Tom­mi Kin­nu­nen

Strug­g­ling with men­tal he­alth – such as dep­res­si­on – can cloud how we hear God’s Word and weigh he­a­vi­ly on our faith. Though Scrip­tu­re pro­mi­ses God is near, he­arts can feel dis­tant. Words that on­ce com­for­ted may seem emp­ty, pra­yers va­nish in­to si­len­ce, and cong­re­ga­ti­on life – on­ce jo­y­ful – can feel ex­haus­ting. At ti­mes even en­te­ring church feels im­pos­sib­le.

Dep­res­si­on can rai­se qu­es­ti­ons: is my faith we­a­ker than ot­hers? Yet Scrip­tu­re spe­aks in­to these mo­ments: “Bles­sed are the poor in spi­rit: for theirs is the king­dom of he­a­ven” (Matt. 5:3). God’s mer­cy is not de­pen­dent on our strength or fee­lings. We need not hide our strug­g­les or fix our ail­ments be­fo­re co­ming to Him – He al­re­a­dy knows our tri­als.

When Joy, Trust, and Thank­ful­ness Feel out of Re­ach

Ser­mons of­ten speak of joy, trust, and thank­ful­ness. These are good gifts, yet un­der men­tal strug­g­le they can sound like com­mands we fail to keep. “Re­joi­ce al­wa­ys” (1 Thess. 5:16) may feel like re­bu­ke. “Be an­xi­ous for not­hing” (Phil. 4:6) seems im­pos­sib­le when wor­ry sur­rounds us.

“The joy of the Lord is yo­ur strength” (Neh. 8:10) rings hol­low when strength is gone. Even en­cou­ra­ge­ment, he­ard through dep­res­si­on’s fog, can iso­la­te, le­a­ving one to ask: What is wrong with me? Why can’t I feel joy and trust as be­fo­re? Still, the psal­mist as­su­res us: “My flesh and my he­art fai­leth: but God is the strength of my he­art” (Ps. 73:26). Le­ar­ning about one’s il­l­ness and he­a­ring ot­hers’ sto­ries can be a li­fe­li­ne, of­fe­ring glim­mers of un­ders­tan­ding and hope.

Do I Have Less Faith?

For one bur­de­ned by dep­res­si­on, this qu­es­ti­on can lead to si­lent self-judg­ment: Be­cau­se I feel this way, I must have less faith – or none at all. One may as­su­me ot­hers don’t strug­g­le as deep­ly. Yet none of us can bo­ast of strong faith. God sees the he­art, and even a qui­et plea – Lord, help me – is he­ard. The de­si­re to be­lie­ve, even when the mind re­sists, is it­self faith. Ot­hers of­ten see fruits of faith we can­not. Our minds may comp­li­ca­te the Gos­pel, de­man­ding cer­tain fee­lings be­fo­re trus­ting for­gi­ve­ness, but God’s grace is not ear­ned by cla­ri­ty or strength – it is His free gift. “For if our he­art con­demn us, God is gre­a­ter than our he­art, and kno­weth all things” (1 John 3:20).

Well-me­a­ning be­lie­vers may try to help wit­hout un­ders­tan­ding dep­res­si­on as a real il­l­ness. They might say: “God won’t give you more than you can hand­le.” Such words, though kind­ly me­ant, can make one feel more bro­ken. This can dee­pen doubt, shame, and si­len­ce. Yet God ans­wers: “My grace is suf­fi­cient for thee: for my strength is made per­fect in we­ak­ness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

God’s Love and Grace

He­a­ring and be­lie­ving the gos­pel does not era­se men­tal il­l­ness, but it as­su­res us of God’s unc­han­ging love. Even in the he­a­viest ti­mes – of­ten un­no­ti­ced by the suf­fe­rer – grace is pre­sent. We don’t need he­alt­hy mind to be­lie­ve; faith is God’s gift. He does not withd­raw His grace when life overw­helms.

As the psal­mist wri­tes, “Yea, though I walk through the val­ley of the sha­dow of de­ath, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Ps. 23:4). We can rest in the pro­mi­se: “Not­hing can se­pa­ra­te us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:39), when we de­si­re to be­lie­ve even amid men­tal he­alth strug­g­les.

The text has been shor­te­ned from the ori­gi­nal.

The text was pub­lis­hed in Voi­ce of Zion.