God directs his love toward you through his people. A Christian woman battling depression cried out to God, “Where are you? Why don’t you show me your love?” A few days later, her friends showed up unexpectedly at her house with dinner. It wasn’t until they left that the woman realized God had answered her prayer. The impromptu get-together didn’t heal her depression, but she realized in that moment that God was present and actively loving her through her friends.

God directs his love into your ears, your mind, your heart, and your soul through his Word. You might be on your face in tears, you might feel numb inside, you might feel unworthy, and you might think that God is light-years away. But how we feel doesn’t determine what’s true. And what’s true according to this verse is that God doesn’t wait on our feelings for permission to love us . . . he just does. And when you read or hear the promises of his love in Scripture, you’re sitting under the active flow of his never-ending love for you.

God directs his love toward you through Jesus. Isaiah 61:1 says that Jesus came to “bind up the brokenhearted.” From heaven Jesus saw all the stress, pressure, darkness, and depression. He saw you in your relentless struggle. But Jesus didn’t simply look on. He left a world of perfect, radiant light in God’s presence to get close enough to see and experience our pain for himself. Jesus wept too. He also felt overwhelmed. At times, he begged his friends and his Father in heaven for help. Why? So he could be close enough to bind up our broken hearts. We don’t worship a distant Jesus who stays far away in heaven. We love and follow a God who gets it because he’s lived it, and even now he walks with us through it.

ABOUT:

Mike Novotny

@pastormikenovotny

Sometimes we think that Christians aren’t supposed to get depressed. Or that if we do, all that’s needed for healing is to sing the right worship song, pray the right prayer, or lay hold of the right biblical promise.

But did you know that right in the middle of your Bible is an ancient song about three thousand years old that was written by a guy struggling with serious depression?

Psalm 42 is about a man who genuinely loved God and yet battled relentless depression. It's raw, gritty, sometimes dark, and not easily resolved. That’s the real feel of depression. And if you know that numb, gnawing feeling, then this song in the middle of God’s Word is for you. It won’t make your depression vanish. The psalmist himself remains depressed at the end of his song. But it does tell you what God’s up to on your behalf when you’re facing those dark days and long nights.

Psalm 42:8 says, “By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me.” 

Like a king issuing an order, God has commanded that all his love, compassion, mercy, and comfort meet you right where you are for however long you’re there. It’s God’s “to-do” list for loving you and carrying you through your depression.

Here are three practical ways that happens:

And that’s it—God's to-do list for depression. You’ll notice it isn't primarily something you do. It's something that Jesus does—to be with you. May that simple promise anchor your heart and mind today, whether you feel its beauty right now or not. Because the truth is that right now, God is actively directing his love toward you in waves.

1

2

3