. He poured out his heart and sought for God to provide an easier solution than the one that was before him. We make it sound as if this is not a struggle. He struggled in prayer with God three times.

What about Elijah in 1 Kings 19? After being God’s prophet to bring about the defeat of false prophets, Jezebel promises to kill Elijah. So what does Elijah do? He runs away. 19:3 says that Elijah “saw” the threat. He didn’t just hear it. He saw himself dead. So he ran. Fear? Sure. Depression? Yes! Verse 4, he wants to die. He could have stayed where he was if he wanted that. He sleeps a lot. Unless God fed him he wasn’t looking for food. 40 days of depression. He lies to himself and God. “I am worthless.” That’s what he said in verse 4. Verse 10, “I am helpless.” I’m the only one. “I’m unlovable.” They are trying to kill me.

What does God have him do? Get back to work with clear objectives and goals. This is complex. But we know that staying in your depression with your lies will not ease the feelings or make things better. We know that having goals makes things better. People of faith have these same emotional responses to life.

So what do we do?

Having depression or anxiety is not a sign of faithlessness, it is a sign of being a human being. Stop listening to Satan’s lies that faith prevents such things.

Pray. If you are dealing with either then you need to be praying. Wrestle with God. Satan wants you to believe he isn’t there. Elijah couldn’t find him until 40 days later, but when God whispered to him, he had no doubt about his presence. Satan says that God has left you. Satan is a liar. God never leaves you. Just like he never left his son in Gethsemane or on the cross. He was there.

Share this with others. There are professional counselors. There are good medications. Taking medication is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith. Medications are not a substitute for wrestling with God and setting goals to move forward. Satan says you can’t get out of your depression or anxiety. He is a liar. Believe God. Believe the truth.

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