I have had a number of conversations lately about
depression. For whatever reasons the
topic of anxiety or depression seems to resurface on a daily basis. Think about your life and the people you
know. How many of them struggle with
depression? Do you? By no means am I going to write one Bible
Time and claim for all who are depressed, “here it is, this is what you didn’t understand,
you are healed!” But, I do know the God who
does have that ability and who promises that one day those who have faith in
His Son will never suffer from depression again. Joy will be their new defining
characteristic. Praise God! And, I can’t wait for that day. For now, let’s look at a quick story from the
ministry of Jesus where he doesn’t necessarily deal with depression, but for
those suffering from depression there is much to gain in this passage.
Mark 8:22-26
22 And they came to Bethsaida.
And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he
took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he
had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do
you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I
see people, but they look like trees, walking.”25 Then
Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight
was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And
he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
Things to think
about:
- Jesus
healed many people of blindness.
Sometimes with just a word (Luke 18:35-43), other times with a
touch (Matt. 9:27-31), here with some spit! Why do you think Jesus did it different
ways? Do you think he is teaching
us something in the method of healing as well as in the healing itself?
- Why
do you think the man was only “partially healed” at first? He could see, but not well. He thought people looked like trees
walking. Could this be a parable
for our lives today? For those that
believe in Jesus and know of the forgiveness that he offers. You see Christ. You see his love. You see his grace. But, you don’t see well. There are times of doubt, times of
shame, times of frustration and confusion.
This is where depression comes in.
I think depression for us as Christians is like seeing, but not
seeing well. We read the Bible and
we believe in the good news of Jesus, but…arrgghh…there is just something
that pulls us down, that confuses us, that frustrates us. Finish reading the story. What happens to the man? Jesus finishes the healing and he sees “clearly!” That is our hope. One day, maybe today, maybe tomorrow,
maybe in 50 years when we die – we will see clearly! Jesus is faithful to finish what he has
started.
- Let
me finish with a long quote from a great book about depression called “Spiritual
Depression” written by a pastor named Martin Lloyd-Jones. He was a pastor for many years and died
in 1981 and he admitted to suffering from depression most of his
life. This quote comes from the
chapter entitled “Men as trees, walking”…it is the chapter where he unpacks
much of the idea I just threw out to you today. I will let him give the big conclusion –
he does a better job than I ever could.
May God encourage you with these words today.
…Come to the Word of God. Stop asking
questions. Start with the promises in their right order. Say: ‘I want the truth whatever it costs me’. Bind yourself to it, submit yourself to it,
come in utter submission as a little child and plead with Him to give you clear
sight, perfect vision, and to make you whole.
And as you do so it is my privilege to remind you that He can do
it. Yea, more, I promise you in His
blessed name that he will do it. He
never leaves anything incomplete. That
is the teaching. Listen to it. This man was healed and restored and ‘saw
every man clearly’. The Christian
position is a clear position. We are not meant to be left in a state of doubt
and misgiving, of uncertainty and unhappiness.
Do you believe that the Son of God came from heaven and lived and did
all He did on earth, that He died on a Cross and was buried and rose again, that
he ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, in order to leave us in a
state of confusion? It is
impossible. He came that we might see
clearly, that we might know God. He came
to give eternal life and ‘This is eternal life, that they may know Thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom though hast sent.’ If you are unhappy about
yourself as a result of this examination come to Him, come to His word, wait
upon Him, plead with Him, hold on to Him, ask Him in the word of the hymn; ‘Holy Spirit, truth Divine, Dawn upon this
soul of mine, Word of God, and inward Light, Wake my spirit, clear my sight.’ He is pledged to do it and He will do it, and
you will no longer be an uncertain Christian seeing and not seeing. You will be able to say: ‘I see, I see in Him
all I need and more, and I know that I belong to Him.’’’
May this be true of us today!
