Depression: Overcoming Darkness With Light

Depression can quickly seep into your life and flood your mind with darkness. Though it may feel like at times that darkness has pulled us in too deep, there is always hope in Jesus Christ. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

According to the World Health Organization 350 million people, worldwide, suffer from depression. That is 5% of the entire population!

More than ever depression has taken control of the lives of so many. But there is hope and that hope is only found in Jesus Christ.

I myself struggled with depression for years. There came so many dark points in my life where I felt like I had no hope. So many times I laid awake at night asking myself whether or not this life was worth living.

After surrendering my life to Jesus Christ, and being transformed by the sanctifying work of the spirit, I’m here to tell you it is!

Even if we converse with people on a secular level, everyone will agree about the darkness of depression. Due to its dark nature, it seems that the solution would be quite obvious… light.

Jesus said in John chapter 8:46, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” The very reason the son of man came was to deliver us from sin and set us free from the darkness!

The moment I surrendered my life to Jesus, I was set free from the bondage of depression. I know this isn’t the same story for everyone. Sometimes God allows things to remain in our lives for our benefit to make us strong, firm and steadfast. But through prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, in due time you will see deliverance.

In order for the light to breakthrough and dissipate the darkness in our lives we have to first bring the light in.

Depression: Overcoming Darkness With Light

Let The Light In

In John chapter 8 Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The true light that is already shining is the only thing that can overcome the darkness of depression. All we need to do to have this Light is follow Jesus.

In Romans 10 it says If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  The first part of this scripture is easy for most of us. It’s when we get to the word “believe”  that most of us fall short.

Now I am in no way saying that if you are a Christian who is struggling with depression that you aren’t saved and its because you don’t believe. I do not know your heart, and there is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.

I just point this out to stimulate you toward thinking about your salvation. What does believing in Jesus mean to you? How has this belief changed the way you live your life? How has it changed the way other people perceive you?

The word used for “saved” in Romans 10 is the Greek word sozo. This word means to save, to rescue from danger, or to make well or heal. Life in Christ means so much more than just a golden ticket into heaven, it brings restoration and healing to all areas of our life. This includes the healing of depression.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full ”. The very reason He came was to pull us out of a life suppressed by the darkness and into his wonderful light.

Grow Up In Your Salvation

2 Peter chapter 2 says, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Maybe you have truly accepted Jesus into your life, repented and you believe with all your heart. Now that you have tasted and seen the Lord’s goodness it’s time to grow up in your salvation.

Depression can become extremely severe and equally as dark. Just remember it is never too dark for the light of Jesus. We need to not only be willing to taste the Lord’s goodness to overcome that darkness, we need to be willing to grow in it.

Every new being we see in the world begins young and immature. If you have accepted Jesus into your life you have truly been born again.

In 2 Peter 2, we see how we can grow up in our salvation. He says like newborn babies to crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it we may grow up in our salvation. Well, what is this “pure spiritual milk?”

If we look at the exact translation of the Greek in 2 Peter 2:2 it translates as “like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the word.” We need to be feeding on the word of God which not only means the Bible but Jesus himself.

In John chapter one Jesus is referred to as “The Word” and in chapter 6 Jesus said, “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”

We spend our whole lives feeding on the things of the world. The very things that have lead to the darkness that brewed into the depression you now face. When we are born again in Jesus Christ we need to learn to feed ourselves a new kind of food. The food of truth. Some of it may be hard to swallow at first but as we grow in Christ so does our understanding and wisdom.

Add To Your Faith

As we grow up in our salvation not only do we become more mature and wise but our faith strengthens as well. Although faith is a staple of our relationship with Jesus we need to remain in Him so that we can bear even more fruit.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9

Now that we have been born again into an abundant life and have escaped the corruption and darkness of the world we need to constantly be producing good fruit. We can only produce this fruit while remaining in the true vine, Jesus Christ.

The scripture above says if we possess this fruit in an increasing measure it will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it also says whoever does not have this fruit is nearsighted and blind forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sin.

In John, he mentions that the prophet Isaiah said, “He blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn and I would heal them.” Even after accepting salvation in Jesus Christ we can become as blind as we were before if we don’t remain in Him.

Fortunately for us just because we sometimes forget about our salvation and temporarily blind ourselves, we cannot lose our salvation. But I mention this because of some of us, through getting entangled once more in the world, forget that we have been sozo! Saved, Rescued, healed! This is when we allow darkness to seep back into our lives.

We have to be conscious of this and alert because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

This brings me to my last point, as we see in the rest of the scripture from 1 Peter that I alluded to in the previous sentence, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Remember you are not alone. As I said at the beginning of this article 350 million people around the world suffer from depression. This includes other brothers and sisters in Christ. But also remember that this darkness can and will be overcome by the true light of Jesus Christ.

All you need to do is be willing to let the light into your life, grow up in the salvation you received, and add to your salvation by remaining in the Jesus Christ. When we focus on doing these things, the light within us will grow to the point where darkness no longer has any place.