Can Depression be a Blessing?

Depression is real. Many, Christians and Non-Christians alike, have faced difficult battles in the area of depression. What makes this so hard is that many times we don't even know why we are depressed. At least that has been the case in my own life. I have never been diagnosed with depression, nor do I believe that I suffer from this medical condition, but there are seasons in my life that are very difficult because of a state of melancholy.

The depression that I face from time to time is a spiritual depression. These seasons have been very difficult to say the least, but I can also say that these times have been a blessing. Not that depression is any fun, but there are blessings that I have received from these desperate days. To name a few:

• I can relate to people who battle with depression and point them to the grace that has sustained me.
• I have learned not to trust my feeling and rely upon the Word of God.
• The rug of self reliance has been swept from under my feet, leaving me only to fall upon God's grace.
• My faith in God's promise to work all things for my good and His glory are made more real to me.
  

• Times of drought cause me to appreciate the God Who is the fountain of living waters.

What I have learned from seasons of depression I would not trade for sunny skies. We can better appreciate cloudless days when we have suffered through a storm. The following quotes from C.H. Spurgeon I read at Randy Alcorn's blog:

My witness is that those who are honored by their Lord in public have usually to endure a secret chastening or to carry a peculiar cross lest by any means they exalt themselves and fall into the snare of the Devil.

….This depression comes over me whenever the Lord is preparing a larger blessing for my ministry. The cloud is black before it breaks and overshadows before it yields its deluge of mercy.

Depression has now become to me as a prophet in rough clothing, a John the Baptist heralding the nearer coming of my Lord’s richer benison. So have far better men found it. The scouring of the vessel has fitted it for the Master’s use.

Immersion in suffering has preceded the filling of the Holy Ghost. Fasting gives an appetite for the banquet. The Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert, while His servant keeps the sheep and waits in solitary awe.

The wilderness is the way to Canaan. The low valley leads to the towering mountain. Defeat prepares for victory. The raven is sent forth before the dove. The darkest hour of the night precedes the day-dawn.

It is an encouragement to know that we are not alone when depression invades our lives. It is also not something to be taken lightly. However, I have learned to look at these seasons as Spurgeon did; as John the Baptist preceded the coming of the Lord, so depression is a prophet announcing that spiritual growth is sure to follow. Let us rejoice in our tribulation. Our God is sovereign and nothing can enter our lives that are not ultimately for our good.