A lot of advances have been made over the last ten to twenty years in the areas of anxiety and depression. There are tons of wonderful medicines out there that can help someone who is dealing with these issues. Counselors, therapists, and psychologists are continually working on news ways to work with people who are clinically depressed or have anxiety disorder. Still, it is disheartening and discouraging to me to see how many within the Christian church still don’t have a clue about these disorders that have been affecting the lives of millions of people since the fall of Adam and Eve.

I used to not understand these issues either. If someone would talk about being clinically depressed or having anxiety issues and panic attacks, I would say things like, “Why don’t they just take a deep breath and stop worrying”, or “Just stop it”, or “Trust in God more”, or even “Maybe if you work on strengthening your faith you will be able to conquer these problems you are having.”

Then, in January 1995, something tragic happened. A fellow teacher of mine and a person with whom I shared a classroom and coached basketball committed suicide. We found out later that he had been clinically depressed for quite sometime and hadn’t been taking his medication. I didn’t quite understand it. I blamed myself. I was angry at him. None of it made any sense. If he was just depressed why didn’t he just do something to make it so he wasn’t? It bothered me for quite some time until I learned more about what it actually meant to be clinically depressed or to have an anxiety disorder.

Many of you reading this today have some sort of ailment. Maybe it is high blood pressure. Maybe it is diabetes. Maybe you just can’t see as well as you used to. What if I told you people with high blood pressure to just calm down and lower your heart rate? What if I told you people who have diabetes to just have more faith and that will lower your blood sugar. What if I told you people who can’t see that you don’t need glasses, you just need to work on your eyesight?

It doesn’t make sense, does it? While we are still learning a lot about depression and anxiety, we do know that in the majority of the cases it is not simply external factors that are the cause. Most of the time there is a mix up and a mess up in the chemical reactions of the brain that cause one to be clinically depressed or have anxiety disorder. Hence, it is really a physical problem not just something that can be relieved by simply taking a deep breath and counting to ten.

When I say clinically depressed, I am not simply talking about having a bad day once in a while. I am talking about a depression or anxiety that causes physical symptoms and a disorder that takes over and ruins your life even when everything seems to be going great; something you have no control over.

So how should we as Christians, forgiven for our own sinfulness and shortcomings, react to such a problem within our own family and loved ones? Well, one thing I have learned from past mistakes is that it is best not to give advice for something you don’t understand. Don’t tell them to pray more and it will all go away, but pray with them and for them. Don’t criticize them and tell them that their faith is just too weak. That will just bring them further down and make them wonder about their salvation.

Instead offer to help them find help. Assure them that it is okay to take medicines for this just as it is okay to take medicine for high blood pressure or diabetes. Offer to go with them or to take them to a counselor that will help them deal with their disorder and live with it, but know that it might not be something that ever goes away. I have had asthma since I was two. It hasn’t gone away, but I have learned to live with it and manage it.

Most importantly, assure them of their salvation. Let them know that even when they might not know what is wrong with them and even when they may be questioning God, God still loves them and Jesus Christ has still died on the cross for them.

In a way clinical depression and anxiety disorder are both great testaments to the helplessness we have in our humanity because of our sin. I’m sure those with anxiety and depression would just love to “snap out of it”, just like I would be forever grateful to the person who comes up with a cure for asthma to the point where I don’t have to take medicine anymore. At the same time we all have shortcomings, failures, and the consequences of sin in our lives. This shows us that we are who we are and God is who he is, and no matter how hard we try, we are never going to reach up to his heights, nor are we ever going to be able to bring God down to our level. We must rely on the mercy and grace of God to both get us through this life and take us to eternal life with him forever.

If you are someone with anxiety and/or depression I urge you to get help. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t think that you are weak or that you will somehow be “abusing” drugs if you are taking medicine for these or other disorders such as these. If you want you could even come and talk to me and I will try to counsel you the best I can, but most assuredly I will help you find the help you need, and I will pray for you and with you.

God’s blessings as you live under God’s grace and forgiveness in spite of all the things that you have to deal with in this world.