The Bible and Depression: Job Was Restored by the Lord - Week 4

Brief Review

In Step 1 and Step 2 we saw that Elijah would have been diagnosed as suffering from today’s definition of clinical depression.

In Step 3 we looked at a prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-3 about Jesus Christ. We saw that Jesus was anointed by God to bring the garment of praise for relief from the spirit of heaviness.

Depression – Elijah was Restored

The Lord can Restore His people who suffer from depression without resorting to a life of drugs.

Go back now and re-read the material on Elijah. The Lord restored Elijah, removed the spirit of heaviness.

If you, or someone dear to you is suffering with the spirit of heaviness - called depression and anxiety – there may be a Spiritual Restoration available if you know the Lord.

Physical and/or emotional fatigue

Physical and emotional fatigue as well as poor eating habits may also be a factor contributing to depression. In the example about Elijah (I Kings 19), Elijah’s primary cause of depression appears to have been by fatigue.

God’s initial therapy for Elijah was food and sleep (verses 5-8). Later God helped Elijah get his eyes off himself and on to God (who revealed His sovereignty, verses 11 and 13). Then, He had Elijah take a realistic look at life (verse 18), and finally He got His prophet to once again get involved in ministry (verses 15-19). The whole process took several weeks.

The example of Elijah is one the depressed person should study, for — like this great man of God — depressed people are often focusing on themselves instead of God and others. This focus is often distorted further by fatigue and isolation. The remedy is often a refocusing of our attention on the Lord, as well as rest and proper eating habits.

Remember the cure from many of the shortcomings of mankind is provided in Matthew 6:33.

Job - Personal losses, crisis or financial loss

Job suffered through great loss, devastation, and physical illness. This righteous man of God lost literally everything.

Job’s losses, caused by Satan are summarized in Job 1:1-20.

So great was his suffering and tragedy that even his own wife said,

Job 2:9
Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Though Job maintained his faithfulness to God throughout his life, he still struggled deeply through the trenches of pain:

Job 3:11
Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Job 3:26
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Job 10:1
My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 30:15-17
15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

Despite his situation and his depression Job turned to the Lord and he was Restored.

As we discussed in Step 3, Jesus was anointed by God to bring several things to mankind. One of these (Isaiah 61:3) was “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; “. Jesus came to earth to provide restoration for His people who were stricken by the spirit of heaviness.

Job 42:10-17
10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
12 So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.

If you are presently overwhelmed because of personal losses, crisis or financial loss, what does the Lord want you to do? What does Scripture tell us?

Luke 11:9-10
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

The Lord wants us to tell Him our needs, yet at the same time be thankful for the good things we do have as in Philippians 4:6-7.

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The Lord expects us to do what we can to help our situation while also patiently waiting on Him to help us. The Lord promises He will never forsake those who obey Him.
Next week we will study Hannah, please bring Bibles and read 1 Samuel chapter 1.