ONE: Spiritual People Get Depressed
"Hear my prayer O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly." Psalm 102:1-2 NIV
No one is always on top. I don’t trust people who claim to never get down.One of the unrealities that invades our Christianity is that we minimize our humanity. We believe (or are taught) that once saved everything will be great. Nothing should ever disappoint or discourage a faith-filled Christian. What a load of crap! Many of the great people in the bible like Abraham, Moses and Paul walked through the dark times of the soul and spoke openly about their fears and discouragements. Some of the church’s great leaders men like Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon and certain hymn writers, were men who loved God but who cried out from the pits of discouragement. These were mighty men of faith who refused to hide or camouflage their complaint. That’s what the Psalmist is doing here.
This Psalm was authored by the Holy Spirit—it’s a prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord. God wants us to know about this spiritual man’s “down time.” (See the introduction to the Psalm). Are you ever afflicted or overwhelmed?
Leaders are particularly prone to pretend that everything is all right when it is not. I’ve know many people who can’t admit what’s wrong in their life. They thought that to admit they had problems was a sign of weakness and I know a few that died as a result. “Faking it” becomes a way of life, if it hurts we hide it. This is encouraged by the church today, church leaders can’t mess up they have to be perfect and have perfect families, this is unreal. If something disappoints us we deny it. If something discourages us we tend to ignore it. This kind of unreality is a breeding ground for problems. Psalm 102 never indicates that the feelings of depression are sin. The psalmist is not ashamed to express his discouragement before God and men. One gets the impression that God welcomes the honest complaint. He listens to it.
Everybody gets depressed, everybody has down days or seasons no one is immune. It happens regardless of how spiritually mature someone is.
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