Jesus says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned
out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll
show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do
it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or
ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and
lightly.”
— Matthew 11:28-30 (Msg)
I gave compelling reasons that God understands depression in the
article, What Does God Say about Depression?
All throughout the Bible there are stories of biblical
characters, like Moses, King David and Job, and even Elijah and Joshua, who
were challenged significantly by bouts of anxiety and depression. In our modern
day, a character like Charles Haddon Spurgeon—the great English preacher of the
19th Century—suffered depression in such ways that he believed there were
dungeons beneath castles of despair. Even people who made people laugh, like
the 19th Century clown Grimaldi, have suffered, and do suffer, depression.
God validates our depression in the midst of our troubling
situations and even as we wrangle with the challenges of simply existing. Not
only that, but God provides rest for each of us in Jesus’ name—if we will drink copiously of
these unforced rhythms of grace.
So, we are best to reject out of hand that Christians ‘should
not be depressed’.
Christians may be just as troubled by depression as anybody. And
especially through situations of grief or of questioning one’s purpose of life,
it is normal to feel so desperately sad that sadness does not explain our
condition—the condition is a whole lot more complex than that.
Resting
In the Unforced Rhythms of Grace
Jesus and typical concepts (the world’s understanding) of
religion are poles apart.
What couldn’t be more opposite is actually the case. The
religion the world understands is binding. Jesus is freeing to such a point that the only thing binding is to simply
understand that all our choices have consequences—life is about choice. And
with the situations we’re faced with, those that seem to have no choice, we can
know, Jesus is our rest.
When we have no other rest—and even when we do—Jesus is our
rest.
The unforced rhythms of grace are the greatest secret within the
commonest tradition humanity knows: religion. We can only tap into these unforced
rhythms of grace when we truly give ourselves to God. We may wish to read and re-read Matthew
11:28-30.
That’s the thing we need to know about depression. Not only does
God understand, but God has shown us a divine way of coping: to immerse
ourselves in Jesus.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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