Depression in the bible

AllTalkNoAction,

Sorry if I sound dense But are you saying one should just concentrate on God and His goodness, one would not experience depression?

Wendy

No offence ment because I respect what you are saying and that you are wiser and older than me but I don't think that is right. I can see where you are coming from but isn't depression an illness? Focussing on God may well help the situation but will not neccesarally get rid of the underlying illness. You wouldn't say that focussing on God will cure cancer or anything like that although I know miracles like that do happen so I think depression should be treated in the same way. If people think i'm completly wrong here please say but it is personally what I believe.

Clinical depression is a disorder where a chemical (Seratonin) is not transferred correctly within the brain. This can be treated with medicine, but just "thinking bright" will do absolutely nothing. In fact, it will debilitate you; you'll feel like you're living a lie. -_-

Umber and Pockleberry, wise beyond your years!

Since sin entered the world...there have been illnesses, illnesses that have not been healed. Why? God says His ways are not our ways, His thoughts as far as the east is from the west (compared to His)

To suggest that the billions of people over the time sin entered the world that were not healed because they were not 'filled with the Spirit'. Even Paul, an awesome man of God had a thorn in his side that the Lord did not take away. Was this due to the fact he was NOT Spirit filled???

Why are the babies that are born with physical defects 'not healed' ? Is this because the infant is not Spirit filled?

AllTalkNoAction said:

My own experience of sickness was of body & head-ache that went on for several weeks . . . it made me think "what do I want to be well for", i.e. what am I going to do with my life anyway - I re-dedicated myself to following God only and the healing followed.

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I see what you are saying, but please do not assume that your experience in your difficulties, is how its 'meant'to work for everyone else. Physical aching is extremely different to the mental battle that is depression for some people.It's a completely different situation. God does not work in identical ways with every single situation.

General message to the thread:
That being said, God can and does heal, but its not always immediate, sometimes God may choose to heal people gradually, as they become more closer and submitted to him.

I read a powerful, thought provoking book by a man called David Watson called 'fear no evil' who passed away from cancer in 1984. To suggest this man died because of his lack of trusting in God, and submittance to God is absurd. God obviously thought he wanted David with him in heaven at the time. He chose not to heal on earth. This man stayed close to God throughout his year long illness, always in prayer, always worshipping, and getting to know his svaiour, and he firmly believed God COULD heal him. In fact, he had a close friend from the US, John Wimber who made claims like 'I don't accept this cancer and I believe that God wants to heal you.' Maybe he meant well, or believed what he did, but the fact is, the only thing he really did in the end it seems was plant false hopes in the poor man. If you read this book, ul see David was far from lacking in the faith in the miraculous workings of God.His trust in God in this adversity was actually amazing and quite an inspiration.

However, it is not right or accurate to say that is how God always chooses to work in every individual. And whether you mean well or not, I have concerns with what you're saying. These sensationalist claims could also result in you making people feel like failures or more distant from God because they haven't had some kind of 'miraculous event.'

Job had prolonged suffering in the bible. Friends gave unhelpful advice about he mustn't be 'praying hard enough' or he had 'sin remaining undealt with.'

While these can certainly be true, it is dangerous to be generalising across all situations, events and people. And these comments certainly didn't help Job in his situation. God was actually allowing the devil to test him for a time to strengthen his faith, and have a much stronger relationship between God and Job. Suffering can result in dependency on God, indeed good things can come as a result. Depression has actually improved my relationship with God. It has taken time though...

Remaining close to God, and meditating on his word are important though, although it's not always easy to do, depending where you're at, and it does take time. Trust is a gradual process, done step by step, and God is patient with that. There is a very good post, in a thread not so long back, by someone who has battled with this, and knows that the mental anguish depression sadly causes at times. She knows from experience it doesnt just disappear overnight, and testifies her own experience about what she's learning about recovery with this specifically: http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=25637102#post25637102

Trust me AllTalkNoAction - first year I had depression, I was earnestly seeking healing, I prayed, I asked God to reveal to me any undealt sin, I did rely on Him. God CHOSE to start healing me gradually. I've been improving slowly. He obviously thought I could learn more through gradual healing, than waving a wand overnight.

pockleberry said:

No offence ment because I respect what you are saying and that you are wiser and older than me but I don't think that is right. I can see where you are coming from but isn't depression an illness? Focussing on God may well help the situation but will not neccesarally get rid of the underlying illness. You wouldn't say that focussing on God will cure cancer or anything like that although I know miracles like that do happen so I think depression should be treated in the same way. If people think i'm completly wrong here please say but it is personally what I believe.

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Nope, I think you're right there huni. Depression is a mental illness. Praying it away or reading the bible doesn't automatically get rid of it. We're still living in a fallen world, where the devil is prince of this world and Christians are not sadly, ammune to experiencing some of the consequences sadly.

That being said, its not all gloom and doom, God is there to help. He's really helped me in my battles. He probably will heal eventually, but it may take some time. xx

I totally agree with pockleberry, I think you hit the mark there.
I know that depression is an illness, a physical and mental illness.To say that those who battle depression aren't spirit filled or walking with God, ect, is ignorance on the part of those who have never actually dealt with the disease.
God is able to heal everyone of us, but I believe that if He just zapped us 'out of it' then we wouldn't depend upon Him as much as we do. When He told the Israelites that He was going to give them the Promised Land He didn't do it all at once, why? I believe it was to make them see that deliverance comes through Him and not by their self. We are a very prideful race, if things come easy for us, well we assume it is through our own works.
When we seek Him, we grow spirtually, we become dependant on Him. God uses trials to make character.
I'm not the best at putting words together, so I hope this makes sense. God sees us perfect. God sees us as the person that we are suppose to be, and will become. God Loves us, depression and all.
Careful Alltalknoaction, that you aren't becoming judgemental, for God is our ONLY judge.

burn97 said:

I totally agree with pockleberry, I think you hit the mark there.
I know that depression is an illness, a physical and mental illness.To say that those who battle depression aren't spirit filled or walking with God, ect, is ignorance on the part of those who have never actually dealt with the disease.
God is able to heal everyone of us, but I believe that if He just zapped us 'out of it' then we wouldn't depend upon Him as much as we do. When He told the Israelites that He was going to give them the Promised Land He didn't do it all at once, why? I believe it was to make them see that deliverance comes through Him and not by their self. We are a very prideful race, if things come easy for us, well we assume it is through our own works.
When we seek Him, we grow spirtually, we become dependant on Him. God uses trials to make character.
I'm not the best at putting words together, so I hope this makes sense. God sees us perfect. God sees us as the person that we are suppose to be, and will become. God Loves us, depression and all.
Careful Alltalknoaction, that you aren't becoming judgemental, for God is our ONLY judge.

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You made sense I thought that was brilliantly explained, and made sense.

A gradual process, and me depending on God, I think has been the experience of me through depression. I think God thinks I will learn more this way. When I am very down, it also encourages me to seek God more sometimes. I try and use God as a counsellor sometimes. He knows whats caused my depression, so I speak to him about the issues/things that do bother me. Specific things happened before I became down, but I'm trying to give them over to God.

Thanks for your contribution xx

I totally believe that depression and things are of the devil. And I do believe that God can heal us, but God allows the devil to give us illnesses for a specific reason. I believe that you are right about God healing gradually. Without turmoil, we would never turn to God. We do need to be filled with his spirit and it will help us, but it's not going to take everything away immediately!

I think you're right there hun. The devil is the source of all evil in the world. I think he wants it for bad, but God intends to turn it aroud for good. It can be very difficult to turn to God when you go through this (well it was for me). At first, there was a lot of bitterness and anger, but gradually, as we hold onto God, he will see us through. I'm not an expert on depression, maybe God does heal some people instantly, but I know whats been the case for me

GLSJ & Judy
You both make awesome points.

I've found a couple of websites about this.

Depression IS a illness, about the chemical imbalance and the serotonin levels for most, and medication can help this. I am on one that deals with serotonin and noradrenaline levels.

http://www.christianity.ca/seekinggod/god-makes-a-difference/2005/05.002.html