Dealing with Depression | Part 1

From the Love Word Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler, here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love Word Finding.

Kerry, today we continue in a series with Adrian Rogers, Getting a Handle on Your Emotions. Today our message is Dealing with Depression, and our scripture reference will be Adam Numbers, chapter 11, and also 1 Kings 19. Well, I think at the time of the year that people are just, they're down and out, and we want to reach out and minister to those needs. Well, as Adrian Rogers points out, some of the greatest leaders, Kerry, of the church and in the Bible had bouts of depression. If you were to study the Bible and see the record of some of God's greatest servants, you would find that they were at times given to depression, and not only is that true about those heroes that we know in the Bible, but if we study the history of the church, we'll find out that some of the greatest leaders are of the greatest leaders in the church from time to time, a new depression. You know, Dr. Rogers said one time that the two weapons of the serpent is fear and discouragement. Think about that. And that's true. And so when the serpent strikes, depression sets in. And I think we have to guard ourselves. I think we have to know that going into it and be prepared to combat.

That's so true, Kerry. We know Adrian Rogers says that Moses had his eyes upon others. Elijah had his eyes upon himself. Jonah had his eyes upon circumstances. But none of them had their eyes upon God. You can easily fall into depression if you take your eyes off God. Yeah, you can become perplexed, puzzled, delusional, all those things when we take our eyes off of Jesus Christ. And you know, becoming a Christian doesn't make us immune to depression.

It's something that we all face at times. Well, Kerry, again, we always love hearing from our Love We're Finding listeners. And you have a comment today.

I do. It says, I discovered Pastor Rogers right after my dad passed away to glory. His passion and love for the Lord comforted me, so much like my own father's love and passion for the Lord. I love the authority with which this man speaks.

He knew who he was in Jesus, no doubt about that. Oh, that's so beautiful. That's great.

It is. And let me go back to this theme of depression, because this time of year, as we mentioned at Christmas, it brings back memories of maybe having lost a loved one, or something that is depressing us, or heavy maybe financially on you. As you're dealing with maybe a bout of depression, as you ask God for his provision, remember that he loves you. And when you draw near to him, he will draw near to you.

That's exactly right. I think, too, sometimes we look over our shoulders, and we realize that God is batting 1,000, which means he has always been faithful. We look back to the cross. We look back to Calvary. He was faithful then.

And guess what? He will be faithful today. Kerry, proclaiming the message of the cross is what love we're finding is all about. And as this year winds down for 2021, we can't thank our friends enough for their prayers, their faithfulness, especially during this time of year. Well, this is the time of year, and I just want to thank our supporters.

We have people that have a vested interest in the gospel. And number two, they have the capacity to really come alongside of us and really move the needle for the kingdom. And so this is our year, and we just want to pause for a moment and say thank you, number one. Number two, it may be the time to just raise the bar and be a part of this glorious ministry and what God is doing. Well, Kerry, we want to challenge our Love We're Finding community to give at this year's end to help share the gospel of Jesus Christ through the timeless messages of Adrian Rogers. Call with your calendar year-end gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD. Or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio.

Once again, we thank you so much for your support. Well, with today's message, Dealing with Depression, part one, here's Adrian Rogers. Now I want to ask you a question. Have you ever been depressed? Silly question. Have you ever been depressed?

Of course you have. As a matter of fact, John W. Stott, a great biblical expositor, said that the Christian's two chief occupational hazards are depression and discouragement. Now when I talk about depression, what do I mean? What is depression? A psychologist has described depression this way. A feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that leads to sadness.

I think that's a good definition. A person who is depressed has problems, real or imagined, and he doesn't seem to be able to get a hand on them. There's no help available. And that's compounded by the fact that there doesn't seem to be any help on the horizon. It is helplessness plus hopelessness that leads to this deep despondency, this sadness. Now if you think perhaps that you're immune to depression and that it could never happen to you, I want you to look at the scripture that I've chosen for us today, and you're going to be amazed as we read this scripture together. First of all, I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Numbers chapter 11 and verse 15, and I want you to read a prayer of Moses. Numbers chapter 11 and verse 15. You're going to be amazed when you see this prayer. Here is Moses speaking to the Lord, and he says, and if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee. That is, God, if this is the way you're going to treat me, then just go ahead and kill me. Kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight, and let me not see my wretchedness. Now here was a man of God who felt so wretched, so miserable, so low down, so depressed, so discouraged that he said, oh God, if you really loved me, you would kill me.

It's an amazing prayer. Then turn to 1 Kings chapter 19, if you will, please. 1 Kings chapter 19, and look with me in verse 4. This is the prayer of another prophet. His name was Elijah.

The Bible says, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself, are you ready for this, that he might die. And he said, it's enough now, oh Lord. That is, I've had it. I've had it. It's enough now, oh Lord. Take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. That is, God, I've had it up to here. I'm ready to throw in the towel.

Kill me if you really love me. All right, then I want you to turn to the book of Jonah, and look with me in Jonah chapter 4 and verse 3, and you're going to find the third of these amazing prayers. Jonah chapter 4 and verse 3. Here's Jonah praying. Therefore now, oh Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah says, God, stop this crazy world and let me off.

I pray, kill me. Jonah, these were good men. These were men who loved God. These were imminently successful prophets.

And if it could happen to them, I have an idea that it just might happen to you. So let's look and see if we can at the reason for this despondency. Let's find, first of all, the problems they faced.

And then we're going to see the provision they found, okay? Well, what were the problems that they faced? As I've looked at the context of each of these prayers, I see in that context that each one of them faced three major problems.

The first problem was a physical problem. There was a physiological reason that these men prayed the way they prayed. All three of them, are you ready for this? All three of them were physically worn out. They were worn to a frazzle, as we say colloquially.

They were just slap, dab, worn out. Turn to Numbers chapter 11, if you will, please, again, and look at the prayer of Moses. And let's go back and look at what preceded that prayer when he asked God to take away his life.

Well, I'm in Numbers chapter 11. Let's go back to verse 11. And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?

And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Who were the people that he was talking about? Well, Moses was leading them from Egypt to Canaan. You talk about a big church, he had about two million members.

And they were all complaining. He pastored the first Baptist church in the wilderness. And he says, have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them that thou should say unto me, carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father, where the sucking child into the land which thou swearst unto thy fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me saying, give us flesh that we may eat. Now look in verse 14, here's the key.

I am not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me. Anybody can tell here was a man that was worn out. He had unbelievable burdens. Mary had a little lamb, it grew to be a sheep. It then became a pastor and died from lack of sleep. Now that's the way Moses was right here. I mean, he just was worn out physically. He said, I can't bear it, I can't bear it.

It's too much, I can't meet the needs. Well, what about Elijah? When he prayed this prayer, he'd been doing without food for a long time. Secondly, he had been emotionally strung out. We're gonna get to that in a moment. Secondly, he had just finished a 30-mile cross-country run.

Could you do that? Here was a man whose strength was gone, he was worn out, he was physically debilitated. He was at a point of exhaustion when he said, Lord, I want you to take my life from me. And what about Jonah? You talk about a fellow who'd had it at a whale house for a jailhouse. As I've said before, he was on a foam blubber mattress. And then, he had just preached a city-wide revival crusade in a city about the size of Philadelphia, or one of these other major cities.

Almost a million people in ancient Nineveh. And he didn't have a Holiday Inn or a Hyatt Regency to stay in, didn't have an automobile to ride in, didn't have a public address system. And here was a man who, on top of all of that, says that a hot wind from the east blew upon him and the sun smote upon him. He almost had a sunstroke. And it was at that time that he said, Oh God, please take away my life from me. You see, each of these men were physically worn out. Now friend, I wanna tell you something.

When you are physically worn out, you are getting to be a candidate for depression. Vince Lombardi, the great coach of the Green Bay Packers. By the way, every great coach is somewhat of a psychologist. Did you know that? He knows more than football.

He knows people. Vince Lombardi said, fatigue makes cowards of us all. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. So there was a physiological problem. They were physically worn out. But also, there was a psychological problem. They were emotionally wrought up.

Physically worn out, emotionally wrought up. If you study these scriptures again, you'll find out, for example, that Moses had what we call a people problem. He had his eyes on other people. He said, I'm not able to bear all this people alone. And he says in Numbers 11, verse 11, and Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?

And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? There were people just coming at him, coming at him, coming at him. And they were always asking him for things that he couldn't provide. He was emotionally overloaded. They were weeping and they were saying, Moses, it's your fault. And Moses now is just, his emotional fuse is getting very, very short.

Depression comes when we get emotionally overloaded. An additional scripture to go with this, over in Exodus chapter 18, beginning in verse 13, and it came to pass on the morrow that Moses stood to judge the people. And the people stood by Moses from the morning until the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, that's very interesting, all that he did to the people, you think he'd say all that he did for the people.

He said, friend, all he did to the people. I wanna tell you something, a preacher who's always available, isn't worth much when he is available, did you know that? Here was Moses from can to cant, from daybreak to sunset, standing there, counseling, counseling, counseling. And Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people and said, what is this thing thou doest to the people?

Why sittest thou thyself alone and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening? And then he said later on, the way that you do Moses is not good. Moses was emotionally drained. He was giving of himself and giving of himself and giving of himself. And every time you give of yourself, something goes out of you. Even that woman that touched the hem of the garment of Jesus Christ, the Bible says, Jesus said, virtue went out of me. Something went out of me.

All right, now listen, listen. Moses then, he had a people problem. What kind of a psychological problem did Elijah have? He had a pity problem.

He was drinking from the intoxicating cup of self-pity. Read in 1 Kings 19, verse four. The Bible says, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and requested for himself, just underscore that, for himself that he might die. And he said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's.

This is an interesting statement. You can see now that he's taken his eyes off the Lord. He's requesting something for himself. He says, I'm no better than other people. Somehow, evidently, he had thought for a while that he was better than other people. I don't know who told him he was better than his father. It must have been his mother.

But somebody, somebody had the idea in this man's head that he was better than other people and somehow he was going to be immune from difficulty and persecution and all of this. And here he is, now he's drinking from the intoxicating cup, I say, of self-pity. Now, the reason that he is pitying himself is that Jezebel has just made a promise to him. Jezebel was a wicked queen of Israel, married to that wicked king Ahab, and she just made a promise to the preacher. She said, I'm going to make you a foot shorter at the top before the sun goes down. That is, I'm going to take you ahead from you.

I'm going to behead you. And by the way, he's not the last preacher to have a depression over some long-tongued Jezebel either. And here he is out there. Now, listen, I don't believe that he really wanted to die. I mean, honestly, folks, the Bible says he just ran a day's journey from her. If he really wanted to die, all he'd have to do is sit still and Jezebel would take care of him, amen? I mean, he's just feeling sorry for himself.

I don't think any of these men literally actually wanted to die. They were just following in self-pity. Moses had a people problem. Elijah had a pity problem. And old Jonah, he had a pout problem. He didn't like the way God was doing things. Let me read what Jonah said here. Jonah chapter 4, and you remember it's in chapter 4 that he asked God to kill him, but you have to back up a little bit and see what he said before that. God sent a mighty revival, but the Bible says in Jonah 4, verse 1, He seized Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

That's his emotional problem. Now, he's very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore, I fled before unto Tarshish, for I know that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness and repentance thee of the evil.

Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Why was he angry? He was angry because God sent revival. Well, why didn't he want God to send revival? Well, in the first place, he had prophesied judgment and revival came. Now, his reputation as an evangelist was ruined. But I'm being a little facetious.

Let me tell you something. He was a super patriot. He loved Israel. And his feeling toward Nineveh, he wanted God just to wipe him out. God, I know the way you work. If I go down and preach judgment, you'll send revival.

That's the reason why I didn't want to go to begin with. And here he is pouting at God, angry with God. Now, let me tell you something about depression, folks. Depression comes many times when something we love and value very much is threatened or taken from us. It may be a possession. It may be a loved one.

It may be some hope. But when that is threatened or taken from us and we have unresolved grief, that depression turns to anger. There are a lot of bitter, angry people who are on the second stage of depression because the thing that they love and hope for has been threatened, and that's the way this prophet was.

But let me tell you something, folks. You can look at all three of these men, and before they prayed and asked God to take away their lives, none of them had a deep, emotional, psychological problem. Moses, a people problem. Elijah, a pity problem. Jonah, a pout problem. Moses had his eyes upon others. Elijah had his eyes upon himself.

Jonah had his eyes upon circumstances. And none of them had their eyes upon God. They were emotionally wrought up, emotionally wrought up.

Now, watch this. Not only were they physically worn out, not only were they emotionally wrought up, but it was at that time they became spiritually run down. Now, the devil is a master strategist, and he knows exactly when to move in on you and to attack you with a fit of despondency and to take your eyes from the Lord. Now, these people, all three of them at that particular time, were in spiritual disrepair. I mean, anybody who prays such a prayer as this. And I want to ask the question, first of all, when I talk about people who were spiritually run down, who? Prophets of God, men of God, men who love God.

Are you listening? The ministry is not immunity. And God's servants, I don't care whether they be in the pew or the pulpit, cannot break God's law with impunity. The law of gravity works for the saved and the lost alike. You step out of the balcony and you'll find it out. I mean, if you don't use the stairs. You don't break God's law of gravity. You just demonstrate it.

You're broken on it. Whether you're saved or lost, to make any difference. There are certain principles, and you transgress those principles. These were men of God. They loved God. All right, that's who. Now, I want to ask you, when?

When did they get in trouble? Well, they got in trouble spiritually when they were already in trouble physically and psychologically. I want you to understand that. You see, the devil is a master strategist, as I've said. The kind of friend you have in the devil is, if you were in quicksand, he'd pat you on the head.

He knows when you're in difficulty, and that's when he moves in. There's an interesting passage of scripture over here in Deuteronomy chapter 25, verse 17. God said to Moses, Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt? How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, that is, the ones who were the stragglers? Even all that were feeble behind thee, I was faint and weary. This satanically inspired enemy watched the people of Israel, and he said, I'm not going to attack the strong ones. I'm going to find those who are faint. I'm going to find those who are weak. Now, folks, when you are physically and emotionally wrung out and worn out and wrought up, you're a sitting duck for Satan. You're going to seize the advantage.

Now, watch it. Not only that, but they were all coming off of a great emotional high. I mean, really, they were all coming off of a great spiritual victory.

Moses had just come through the miracles of the Exodus and had just come through the red seed, Rashad. You'd think a man like that would be on the mountaintop forever, wouldn't you? Yet he's down in the valley wanting to die. When did Elijah pray and say, God, kill me?

John 19, what happened in chapter 18? A mountaintop revival on Mount Carmel. What about Jonah after a citywide revival? You've never seen a revival like that.

I never have. An entire city repented in sackcloth and ashes, and right on the heels of that great emotional crisis and crescendo, now he's down in the valley. But I'm just trying to tell you, folks, there is a principle, there is a time, and why did they get in all of this trouble?

Because they had taken their eyes off the Lord and put their eyes either on people or on self or upon circumstances, and any Christian is going to get depressed when he does that. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. In the meantime, maybe you have a prayer request that you'd like to share with us. You know, at Love Worth Finding, it's one of our great honors to come alongside you and pray with you and for you. If you can, go to our website homepage at lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to find our prayer wall. There you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. We can't wait to hear from you today. Well, thank you for studying in God's Word with us. If you'd like to start receiving daily devotions and links to the program, sign up for our daily heartbeat emails at lwf.org slash radio. And join us tomorrow for the conclusion of dealing with depression right here on Love Worth Finding.