The Mess of Depression
Notes
Transcript
Even his name is depressing.
Even his name is depressing.
At different times throughout scripture people have adjectives added to their names.
Last week we learned about Doubting Thomas, there’s Judas the betrayer, James and John the sons of Thunder. David a man after God’s on heart, John the disciple whom Jesus loved, Moses the friend of God. These adjectives tell us about the person that we are looking at. Today as we dig into the Mess of Depression, we are going to look at things from a bit of a different perspective. Again lets review what we are using as our bedrock understanding as we go through these things that no one really wants to admit or or lean into. That many see as weakness.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
We are going to dig into Pauls issue in a couple of weeks but this week and next week we are going to look at two things that we tend to use as disqualifiers when it comes to serving God and being used by Him. Today we are going to look at the mixture of what are actually mental health issues that many times go hand in hand, next week we are going to look at the mess of anger and then we are going to finish out with the mess of physical limitations. Anxiety and Depression and how God can work in spite of them.
(Talk about my ordination service, Rob Berk asking my favorite book of the bible to preach from it and being surprised.
Today the guy we are talking about is of course Jeremiah, otherwise known as the weeping prophet. He wasn’t really all that popular with well anyone. He wrote two books…the one bearing his name and the one right after called Lamentations.
Can we just not
Can we just not
The word of the Lord came to me:
I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
But I protested, “Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.”
Being tapped by God is not always something that we want to accept. People being tasked by God to do things that are hard, or that can and will put you into direct opposition to people older, or wiser, or more experienced or or or is not easy so we want out of it and in wanting out we make excuses. Jeremiah has no way at this point of knowing just how much he’s in for, he doesn’t know how much he’s going to go through, that he will have a life full of anxiety and depression and yet God will still use him. He just knows that he doesn’t want whats coming.
Moving forward in his calling we can see how hard things were going to be, how depressing and how much anxiety plagued this young man who was called. Imagine spending 42 years of your life basically being the one that tells people what they don’t want to hear. That was Jeremiah’s life.
He is a prophet that is telling Isreal and Judah that judgment is coming, it’s not going to be a good thing…Here’s a sample.
Then the Lord said to me, “Disaster will be poured out from the north on all who live in the land. Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They will come, and each king will set up his throne
at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.
This is pretty much the bulk of what Jeremiah had to tell people. Judgment is coming, you’re doing the wrong thing over and over. Your sin has been so great that God is going to Call in the debt. over and over in different ways, sometimes with visual aids, sometimes with sarcasm, always with a plea to repent even though that plea was going to go unheeded
But that doesn’t make sense.
But that doesn’t make sense.
There are things we expect of religoius leaders and figures. One of them is that they talk to God , that they pray to him as well…Imagine then to be told you are going to be a prophet that’s going to tell your people that their lives are going to suck dirt big time, oh and by the way you can’t do the obvious. Don’t pray for them.
Yet that’s exactly what Jeremiah had to do.
“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me, for I will not listen to you.
Talk about how the one thing that cold bring comfort to yourself and to the people is forbidden, the anxiety of it the depression that could ensue not being able to get it out.
A ray of hope
A ray of hope
For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
We take this verse on as a blessing for us. The thing is…it’s not a blessing for us…this verse is not about us at all
Here’s the thing, all the stuff Jeremiah said was going to happen, happened. God judged the children of Israel, they were exiled to babylon, there were prophets that would tell them what they wanted to hear, that they would be redeemed that they would be restored, that this was only a temporary thing. Jeremiah in fact told one of those prophets yes you guessed it more bad news. He was going to die within the year and well you guessed it, that’s what happened.
This verse is said after a bit of depressing news is delivered. Jeremiah tells the peple that have been exhiled that they arne’t coming home soon.
This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”
Expound bring it back to the plans I have for you.
When we look at verse 11 in the context of the other verses in the chapter we realize this is part of a prophesy directed at the Jews in Exile. They will be there a long time, long enough to build houses, have kids and for their kids to get married and have kids.
It’s going to be a 70 year process…long enough for the generation that was causing all the issues to die out, but in that depressing thought there is still hope. Jeremiah is finally allowed to prophesy something good even if it’s going to take a long time to get there.
The Pit of Despair
The Pit of Despair
So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Leaders of the army wanted Jeremiah dead…the put him in a muddy cistern for him to die. He was pulled out and had to deliver yet another bad prophesy.
King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”
Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”
Sounds depressed because it is. Jeremiah has spent his life telling people all the bad things. Now he’s telling the king that it’s all about to go down and that it’s only going to get worse for Jeremiah you’ll kill me is what he says. Jeremiah watches all the things he says will happen happen.
Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened.
Expound a bit on how hard it must have been, no wonder Jeremiah was the weeping prophet.
This Week’s Challenge
This Week’s Challenge
If you’re feeling the weight of sadness, anxiety or depression in your life, don’t let it become a reason to turn from God, let it lead you to him and realize he can and will use you in spite of it. If you know someone that is dealing with these issues, spend time with them this week, take them for coffee, give them an ear, and pray with them.