Hope in times of depression

Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, `How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again (Job 7:1-7).

I’d bet that at some point in your life, you’ve felt a bit like Job does in today’s reading. Almost everyone goes through periods of depression. Almost everyone goes through a tough time when they wonder if God still cares for them. We can all relate to Job when he says, the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

Perhaps you’ve spent sleepless nights worrying about your checkbook. You felt as if you were breaking your back at work, and yet you never seemed to get ahead. There were always more bills than money, and you never got anything put into savings for retirement or your kids’ college education.

Or maybe you have tossed and turned in bed because of relationship troubles. Someone that you loved had left you, either by breaking up with you, divorcing you, moving away, or dying before you. As a result, you were tormented by feeling lonely, feeling as if no one else could ever love you as you had been loved, feeling frightened of facing the future without the support of the one person that you trusted to always be with you.

Some of you may have experienced depression over poor health. Maybe you watched a loved one struggle with disease, and it tortured you to be powerless to ease their suffering. Maybe your own health was the problem, and every minute seemed like hours as you endured discomfort that just wouldn’t let up.

The things that cause us depression are united by a common theme—they all involve loss. Loss of income or home, loss of family or friends, loss of health or life. We become depressed when something that we’ve relied upon is suddenly gone—the weekly paycheck, the friend we’ve had since first grade, the ability to live in our own homes unassisted. There is confusion caused by the sudden change in daily routine. There is an empty hole in the pit of our stomach as we miss what we’ve lost. There is fear of the future as we wonder how we can fill that empty hole again, how we can find security and happiness once more. Like Job, we are tempted to say my eyes will never see happiness again.

Job had certainly suffered loss. First, his livestock was rustled and his servants killed. Then a windstorm destroyed the house of his eldest son, and all his children were killed in the collapse. Finally, Job came down with a disease that made painful sores break out all over his body. Job suffered the loss of his income, his children, and his health. He certainly had much to become depressed about!

What is interesting, though, is Job’s reaction to the bad things that happened to him. When he lost his income and his children, Job said Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised (Job 1:21). After he had also lost his health, Job’s wife came to him and said, Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die! But Job replied, You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (Job 2:9-10).

Scripture tells us, In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 2:10). Job did not complain that God was treating him unfairly. Job realized that God created the universe, and God created him—he was in no position to tell his Lord how God should act. Job humbly accepted whatever God chose to give him in this life.

As time dragged on, Job sank further and further into depression. Eventually, he says My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. Clearly, these words are spoken by a man who is deeply depressed. But has he lost his faith in God? No—because in chapter 19, Job says these famous words: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

There is an important point to be learned here. Job could become terribly depressed about his life on earth, but he never lost confidence that his God would one day raise him from the grave and give him the gift of eternal joy. Job could be convinced that he would never know another moment’s happiness in this life, and yet he kept it all in perspective by seeing that his life was only a brief, fleeting thing when seen from God’s eternal perspective. Saint Paul echoed Job’s view on the troubles of life when he wrote, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

But even though Job never lost his faith in God’s eternal mercy, his depression was not pleasing to God. Eventually Job became frustrated with God, impatient that his prayers for mercy seemed to go unheeded. He said, I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me (Job 30:20). In response, God himself replied to Job: Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you (Job 40:7-14). In essence God is saying, "do you think you can be a better God than me? Do you consider your wisdom and sense of justice better than the wisdom and justice of the One who created you?"

Immediately, Job is repentant. He says, I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, `Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, `Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:2-6). Job returns to the attitude of humble submission to God that he had when his troubles began.

Why did all this happen? It was a test of faith. Satan was working hard to make Job turn away from God. Satan believed that Job only loved and trusted God because life was going well for him—but if Job lost his income, his loved ones and his health, he would surely also lose his faith. But God knew differently—and although God allowed Satan to stir up trouble for Job, God put limits on how far Satan could go. It was for Job just as it is for us: God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). So Satan tempted Job through loss, but although Job became frustrated with God, he never turned his back on Him and Job’s faith was strengthened. And after the test had strengthened his faith, God gave Job twice as much as he had before, because the love of earthly things could not tempt Job’s heart to abandon God.

Job got through it all by faith: I know that my Redeemer lives. It is this faith that gets us through the tough times as well. When we are depressed over how our lives are going, it is all too easy to become frustrated with God. "I’m a Christian, for crying out loud! Why is God letting this happen to me? God said that He answers prayer—well, I’m waiting, God! What’s the delay?" It is especially at these times, when we begin to wonder whether God still cares about us, that faith in our Redeemer carries us through. Jesus, God’s own Son, came down to earth to live 33 years with the discomforts of poverty, betrayal by His friends, and death itself. Jesus suffered the loss of everything as He hung on the cross in our place—even the relationship of love with His Father, temporarily, when He cried out in torment, My God, my God, why have You abandoned me? (Matthew 27:46). As Jesus suffered God’s anger at our sins, He felt all the hurt that Job and we have ever felt—and much, much more.

But the fact that God loved us so much that He was willing to allow His Son to suffer for us this way tells us something important. No matter how dark our lives get, it does not mean that God has stopped loving us. Jesus died for us! God has promised, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Paul writes, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

This is the hope that gets us through the dark times in our lives, the nights when we toss and turn sleeplessly in our beds. Jesus loves us. Jesus suffered for our sins so that we won’t have to. Jesus rose from the grave to forgive us when we repent, and to assure us that we too will rise from death and see Him with our own eyes as Job knew he would one day. When we go through bad times, it is an opportunity for our faith to grow, for us to cling to Jesus all the more tightly in loving trust. Our Savior doesn’t want us getting depressed at such times; when we start feeling as if things are hopeless, we are not trusting our Lord’s mercy as we should. But we also have the reassurance that when we get frustrated while waiting on God to deliver us, our gracious Lord will forgive our temperamental outbursts, just as He forgave Job.

Getting depressed over your problems does not mean that you have lost your faith. Job was depressed, but he could still say with confidence, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Even in the midst of pain and loneliness, Job never lost his faith that something better than anything in his life still lay ahead, something that was worth waiting for through all the sorrow and frustration—eternal, joyful life with his God. Job had faith, faith that moved him to repent of lashing out at God in his frustration, faith that refused to curse God and just give up. That same faith is our Lord Jesus’ gift to you; it is the means by which He will see you through the dark days of your life.