Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness (9 page)

There is another reality too. You can grow, day to day, with the Spirit of God energizing you, making this more and more of the purpose of your life. As you do, you will be changed.

Since Scripture has so much to say about our purpose, it has a rich vocabulary for it. One particularly fine word is the word
glorify.
We are created to glorify God. In the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us three times in his introduction that we live “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).

When we think of glory, we think of something big, beautiful, and obvious. “What a glorious sunset this evening!” “Her aria was simply glorious.” To glorify God means to have our lives make him obvious and beautiful. We want him to be famous. We want to draw attention to the glorious God who loved us, and we do that by trusting him and loving others.

In 1646 over one hundred clergymen met, at the request of the English king, to develop a summary of biblical teaching that would be suitable to guide the church. In the children’s catechism they developed (which is a series of questions and answers), the first question had to do with our purpose: What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
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They are right. This is our purpose. It is not about us; it is about God and his purposes. What could be bigger and grander than that? This is no little scrap of meaning.

To test the quality of the purpose statement you choose, examine the place of Jesus Christ in it. Our response of fear, love, praise, and worship comes from the knowledge of him. We glorify God because of what Jesus has done.

When you page through Scripture with an eye to finding purpose statements, you can’t miss the apostle Paul’s summary because he says it is “of first importance.”

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time. (1 Cor. 15:3–6)

If you want an even more basic statement, Paul whittles it down to this: “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). When he personalizes it, he writes, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Scripture is a story that climaxes in Christ. Our
story, if it is to have enduring purpose, must stay focused on that same conclusion.

What’s the use? Why bother? The answer is that Jesus Christ has been crucified and he has risen from the dead. You couldn’t find a more complete answer. In it you find that you are called, forgiven, adopted into a new family, given gifts, given a mission, given a future. You are given love, and this love is so extreme it will take you all eternity to begin to understand it.

Put it this way: at the cross, Christ has taken your story of misery upon himself and he has given you his story of resurrection and hope. We are given the successes of Christ, the record of Christ, and the love that Jesus enjoys from the Father. When you put your faith in Jesus, everything changes. What some people think is just a ticket into heaven is much, much more. There are future
and
present benefits to the blood of Jesus. Through faith, you are brought into the royal family with all its rights and privileges. At first, you might feel like a stranger who doesn’t belong, but when the Father keeps assuring you that the cross of Christ delivered your adoption papers, you eventually begin to look around the palace corridors and say that the pictures on the walls are
your
relatives. Instead of asking for an audience with the king, you will say that God is
your
God (Ps. 63:1) and
your
Father (Matt. 6:9).

Fear God and keep his commandments, love God and others, glorify God, “for me to live is Christ”—these are all purpose statements. They are all different ways of reminding us who we really are. Human beings were created as God’s royal offspring, intended to bear the distinct character of the Father. Our purpose is to bear a family resemblance. What God’s law does is describe the character of the King so we can imitate him.

But there are prodigal yearnings within each of us. We want to find our own way. Even though we get hopelessly lost, there is
something in us that prefers aimless wandering to child-like imitation and obedience. The cross is God’s pursuit of wayward children. It is the invitation back to the family.

“Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:8, 26); “be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1); “live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8); “your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5)—these are familial exhortations. Study Jesus, your older brother and your God, and imitate him by faith. This is our purpose.

God disciplines us for our good, that we
may share in his holiness
. ... It produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:10–11)

One verse in Scripture that has been hastily pinned on all suffering is Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” How can your suffering be good in any way? The answer comes in the next verse. The good is that we are being “conformed to the likeness of his Son.” This is what we are intended to be. This is our purpose, and as you are more and more aligned with your purpose, your experience of depression will change.

Timothy Richard in his book,
Forty-Five Years in China
(1916), wrote about a Chinese cult leader trying to accuse Christians. As evidence against them, he held up a surgical text used by some of the missionary doctors. “Ignorant of the humane objective of surgery, he regarded operations as proof of the cruelty of Christians.” Suffering is God’s surgery that leads to health when responded to by faith.

Do you want to see evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life? When you say, “Why bother?” answer, “Because of Jesus.” Many times our lives intersect nicely with God’s laws because his laws make sense. Life tends to go better when we speak the truth, forgive, love, and don’t murder. But sometimes our desires and God’s seem out of synch. We want to go one way, and God calls us to another. Or we feel paralyzed when God calls us to act. It is at those times that faith and the work of the Holy Spirit will be apparent.

C. S. Lewis makes this observation in an imaginary dialogue between two demons.

[Screwtape warns Wormwood] Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s [God’s] will, looks around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.
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What will imitation or obedience look like? Since Jesus became a man, thereby giving great dignity to the ordinary activities of human life, we should expect that purpose-driven faith will look fairly ordinary. For some, it will mean “do the next thing.” Put one step in front of the other. It will look like serving God and others by greeting them, asking about them, praying for them. It will be saying, “Lord, I am willing; what would you have me do today?”

What is your purpose?

“We’re with you, Bob.” These were the pastor’s final words of the evening. The pastor and his wife had spent two hours listening to Bob and understanding how depression was affecting both Bob and his marriage. By all accounts, they understood him well.

But there was no visible response. Nothing. Not a blink. The pastor and his wife weren’t really expecting a response, maybe just an acknowledgment. For a moment they thought their visit was a failure, but they said “we’re with you” because they really were with him. They were going to walk alongside Bob with their calls, visits, prayers, and love. His response wasn’t the point.

What they didn’t know was that those words, and the actions that were attached to them, were like fuel in an empty tank. Bob couldn’t have expressed this at the time, but those words kept him going.

Depression says, “Surrender.” The message is relentless, and many comply because even when you know that there is a purpose to your suffering, the battle seems too long. “I can’t tell you how tired I am of character building experiences,” says an author who
has been through it a number of times.
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If depression’s assault only touched one part of your life, you might put up a fight. But when it gains access to every sector, and even the smallest step is oppressive, “surrender” seems inevitable. You can postpone it but not avoid it.

In Scripture, the word “surrender” links you directly to “persevere, be patient in trials.” This doesn’t sound very liberating, to be sure. “Hang in there,” “keep at it,” “you can do it” are trite and unhelpful responses when offered by friends and family. It’s as if they have nothing else to say, so they offer this “encouragement” just to say something.

The call to persevere may not sound anymore appealing when it comes from God himself. It
does
sound more authoritative. It sounds like a general telling his troops to keep going in the face of a much stronger enemy. But it can still sound hollow.

But remember once again that we cannot avoid God. All paths lead to him. If you are tempted to skip over his words on perseverance, remember that he is life. His words give life. Whatever he says is surprising in its beauty and elegance, and is of invaluable worth. In other words, there is more to perseverance than you think.

As with so many commands of Scripture, “persevere” is more than something God says; it is something he does. It is one of the many aspects of his character. The reason it is of great worth is that it is one of the chief ways God has revealed himself to us. Scripture consistently points to God’s perseverance and forbearance with his people.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient
with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9)

For I
endure
scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. (Ps. 69:7)

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s
perseverance.
(2 Thess. 3:5)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him
endured
the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2)

Perseverance is only relevant in difficulties, and we are, in fact, very difficult people for God to deal with. Our Creator God has created us for himself, and we respond too often with indifference or a quest for adolescent independence. Put even more personally, we are his beloved, but, in the face of God’s unexplainable and lavish love, we pursue other lovers who ultimately abandon us. In this context, God reveals his perseverance with us.

“How can I give you up? How can I hand you over? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger. For I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. When the Lord roars like a lion, his children will return.” (Hosea 11:8–10, author’s paraphrase)

The apostle Paul highlighted this patience and perseverance. As one who persecuted the followers of Jesus, even overseeing their deaths, Paul was the last person in the world you would expect God to use as his most influential missionary.

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited
patience
as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:16)

All teaching on perseverance, patience, and endurance finds its source in the character of God. Just as we love because he is love and he loved us before we knew him, so we persevere because he is perseverance and he has persevered with us throughout history.

If you farm or do gardening, you know something about perseverance. When you plant seeds, the ground will not yield corn quickly. When you plant fruit trees and grapevines, it could be a few years before you actually eat their fruit.

When you decide to take up the violin, the instrument produces squeaks and scratchings long before it reluctantly yields Beethoven etudes. If you have skill in anything at all, it has come through persevering.

Children are notoriously poor at waiting and persevering.

“When will we get to Grandmom’s house?”

“Soon,” is the typical though unsatisfying reply.

“Mommy, when you are going to play with me?”

“Not yet. Not until I finish this report.” Fifteen seconds later the child asks the same question, this time with a tone of voice that can drive you mad.

But the child is in us all. We, too, look forward to the day when we have learned perseverance before the Lord. It is the older wise man or woman who can take the many hassles of life in stride, without grumbling and complaining, with contentment rather than resignation.

God has chosen to inject his character of perseverance and patient waiting into everyday, earthly life. We are patiently waiting
for the Lord’s coming. Creation itself is patiently waiting for the time when it will be liberated from bondage (Rom. 8:22).