OK. About this whole thing with "depression and anxiety being a simple matter of the suffering ones' lack of faith"... (ehem,Hogwash!) I would simply like to point out one very compelling passage of scripture (even though there are many, many more) that would illustrate that even God's annointed King David struggled with symptoms that sound a lot like a Cymbalta commercial.
Psalm 6:1-7
"O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for I am in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long? Trun, O Lord and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. No one remembers the dead. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes."
From the exit of the Eden, despair, discouragement, anguish, anxiety, and depression has been as much a part of being a fallen human as a sprained ankle or a headache. While it is true that we as believers are called to TURN to God during our suffering, it is untrue to assume that all such struggling is born of some unconfessed sin or a lack of faith on our part. The point is, DOES IT REALLY MATTER why it started? Even if those "Holier than thou" people in those stiff backed pews would happen to be right about your wicked ways... it's simply the TURNING TO GOD part that matters from this point on.
King David was just tending sheep. Being the little brother, when Samuel stopped in one day and ANNOINTED HIM KING! (when there was already a reigning King to boot!) David may have wanted to just herd sheep and raise a nice family. But instead He was chosen for a task (much the same as you were chosen for this task of motherhood). Things got really intense for David very quickly. (Again, bearing a resemblance to motherhood). Overnight he left his home, his family, and gained over a thousand enemies who wanted to kill him. (ok. That has nothing to do with having a baby. But I still think having a baby is harder than having a thousand enemies hunting you...or at least equal to it.)
Why did God need to annoint a new king when Saul was already reigning? Because Saul had sinned. Saul. NOT David. Yet, it is David that we see struggling emotionally with all that is happening to him. No, David is not without sin, but it is interesting that although many hard nosed, hard hearted christians like to label depression as the fault of the depressed, many times the fault lies in the sins of others, or in their circumstances. or maybe it just lies in the fact that "We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".
Either way, David, God's beloved annointed King, of whom God even referred to as the "man after His own heart", fell into depression.
So turn a deaf ear to the hisses of the judgmental crowd of uncompassionate finger pointers. And listen to the sweet truth of what King David found to be true of God's character during his time of need:
Psalm 17 "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry: And in Psalm 30:11 "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy" Also, in Psalm 34: 4-5 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame."
What David did right was turn to God. The right response to any hardship or blessing is to turn to God immediately. Pour your heart out in prayer. Search His Words of truth for you in scripture. Yes, go to the doctor. And, yes, take the medicine that will help you to heal. And yes, seek christian counsel. But above all, and through all, turn to Jesus during with your pain. Never let go of His mighty hand for one second! Let him help walk you through it. He will guide you. He will protect you. You are precious to him. He wants to turn your "wailing into dancing" once again. And believe me, you will dance again. You will sing. You will rejoice.
Take heart. Many have walked this road. You are not alone. And God is with you and has beautiful plans for your life still to come.
