This post is adapted from an episode of “Mondays with Mark” on Facebook Live. Click here to watch the entire video.
In my last installment, I talked about dealing with depression in ministry. It’s a topic that always gets a lot of attention on the “Mondays with Mark” podcast because a lot of people, especially pastors, face serious emotional challenges. It’s one of the main ways Satan seeks to destroy our ministries, families, and churches.
Do you remember Jesus asking his disciples who the crowds said he was and then who they said he was? It was obvious the crowds had no clue about Jesus, but Peter gave a clear answer: Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God.
Henry Blackaby told me one time – and I wrote it in my Bible – that the world is never at a loss for who Jesus is, but the world has no idea who Jesus is. But Peter knew, and Jesus said it was because the Father had revealed it to him.
Peter’s statement is so fantastic that Jesus said he was going to build His Church on that insight “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And Jesus also knew Satan was listening, so He was saying it to Satan as well.
Paul said in Corinthians that when he was in Asia, he came to the place that he thought he was going to die. Have you ever felt that way? So crushed, so overburdened? Paul did, and he wasn’t ashamed to say so. But he went on to say, “This was so we’d no longer trust in ourselves, but in God who raised Jesus from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus changes everything.
Martin Luther would preach 150 times a year sometimes and huge crowds would walk to hear him. But he would preach his heart out and not see any noticeable change in the majority of people. He became so discouraged that he quit preaching for over 15 months.
Does that ring a bell with anybody?
My good friend Frank Lewis reminds us of the time Jesus took the disciples across the Sea of Galilee. He went to sleep in the boat, and a terrible storm came up. Frank points out that we will encounter storms, even when we are obediently traveling with Jesus.
Now the disciples knew how to manage a boat during a storm. But they also knew some storms would kill them anyway. No matter how skilled you are and no matter how good a boat you may have, there will always be storms greater than your strength and stronger than your boat – even when you’re obediently traveling with Jesus.
The time to prepare for a storm is before the wind starts to blow. So Frank Lewis gives us four ways to prepare for a storm.
- Have a scripture. When Jesus defeated Satan and temptation every time he responded with a scripture. Find some scripture that speaks to your heart and shares the truth of the glory of God and – this is important – of the hope that is yet to come. Depression is a loss of hope, and the Bible is filled with hope. Find a passage that speaks about that hope, make it your own, claim it your own, and when you feel that darkness start creeping in, go to it immediately. Quote it over and over. Read it out loud. Let that verse be part of who you are.
- Have a song. Yes, a song. The first song in the Bible is when Adam sings when he sees the beauty of Eve. And then, in the end of the Bible, we’re all singing around the throne. It’s all about music. God has wired us so that music affects our emotions. And when you’re discouraged and depressed, that’s an emotional issue. Find a song, a song about the glory of God, a song about the sustenance of God, a song about the providence of God, a song about the hope of life eternal, a song about the assurance of your salvation. (The song I often use is “Be Still My Soul.”) Sing your song over and over and over.
- Have a spiritual discipline. The time to create spiritual disciplines is when the wind’s not blowing. One of the things about depression is you feel hopeless and helpless, out of control. But if you’ve got some discipline in your life spiritually every day – maybe reading scripture, reading another book, listening to a book or a great biblical preacher – when you’re going through dark times, you have something you can hold on to. This gives you a sense of control in a world that otherwise seems out of control.
- Have a friend or two you can truly trust. People you could pick up the phone or text them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and say, “I’m feeling this. I need you to pray for me right now. Maybe I need you to talk to me right now.” Now, there are some things a pastor shouldn’t share with the congregation. But if you can find some other pastors – they don’t have to be in the same community or even in the same state– so you have a brother you can lean on and they can lean on you when they need it. That kind of relationship is so important. I can tell you from personal experience that’s very powerful.
So you prepare for the storm of depression by scripture, by song, by your spiritual discipline, and by a friend who can walk with you. When we do these things, we can regain hope.
When Jesus was in the garden and prayed, “Let this cup pass from me,” He was sweating blood. He was in agony. But He got through that agony, the Bible says, “because of the hope that was set before Him.”
Depression is losing hope. The solution to depression is to regain hope. I pray that’s what we all will do. I know we can find it in Him.
Don’t go through this alone. Talk to somebody. Email us at [email protected]. We’d be glad to talk with you.
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Published January 30, 2025
