Is it Normal to be Depressed and Unhappy in the Christian Walk?

[aiki]

Yes I agree, joy in him, and life in him, even if we are not "happy" or don't have a smooth life.

As I understand it, happiness is a circumstance-dependant thing where joy, in contrast, is a Christ-dependent thing. Joy is a superior, more stable, more persistent positive state because it is anchored in a perfect, unchanging and supremely powerful Person to whom I am intimately and forever linked. But if I have the joy that comes from Christ, I should not be an unhappy person, a depressed and despairing person, a gloomy and sour person, but one in whom others can see contentment, peace, love, grace and righteousness no matter the situation. It is very difficult to see how one can be such a person and be thought of as generally unhappy at the same time.

One can suffer from mental illness like depression for the rest of their life and not have anything spiritually wrong with them but be able to function because he is looking to God and having joy in that, despite their circumstance and not feeling good inside.

I don't think depression is, at first, a mental illness. I think depression, if left unchecked, can develop biological pathologies, but it doesn't generally begin this way. And the brain is marvelously malleable, capable of moving out of depression with the right kind of thinking, even in cases where the depression is acute and has endured for a prolonged period of time. It is a particular kind of thinking that fosters depression, after all, and it is another kind of thinking that alleviates it. Not drugs, not therapy, but right thinking - godly, biblical, Christ-centered thinking. It is a lie of the psychiatric community that depression is a permanent illness, requiring a never-ending contribution of drugs and therapy to manage. Make no mistake: it is in the best interests of the drug and psychiatric industries to make as many people as possible believe they are psychologically ill and can only be helped by drugs and psychiatrists. Even though people are never generally cured of their psychiatric maladies, there is still an inordinate certainty of the necessity of psychiatric "medicine." The Bible, though, offers a far better way to be of a "sound mind."

We shouldn't look inward but we should look towards Christ. If you look inward and examine yourself all the time, you will lose focus on Jesus.

But if one doesn't examine one's self, one cannot judge one's self as Scripture commands. Endless introspection is not healthy but assessing one's thought life, attitudes and behaviour periodically is essential to right living before God.

2 Corinthians 13:5
5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Hi, I just want to know if there is something wrong with me spiritually and what I should do, or if this is a normal thing. I've been a Christian for two years now, but I have noticed the last year or so, I've forgotten what the feeling of happiness feels like and I've just been very depressed. When I first found Jesus, I was very happy and I've never been happier in my life... That was in 2017 when I first got saved, everything went well. But then in 2018 I started getting depressed and unhappy when I started to take my walk with God more serious. I feel like I'm not enjoying life as much as I once did. For example, I used to enjoy making music but it was secular music and it was a way to release my creative energy. But then I realized after I was saved I should use my musical talents for the Lord, and what makes me sad is I'm not able to and I have a hard time making gospel music. It depresses me I can't make secular music anymore as that's what I'm good at (about life, love, relationships, and other secular topics). I would love to write gospel songs that glorify Jesus but I am bad at it and have not ideas so now I can't even make music which I really love.

Next, I can't really do fun things anymore that I used to like. God has convicted me to stay away from certain things and people so no more going to the club and all that. I can't be interested in things that aren't of God like I liked watching different YouTube videos, movies, TV Shows, and I can't do that anymore either. Life just feels... boring and not as fulfilling. You can yell at me all you want for saying this but I'm speaking straight from the heart in how I feel and I'm honest with you. God should be enough, he is the most high, but why don't I feel that way? Why do I feel like something is missing and this constant emptiness and consistent feeling of depression and unhappiness?

Is this normal and healthy? Like the bible says to forsake your flesh and pick up your cross, so maybe you won't be as happy as you once was when you were of the world? Maybe this is the price we have to pay and a normal thing in order to get eternal life? Don't get me wrong, I would never want my old life back because God was absent and that's the worst. I just wish I had the old happiness back. I know scripture says we should have joy in God alone, and not focus on our feelings. But is this normal and common what I'm feeling or is something wrong? I should also note another struggle I face is anxiety, social anxiety, OCD, and I am on the autism spectrum. I deal with a lot, but I always thought having God in my life would make it easier to deal with but it just feels even more hard now for these things... It just feels like ever since I became a Christian life got tougher, my struggles got more difficult to deal with, and I've become a lot less happy. Is this normal or is something wrong and if so what do I do, where do I go from here to get that happiness I had when I first got saved, the feeling of "the first love" back? I was praying hard and I was obeying God as best I could but I still have that burden, I don't know if it's a healthy burden of picking up and carrying the cross or not.

There are two sides to everything, yes you should take up the cross, and follow Jesus by giving up on certain parts of your old life. But I would say that you are probably being a little hard on yourself regarding what you allow and don't allow yourself to do. As an example there is nothing wrong with creating secular music as a Christian. I used to spend a lot of time writing Christian poetry, but there were times were I wrote poetry that was secular. Also God is not against TV, movies etc, sure they may be some that it would be best you not watch, and it is always good to feed the spirit, by spending time in prayer rather than TV, but that does not mean you can't watch TV. I would say relax some of your restrictions, for God would have us happy not oppressed.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hi, I just want to know if there is something wrong with me spiritually and what I should do, or if this is a normal thing. I've been a Christian for two years now, but I have noticed the last year or so, I've forgotten what the feeling of happiness feels like and I've just been very depressed. When I first found Jesus, I was very happy and I've never been happier in my life... That was in 2017 when I first got saved, everything went well. But then in 2018 I started getting depressed and unhappy when I started to take my walk with God more serious. I feel like I'm not enjoying life as much as I once did. For example, I used to enjoy making music but it was secular music and it was a way to release my creative energy. But then I realized after I was saved I should use my musical talents for the Lord, and what makes me sad is I'm not able to and I have a hard time making gospel music. It depresses me I can't make secular music anymore as that's what I'm good at (about life, love, relationships, and other secular topics). I would love to write gospel songs that glorify Jesus but I am bad at it and have not ideas so now I can't even make music which I really love.

Next, I can't really do fun things anymore that I used to like. God has convicted me to stay away from certain things and people so no more going to the club and all that. I can't be interested in things that aren't of God like I liked watching different YouTube videos, movies, TV Shows, and I can't do that anymore either. Life just feels... boring and not as fulfilling. You can yell at me all you want for saying this but I'm speaking straight from the heart in how I feel and I'm honest with you. God should be enough, he is the most high, but why don't I feel that way? Why do I feel like something is missing and this constant emptiness and consistent feeling of depression and unhappiness?

Is this normal and healthy? Like the bible says to forsake your flesh and pick up your cross, so maybe you won't be as happy as you once was when you were of the world? Maybe this is the price we have to pay and a normal thing in order to get eternal life? Don't get me wrong, I would never want my old life back because God was absent and that's the worst. I just wish I had the old happiness back. I know scripture says we should have joy in God alone, and not focus on our feelings. But is this normal and common what I'm feeling or is something wrong? I should also note another struggle I face is anxiety, social anxiety, OCD, and I am on the autism spectrum. I deal with a lot, but I always thought having God in my life would make it easier to deal with but it just feels even more hard now for these things... It just feels like ever since I became a Christian life got tougher, my struggles got more difficult to deal with, and I've become a lot less happy. Is this normal or is something wrong and if so what do I do, where do I go from here to get that happiness I had when I first got saved, the feeling of "the first love" back? I was praying hard and I was obeying God as best I could but I still have that burden, I don't know if it's a healthy burden of picking up and carrying the cross or not.

If you read Psalm 42, you will see that the psalmist is suffering depression and is asking himself why he is feeling the way he does. As you read through the book of Psalms, you will see through the prayers that life is not always lived on the mountain tops - that life has its ups and downs.

God sometimes withdraws the sense of His presence from us so that we will be more assertive in running to His throne of grace and taking hold of Christ as the foundation of our faith. It is more of dark clouds coming over the sun. The sun is still shining, but there are clouds in the way. Sometimes there is a gap in the clouds to show us that the sun is still up there. It is the same with the presence of God. God never withdraws from us because we have Him in the person of the Holy Spirit right inside of us, and He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

To illustrate the withdrawal of the presence of God from us sometimes, we read in the Song of Solomon that the woman's lover has disappeared and she goes through the city searching for him. Often when we get a bit complacent with the things of God, God will withdraw the sense of His presence so that we will motivate ourselves afresh to seek Him with all our heart. When He sees that we mean business with Him, He restores the sense of His presence and it will seem that the dark clouds have rolled away, revealing the warm sunlight again to our hearts.

 

[Lady O]

I see you have received many replies and posted here last week, so I'm not sure you will even see this, but in answer to your question, "Is it normal", I think we have to be fair and consider the fact that any area of our fallen nature, regardless of what it is, should never be considered normal, but an area of our life we need God to redeem and heal. Mental illness has been twisting and breaking every spiritual and physical aspect of human nature since the beginning of creation.

I was able to trace my mental illness back to previous generations before me, and with some wise counsel, and a "renewing of the mind", along with getting treated by a functional doctor, (not a regular conventional one) I said goodbye to this weapon against my mind.

Someday we will all be made whole, but for now, we need to stay under the covering of the blood of the lamb until that day comes. Please do not beat yourself up and fall into any guilt. God is on your side and restoring is not too big of a job for Him. While you are trusting Him for change, ask Him to help you embrace His bigger picture for why this is in your life. He never wastes anything. I'll be praying for you.