Depression

Depression

This is in response to two good friends who told me I should pray to God for my depression to pass and rather be encompassed by the joy of The Lord.

I don't see depression and joy as mutually exclusive. I know they sound contradictory, but I believe they fit in easily into the dichotomy of this world vs the next. I have my assurance in heaven and in The Lord so I have my Joy in Him, but seeing the truth of this world and the corruption of our nature only makes sense to lead to depression. It, just like any physical ailment, is a disease that comes from the fallen state of this world, and just like God can heal the lame doesn't mean He does every time. I look at 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Paul boasts of his weaknesses because God's power shines all the more through it. Similarly if people can see the joy of The Lord through my depression, does that not reveal the power of Christ all the more? I don't believe God would allow this depression if I could not handle it. This depression is something I can and am willing to handle. If through my depression I can better reach out to another who is lost and broken and in need of salvation, then through my depression God has changed eternity! How can I be so selfish as to wish for that to change?