2 Cor 1:3-11

Why?

Why is the number one question that the person who is navigating the fog of depression has. In many cases, “why?” is the number one question that loved ones have about depression as well. Many of us know that it is futile to ask the person “why are you depressed” but there is the underlying question, and sometimes the worry that it may be your fault.

When we explore the “why” question, we need to be careful to separate causes from reasons. Causes are the earthly things that happen here that lead us to a certain point. Reasons, however, are the “big picture,” sometimes underlying factors that truly strike at the heart of “why.”

There are a number of potential causes for depression, and in most cases any individual may have one or more of these causes. It can be helpful to identify a cause, because If you can identify a cause, you may be able to identify the right weapons to choose to fight it. The Scripture gives at least four possible causes of depression:

The sins and failures of others - the Psalms, over and over again, cry out against the reality that others have failed us. As they do so, they provide us with a possible origin story of our depression. There are so many reasons for this. Broken vows, broken commitments, broken hearts. Wounding at the hand of a faithful friend, or abuse by a family member. Intense conflict that you were forced to react to, or oppression and wronging at the hands of others that scream to us that this world isn’t the way it is supposed to be all can plunge us into the depths of despair.

Personal health and sickness - the school of physical pain can be a harsh teacher. As our bodies fail, and we can no longer hide some of our limitations, we feel the discouragement of this.

Along with this can also be hormonal changes and other physical contributors. I think it is reasonable, particularly in issues where hormones have run amok, to see these hormones as a major contributing factor. Post-partem depression, or even depression while pregnant, can often play a major factor in, if not be the primary cause of, depression in folks. In men, there is often a connection between testosterone fluctuation and depression. SAD can heavily influence our ability to function.

The enemy: we have, according to the Bible, three main enemies: the world, which we have covered so far, the flesh, which we have touched on, and the Devil. There is no doubt that the enemy comes to seek, kill and destroy. We see Satan at work in the book of Job, afflicting Job physically, we know that he is the father of lies, and we can see ways that he would tempt us to believe that God doesn’t have our best interest in mind. But it seems that most often, the enemy likes to contribute to our depression even more than he would create it. Any type of suffering, even the type between our ears, can become a reason for doubting the goodness of God. And when we begin to doubt that God is real, or that God is good, or that God cares, or that God hears us, the enemy isn’t far away.

Us: it is an unpopular idea to think that we ourselves can contribute to our own depression, but there are plenty of reasons for me to say this. For instance, in each of the above instances, others, our own physical pain, and the enemy, we are still responding beings, and we respond to the situations we are in. Sometimes, there may seem to be absolutely no reason for depression; it may just drop in like an uninvited guest. But at least sometimes, when you look deeper, you can see some areas where you may not have created depression, but you certainly have not helped it. Inside depression can often live the big three roots: fear, anger, and selfish desire. If we are going to look honestly at the roots of depression, we need to take a good, long look at some of the ways that we ourselves contribute to our problem. Ownership is a key in health, whether that be mental health or physical health. I read a great quote by Chuck Swindoll last week that said “life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.” I dislike this, because it forces me to look hard at myself and stop thinking of myself as a victim of circumstance, and admit that though I may not have “caused” my own depression, but I can often contribute to it.

Those are four causes that we can point to and see as potential causes for depression. But these don’t truly answer the question we started with: why? I think there is really only one answer to this, and that is what I want us to explore today in 2 Corinthians. Let’s read the passage together one more time.

2 Corinthians 1:3–11 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Tucked into this passage lies the ultimate reason for our suffering: God’s providence as we are conformed to the image of Christ. In other words, our battle with depression happens in accordance to the providence of God, not contrary to it. Depression is nothing less than a form of internal suffering, and when we begin to see it as such, we see page after page in God’s Word that speak to what we truly need when suffering with depression: the comfort of God. “Comfort” occurs 10 times in these eight verses. Paul wants the people to experience God’s comfort. The ultimate reason for depression in the Christian life is the ultimate reason for all suffering in the Christian life - so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ by receiving the comfort of Christ. If we can understand this reason for our suffering, then we can begin to understand what our truest need is: the comfort of God. And that is where this passage shines light into our souls, because it gives us four steps to take towards the comfort of God. Sometimes, when we who suffer from melancholy are at our darkest points, putting one foot in front of the other seems exhausting. But The Bible calls us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, and I can guarantee you one thing: your depression will not improve by just standing still and doing nothing. So, let’s look at this one step at a time, seeing what Paul would teach us.

1. Step #1 - Actively trust the Father of Mercies.

Look first with me at verse 3. From the outset, Paul wants to remind the troubled Corinthians, and his own troubled spirit, about who God is. He starts with a simple description of God. He is the Father of mercies.

God is the Father of Mercies - now, we can start with just the idea that Paul, and you and I, can call God Father. He is our Father. God is the Father, the originator, of all good things. And one of the greatest things is mercy.

God as the Father of mercies is such an incredible concept. Grace and mercy are two sides of the same coin of God’s goodness. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve. Mercy - God not giving us what we do deserve. We deserve far worse than whatever we are experiencing, and God refrains from giving that to us. Why? Mercy. God does not leave us in the dark to fumble around aimlessly. Why? Mercy. None of us are particularly deserving of mercy; that’s the beauty of mercy.

Choose which voice to listen to

One of the causes that we gave for our depression is the enemy, who is called the father of lies. We must then make a choice: will we listen to the father of lies, or will we listen to the Father of Mercy? Both have spoken, and are speaking. We must practically be at work intentionally working to quieten our own souls in order to properly hear the tender voice of the Father of mercy. Listening to hear the Father of mercy is so essential for a number of reasons:

The Father of mercies never speaks to you in ways that would result in your own self-condemnation. Even when God reveals to us sin and guilt, it isn’t to condemn us; it’s to help us taste true freedom from sin! The father of lies moves us to self-condemnation, because self-condemnation results in shame, and shame is one of Satan’s greatest tricks to keep us from running to Christ.

The Father of mercies helps us to think in ordered ways; the father of lies brings chaos to our minds.

The Father of mercies reminds us of things that are true about God that we have learned in His Word; the father of lies encourages us to make up our own truths, or to reject God’s truth.

The Father of mercies points us towards hope; the Father of lies tells us there is no hope.

The Father of mercies shows us Himself as the one who can help us; the father of lies points us to anything other than God as the solution to our problem.

When we begin to identify the voice of the Father of mercies, we can start to hear what we truly need to make that first step, because He is also God of all comfort.

The God of all comfort - who comforts us in all our affliction. Any true, real, and lasting comfort must come from God. It must be consistent with and true to His Word. It flows from the Father of mercies. It may flow through others, but it’s ultimate source is always the Father.

But “Comfort” does not mean comfortable. Comfort here is not an easy path, or a smooth life. It isn’t some sort of divine tranquilizer that can numb the pain of suffering in a fallen world. Rather, it works more like a thickening agent. It fortifies us, it galvanizes us in heart, mind, and soul. It is a resolve based on the promises of God. That is the comfort I need. I don’t need some sort of emotional palliative care; I need spiritual surgery. And that is what God promises. “Comfort” here is more like strengthening. When we call the Holy Spirit the Comforter, that’s what we mean - He strengthens us for the task at hand.

The testimony of the Scriptures is that, at some point in our lives, each follower of Jesus will have some affliction, somewhere, that causes us to either accept the reality that the true comfort that we are looking for comes from Christ alone, or to continue to run and seek that comfort somewhere else. For some, it’s the painful road of addiction. For others, it is food, or isolation, or any number of other things to numb the internal sorrow. But none of these things can give what we need: the comfort of God. When we submit to this reality. He gives it. It may be in His own time, and it isn’t always an immediate thing, and there is certainly no quick fix, but He gives it.

In all of these, God comforts us in all our affliction. God’s comfort is a precious jewel for us, but we must be willing to mine for it. It requires digging, searching, never stopping until we have found it. Even when we find it, that doesn’t always mean that we will immediately “feel” better; God wants something even better for us than to simply give us good feelings. He wants us to truly, deeply trust Him. Remember we said last week that there is a difference between faith and optimism. Optimism simply says “things will get better.” Faith says, like Job “though He may slay me (in other words, things might get worse), yet I will praise Him.” That’s the goal: greater faith in God, who is the source of all comfort and mercy. It’s the comfort of knowing that God knows best. Because that is the comfort that Paul is talking about. .

So this is the first step: active trust that God is good, and His ways are good, and that He is speaking. When we start here, comfort can be found. So, if we took one step, why not two? What is the second step?

2. Step #2 - Get around people who can give comfort away to you, and then look to give that comfort away to others (4b -6) - The irony of depression lives the reality of two things that can be true at the same time. First, you find that most of the time you want to be alone. Second, you find that you wish other people were around.

When we are in the dregs of sorrow, one of the lies we are most prone to believe is “no one can understand how I’m feeling, therefore no one can help.” at every level, divide and conquer is the enemy’s strategy. If Satan can lead you to believe that you are alone, half the battle is won! Many times, we are prone to shun others that can help us, simply because we don’t think that they have enough experience to help us.

Now, this may be true, if the person is trying to offer comfort and help to us based on their experience. But what if they are offering help to us based on God’s Word? What if they are working to point us to the comfort of Christ? The reality is that a person does not have to experience depression in the same way I experience it in order to point me to truth, because the primary source of truth is not experience, it’s God’s Word!

Because as Christians, we are certain to share in the experience of suffering - Warren Wiersbe, commenting on this passage says “We must never think that trouble is an accident. For the believer, everything is a divine appointment.” Remember, He was the Man of Sorrows. And what does Jesus say? “In this world you will have trouble.” That is the same exact word translated “affliction” here in this passage. We WILL have affliction. Some of us will experience affliction externally, some face persecution and famine and nakedness. But some of us will face affliction internally, fighting a daily, seemingly endless struggle in between our own ears. But we will face affliction, of this we can be certain. But any who experience any affliction can also experience the comfort of Christ. But you have to be willing to take a walk of faith. And here is what we find, when we take that first step, of actively trusting the Father of mercies, we notice that first step brings us closer to the church, not farther away from it. Any steps in your life that have taken you farther away from the church did not come from the Father of mercies; they are from the father of lies.

And then look at verse 6 - when we experience this comfort, we are to communicate that with our brothers and sisters. We are to share with one another how God saw us through. We are to patiently and persistently apply the Scriptures to one another to help us navigate suffering together! We are to listen to one another. As we, take a look again, “Patiently endure the same sufferings.” Same in the common human, Christian experience, not same as in exact same kind.

For the one suffering from depression, though, this means something challenging. It means that we must humble ourselves enough to be willing to be around and to share our experience with other people. My friend, let me tell you something from my own experience, if I may: it is not humble of you to isolate yourself. And it is not helpful. The church is to be a community of faith that affords us the opportunity to encourage, exhort, and care for one another. When you isolate yourself, or I isolate myself, from that, we cut our own noses off to spite our face. Community is essential. Even if you come, and you don’t say a word to people, God will honor the action of getting into community.

I have heard from so many how my willingness to share my own experience and put words to it has been an encouragement to them. This has done more to help equip me to fight and press on than nearly anything else could. The reason is simple: I can see how God has put me in this process of suffering, strengthening, and sharing! In other words, I can see how my own fight against depression is working in accordance with God’s providence, not contrary to it. But If I had kept quiet? If I had just “sucked it up” and kept it to myself? I would lose sight of hope.

Let’s apply this idea in two directions: first, if you are fighting with depression, the last thing you need is to be made comfortable. You need strengthening. The right kind of comfort happens through work, and that work starts with crying out to God, like we said last week, and progresses to getting into community. The surest, quickest way to contribute to your own depression is to isolate yourself from other people. This leaves you to only listen to the voices in your own head, or the memories of the difficulties, or the physical pain you are experiencing.

Second, If you have been comforted by God, it was not so you could be made comfortable. It was so that you may become a minister of the comfort of Christ in the life of another person. We who share in the sufferings of Christ must also be ready to share the comfort of Christ, or the sufferings of the Christian life feel weightier than the comfort Christ gives.

But there is an important order here in the steps. First, we actively trust the Father of mercies and receive the comfort of Christ, and then we give it away. If I get this order wrong, it makes things better and not worse. I often describe ministry as a cup and a saucer. Through my own personal walk with the Lord, my cup is filled. When it runs over into the proverbial saucer, I then minister out of the overflow that is in the saucer. So, I am filled with the mercy of the Father, and then from that I can help others. There is a great temptation to help others first as a form of medication for our own depression. I have been guilty of this at times. For some of us, it is easier to try to deal with the emptiness in someone else’s life than it is to deal with the emptiness in our own. Know yourself, friend. You must first come to God and be filled with His mercy, and then from that overflow we go to others. We get this backwards to our own emotional and spiritual peril.

3. Step #3 - view hope as a fixed thing, so that your hope will be fixed even when our emotions are not (7). How to determine your dominant shooting eye - close each eye. The object hasn’t moved; your perception of the object has. Paul’s hope for these people, he says, is unshaken, even as he and they suffer. Now, that doesn’t always mean that we can feel that hope. My ability to feel hope and my ability to have hope are sometimes two very separate things.

-but it is a matter of what we are hoping for. I have to train my heart to hope for more than an end to my fight with depression here. My hope is in something greater than a day when I would feel better here; my hope is that the suffering that I am enduring here is producing something in me that I would not have, and that I will have for all eternity. My hope is that God’s grace is with us in the struggle, His mercy present now, even and especially when I cannot feel it. That is my hope. Can God heal me of depression here? Sure He can. But my hope isn’t in that. We all must day by day, minute by minute discipline our hope in the fact that the hardships that I endure here are producing something that is so great that I cannot measure it.

In other words, God in His providence is using the experience of my suffering to produce real, fixed hope. You can both fight depression and have hope. Hope is the rock upon which the Christian life is built. Depression is the rain that falls on the rock. This is, again, why the Psalmist in Ps. 42 tells us to “hope in God, for I will yet again praise Him.” Hope is a truth around which our lives orient, not a feeling. We cannot, we must not, orient our lives around feeling. And I am thankful for people that God in His providence placed in my life to remind me of this at just the right time.

4. Step four - Believe that God can raise the dead (8-11) - verse 8, read rightly, is so, so powerful. “So utterly burdened beyond our strength.” We don’t know exactly what it was that Paul was suffering from here. We know it was affliction in Asia, but we aren’t sure quite what affliction it may have been. God, in His providence, saw fit for us to not have that detail. Which is interesting, because the very fact that we do not know what kind of suffering Paul experienced helps us to apply this passage to any affliction, which is precisely what Paul would have wanted for us. But listen to how burdened he was: we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had recieved the sentence of death.” Walking death; if that doesn’t describe what true despond feels like, I’m not sure what does. They despaired of living. They felt like there was no more strength to go on. But somewhere in that suffering, Paul saw an ultimate purpose. Through’s Paul’s experience of what felt like living death, he learned more of how valuable the resurrection was.

Generally speaking, most people are afraid to show who they really are. In the world we work, weaknesses are used against us to have others gain an advantage over us. Even those of us who take pride in our transparency are usually selectively transparent. But here, in the church, among the fellowship of those who love and trust a Jesus whose strength is shown in our weakness, this should not be. We should feel free and able to show our weaknesses, talk about our struggles, express what is actually going on. Not only so that we can be authentically known, but also so that the other Christians around us can see the power of the resurrection in our lives. This is the great work of being in the church. It is the great value of living in community. It allows us to do what Paul is saying in verse 11 “so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” If we speak truthfully and faithfully about our sufferings, then when God brings deliverance others can see and know more of the goodness of God. But as long as we try to hide our weaknesses, we stand in the way of others seeing God’s strength.

That is, to me, the key that helps me understand why God has seen fit to give me this particular form of suffering. I have it, and it came to a head, so that I would be rendered unable to hide my weaknesses. And then, God’s strength, God’s power, God’s mercy and grace can be seen clearly by the church. This may not seem like a satisfying “why” in the moment, but here is the reality of our fight with depression: if we do not find God’s glory and our sanctification as compelling reasons for our suffering, then we will never find a compelling reason. Depression is not primarily physical, though there may be physical elements. It is not primarily emotional, even though it definitely affects our emotions. It is primarily a spiritual fight, a form of internal suffering, and that suffering has a purpose: to conform us to the image of Christ.

Exhortation for the loved one:

Be prayerful - Man, Paul’s words here: you MUST help us by prayer. Pray for us. Pray for the folks you love who are wrestling with depression. Pray for their good. Pray for them to have a rightly oriented hope, not in a better day, but in God and God alone, despite whether there is ever a better day. Pray for their families. Pray for spiritual protection. This is the most critical piece for the good of the person you love who is wrestling with the darkness: pray for their good.

Transition to the Lord’s Supper: the household of faith is made up of people who all will endure suffering, but who may not all endure the same type of suffering. God, in His mercy, grants grace to us to be together, and to remember that the common bond we share is not the type of suffering, but the common bond we share is in Christ. As we observe the Lord’s Table together, let your mind go to those who need the encouragement of your prayers, and then may we each praise God that He has fit us together as one household of faith.

Our church takes seriously, and with great joy, the responsibility of observing the Lord’s Table. This means a few things:

All who have repented and believed in the Gospel of Jesus may take this Lords’ Supper with us.

Be mindful of the spiritual state of your children, and see the Lord’s Supper as an opportunity to explain to your unconverted family members what the Lord’s Supper represents, and how they too can be a part of this Supper.

Be mindful of the condition of your own heart, and take the time we are going to spend here in prayer silently confessing your sins before the Lord.

Let’s take a moment and silently confess our sins.

Benediction