Depression has been called “the common cold of the emotions”. Depression simply means “low mood”. Every one has time when they feel down or experience low mood but sometimes those feelings can linger for days, weeks, even months at a time. This can be quite debilitating, especially when others around you don’t fully understand what is going on.
The biblical stories include people’s experiences with the full range of human emotions, including depression. Famous people such as Moses, Job, David and Jeremiah went through bouts of depression, even cursing the day they were born. One of the more well known experiences of depression is the great prophet Elijah. He was so down that he had even become suicidal.
God shows us some excellent counselling skills as he walks Elijah through this dark valley of depressing emotions. I unpack these more fully in a BLOG series I did in 2017 called “Dealing with Depression“. Take some time to read through those posts, especially if you are facing depressing feelings currently. It will also help you to be a better support to people around you who may be experiencing low mood at the moment.
To listen to a message on “Freedom from Depression”, which was part of a teaching series at CityLife Church back in 2007 called “Prison Break”, visit the Mark Conner’s new podcast.
The full content of this message on freedom from depression, as well as teaching on freedom from other common challenges such as anger, worry, fear, rejection, addictions and spiritual bondages, purchase a copy of Mark’s best-selling book Prison Break – Finding Personal Freedom from WORD in Australia or Amazon internationally.