Truly, my soul finds rest in God. My salvation comes from Him. Truly, He is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken….One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to You, God, and with You, Lord, is unfailing love”; and “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Psalm 62:1-2, 11-12)
Roxane’s Restlessness
Roxane Roelse is a certified ultrasound technician and volunteer for a pregnancy resource center. We can learn from her story of overcoming deep discouragement. Roxane’s struggles with anxiety and depression hit hardest when her son was a baby. As a new mom, she wanted to be happy, but sadness overwhelmed her. Severe nervousness made concentrating difficult and caused severe chest pains.
Negative Thinking and Intrusive Thoughts
Unwanted ideas and images flooded Roxane’s mind constantly, and she felt like she could not be trusted with a child. She started going to church regularly and learned more about Jesus and His great love for her. God provided supportive people, and as Roxane shared her concerns, she learned that many other moms were struggling too. She came to understand that continual toxic thoughts had made her unhealthy. Hormonal and physical problems compounded this.1
God’s Word: Our Sword and Shield
Scriptures like these became important to Roxane’s recovery:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ….Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 10:5; Ps 55:22)
Roxane learned not to accept every thought that popped into her head, but to replace Satan’s lies with Scripture truth. She learned to follow God the Holy Spirit as her Comforter and Counselor. The Lord helped her accept difficult things she couldn’t control and receive God’s forgiveness for her mistakes.
The Spirit worked with His word, helping Roxane experience God’s nearness, and feel a calm she didn’t know was possible. The Lord is the ultimate Healer, AND He also uses doctors, counselors, teachers, church leaders, and friends to care for and support us. We shouldn’t go through hardships alone, and Jesus often sends other people to come alongside us. Let’s not reject all the ways God demonstrates His fatherly care.
Let’s not be passive, beloved, but active in pursuing God by listening and obeying Him, and asking others for help.
Jesus Is the Answer
Roxane gives all the credit to Christ, her Savior and Healer. She is learning to walk by faith in Jesus day by day:
- Trusting His promises when she feels discouraged
- Trusting His goodness when life is painful
- Trusting His wisdom when His ways are puzzling
- Trusting His sovereignty when everything seems out of control.
Roxanne rejoices that she is God’s dearly loved adopted daughter, and nothing in the whole universe can stop the Heavenly Father from loving us.2 The Lord is teaching her to think and live wisely in this fallen world. Roxanne also uses her story to help others. Because mental illness and depression are so prevalent in and outside churches, Roxanne wants people to find the rest and healing she has found in Jesus Christ.
This is her favorite Scripture:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
The Lord’s relief sometimes comes in stages, and emotional exhaustion is complicated. It can range from mild discouragement to deep and debilitating despair. Some Christians wrestle with depression all their lives. Physical, psychological, circumstantial, relational, and spiritual factors can contribute. I’m not a medical doctor or therapist, so I want to speak with Christ-like compassion and wisdom, and avoid trite explanations.
Spurgeon’s Struggles
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) was a famous English Baptist preacher. During his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to about 10 million people, often preaching 10 times a week at different places. His sermons and books have been translated into many languages, and one author estimated that if you tore out the pages of his books and laid them end to end, they would reach nearly from the earth to the moon.3
Yet, Spurgeon also experienced recurring periods of deep depression. He suffered from various medical problems and chronic pain. The heavy demands of preaching, writing, and overseeing many ministries exhausted him. He was traumatized by a disaster in which seven people died in a panic during a church service, and he almost quit the ministry. Jealous Christians criticized him, and newspapers mocked him. Spurgeon believed God’s promises in Jesus, yet sometimes he felt miserable.
Spurgeon believed that bad things happen so that we don’t rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. Spurgeon was eager to point others to the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.4 The Lord showed him kindness in his troubles, and Spurgeon, like Roxanne, was eager to encourage others.
Mark’s Gospel
John Gresham Machen (1881–1937) was an American New Testament scholar. When he felt down and discouraged, he read the Gospel of Mark straight through, and his soul was revived. He found Jesus “overpowering.” Christ forgives sin, rescues underdogs, overcomes evil, shows compassion, suffers, dies, and rises from the grave to save us! Mark’s Gospel is short, down-to-earth, and fast-moving. It turns our attention away from our troubles back to Christ’s greatness and faithfulness.5
Robert Murray M’Cheyne said: Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief! Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in His beams. Feel His all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and rest in His almighty arms.6
When logic and overthinking fail to lift our heavy hearts, the best remedy is Jesus Himself, encountered afresh as the Holy Spirit speaks in the Scriptures. When Satan tempts us to give up, God says, “Look up to Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”7
Jesus Restores a “Failure”
The Apostle Peter followed Christ for three years, sometimes steady, sometimes not. At the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples they would all fall away, but Peter bragged that he would never do that. Christ predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before morning.
That same night, after Jesus was arrested, people confronted Peter about his connection to Christ. Three times, Peter denied his allegiance to Jesus, and according to Luke’s account, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Peter remembered Christ’s warning and wept bitterly as they led the Lord away to mistreat and mock Him. Peter failed Jesus, disappointed himself, and lost face before his friends.
Peter feared that the Savior would reject him, but that’s not the kind of God He is. After Jesus’ resurrection, angels told the women, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. Go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see the Lord, just as He told you.’”7 Notice that God sends messengers to tell Peter that Christ will never reject him. John 21:15-23 records how Jesus lovingly restores Peter.
The Lord wasn’t done with Peter yet. Christ went on to use Peter to preach that great Pentecost sermon in Acts chapter 2, spread Jesus’ good news for another 30 years, and write 2 letters we have in the New Testament! And the Lord is not done with us either, beloved! We are saved by faith in Christ, who always treats us much better than we deserve. Salvation is God’s irrevocable gift to us, not given because of anything we do.
Christ says: All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away, never refuse or reject, never throw out. I will always accept them. (John 6:37)
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we carry heavy hurts and ask You for relief. We cast all our anxiety, burdens, cares, and disappointments on You because You care for us. Help us to not focus on our feelings, but on Your unchanging and unconditional affection for us. Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the skies. Reach down from Heaven and rescue us, support us, and lead us to safety because You delight in us. Hear us for Jesus’ sake. Amen.8
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 “Trusting God: A Testimony of God’s Work Through the Depths of Depression and Anxiety, March 21, 2024, wmu.com.” 2 Rom 8:31-39. 3 See A Marvelous Ministry: The Story of C. H. Spurgeon’s Sermons, 1855–1905 by Charles Ray, reprinted 2024. 4 2 Cor 1:3-11. 5 Class notes from a lecture by John H. Skilton (1906-1998). 6 Andrew Bonar, Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne, (1966, p. 293). 6 Heb 12:1-3. 7 Mark 16:1-8. 8 Prayer based on Ps 18:16-20, 36:15, 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7.