Don't Quit!

Ecclesiastes 4:10: But woe to the one who fails when there is not another to lift him up. For if they fail, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Proverbs 14:13: Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

Psalm 73:26: My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 27:13: I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

I have been alarmed by the number of people who have given up on life within the last couple of years. Within the last two years, several ministers made the national news with their suicides. The number of murder-suicides has been up dramatically. Finally, within the past month, actor and comedian Robin Williams took his own life. As a pastor and member of the clergy, I am genuinely concerned about this development.

When these events happen, our national community has debated what is happening and offered so many solutions. Many of the solutions are rooted in dealing with depression and suicide prevention. Some solutions point to intervention and becoming aware of the behavioral and psychological signs that signal that people are in trouble. What I offer is that depression is always a spiritual condition. And a spiritual condition requires a spiritual solution.

I speak from experience, as a person who was depressed all of my youth. I had a difficult family life and experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse as a child. My situation seemed inescapable. It seemed as if I would never be free. So, I entered a long period of despair and hopelessness. I contemplated suicide many, many times but could not bring myself to carry it out. For me, the light only came after I was saved, after I surrendered my life to the LORD. He was truly my salvation! This was the first time in my life that I knew true peace!

All of the while that I endured the pain and agony of depression, I was in church. I had been raised most of my life in church. I was active in the church. It seemed as if I was a good Christian. I served God but I did not have a relationship with Him. I did not know Him. Nor did I know the peace and joy that came with knowing Him. I began to study the Word of God to see what the promises of God were concerning me. I began to devour His Word and to use that Word as my sword and my shield (Eph. 6:16-18) against depression.

Experiencing the peace of God is transformative but maintaining that peace takes work. The initial glow from my salvation experience gave way to many days of self-doubt, loneliness, grief and even terror. But every time I was weak, I knew that the LORD would bring me through. I came to understand that although the enemy sought to destroy me, God had intervened all of those years. If He preserved me in those years when I was not walking with Him, He would preserve me now because I was His! I believed that nothing could separate me from His love (Romans 8:35) and that all things worked for my good (Romans 8:28) and I held even tighter to Him.

In the darkest days of my life, I never doubted that God was there. It was the Word of God that gave me strength and that I stood on when I couldn’t see my way clear. I believed that if I made my bed in hell, He was there (Psalm 139:8) because the Word said it! I believed that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5) and that if I just held on and didn’t quit, I would be delivered. I knew that God was a healer of hearts because He healed mine. I knew that eventually, I would emerge triumphant. But I also knew it was a process and in that process, I would be made and remade if I didn’t quit. So I say to you, don’t quit!

Allow God to walk with you through your process. Believe that you are an overcomer, and that He who is in you is greater (I John 4:4). Press in to Him through prayer and worship and let Him speak to your heart about your situation. Allow God to minister healing to you through the Holy Spirit. He is a healer and a deliverer! Hold on and bear witness to your own deliverance! Just don’t quit!