Depression is a serious matter that so many people struggle with, but it is an affliction that some Christians see as a weakness of faith and unbecoming for a person who claims Christ as Savior. But throughout Church history, there have been those who have struggled with an internal darkness that comes upon them. Whether we call it melancholy, depression, or some other name, the Word of God gives hope even in the midst of the dark nights of affliction. Tim Challies wrote about the struggle that hymn writer William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) faced his whole life, even after coming to Christ.
Escape from Doubting Castle: Counsel for Christians in Despair
Body
“When Bunyan personified despair in The Pilgrim’s Progress, he depicted it as a giant who battered his prisoners mercilessly. After the first round of beatings, Giant Despair visits his captives… and finds them ‘still alive, though barely alive at that. They could do little but breathe.’” - Desiring God
A Biblical-Theological Examination of Melancholy
Body
“Melancholia—on a spectrum from simple sadness to profound discouragement, then crossing a moral line into despair—marks nearly every life at some point.” - Challies
A Search for Significance
Body
“Each verse in Peggy Lee’s 1969 song describes a life event, such as going to the circus or falling in love….Each verse leads to the same chorus: Is that all there is?” - TGC
Our Mysterious Epidemic of Despair Has a History
Body
“We feel empty, inadequate, and adrift because we have been thrown back on ourselves, forced to face the challenge—at younger and younger ages—of trying to establish an identity, make commitments, live with conviction, desire life, and find meaning without the very sources that make these things possible in the first place.” - IFS
How to Get Up When You’d Rather Not – A Review of ‘On Getting Out of Bed’ by Alan Noble
Body
“Whether we’re debilitated by such extreme anxiety that we can barely function or we’re simply tired, each day brings with it a choice. Each and every day, we have to choose to live. For those with mental affliction, making that choice can be grueling.” - TGC
How to Fight the Monotony of Work with Hope
Body
“…the Christian should be a source of hope for those we work with. Our hopefulness is a gift from God that we are born into as a result of our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Pet. 1:3–5) But its scope goes well beyond our personal salvation to the renewal of all of creation.” - IFWE
Working Out of Despair
The nation of Sudan was ravaged by civil war from 1983-2005. For years, the Islamic government of the north instigated a reign of terror against the largely Christian and African traditionalist populations in southern Sudan. Over two million Sudanese died in the conflict (which is far from resolved). Millions more were displaced from their homes.
Among the refugees were over 20,000 orphaned boys, mostly of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups. Refugee aid workers began calling them, “The Lost Boys of Sudan.” One of these boys, John Bul Dau, was just twelve years old when mortar shells rained down upon his peaceful Dinka farming village. John fled for his life into the night. In one terrifying moment, everything John had known was stripped away. He walked over 1,000 miles across God-forsaken terrain in search of hope. Thousands of boys on the same journey died of starvation.
Through a series of events, John eventually found refuge in the United States. As an adult, he chronicled his ordeal in an acclaimed documentary film produced in 2006 and a book published in 2007. Both works bear the arresting title: “God Grew Tired of Us.”
