Devotional for Depression

At times, depression can feel like it has a stronghold on your heart. It can feel impossible to move out from under the fog.

Depression can come in various forms due to differing situations and aspects of our lives. Sometimes depression is triggered by painful circumstances, sin, or spiritual attack. Other times it has medical or biochemical roots (hormonal shifts, thyroid problems, brain chemistry, trauma, chronic illness, etc.).

But the result can be the same no matter the ‘why’. It can lead to sleep disturbances, appetite changes, altered hormones, sexual problems, self-harming behaviors, and potentially suicide.

Depression can rob a person of joy and decrease motivation to be the person God wants them to be.

God can heal in any and every way—sometimes miraculously, sometimes through doctors, counselors, and medication working together with His Word and His people. Seeking professional help is not a lack of faith; it can be part of the way God brings healing.

But there is hope, with work and continued support, people can come out from under the fog of depression. It does take time and perseverance. Don’t give up!

Make sure you also tell someone. Reach out to your spouse, a trusted friend, your pastor, or a Christian counselor. God designed us to carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Isolation feeds depression; fellowship brings light.

If you are in crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, please reach out immediately—call or text 988 (U.S. Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or tell someone right now. You are not alone, and your life matters deeply to God and to us.

Use the scriptures below as a starting point.

Take the time to read the below bible scriptures and truly focus on what they are saying to you. Some passages may touch you differently than others. Writing down the verses in your handwriting is helpful for some individuals. Possibly looking up the verses in your Bible may be beneficial - the below passages are from the NIV translation. Or reading them over and over to commit to memory. Whatever method works best for you to experience God’s words and feel closer to Him.

You’re not the first believer to feel this way—David, Elijah, Jeremiah, and even Jesus in the garden knew deep sorrow.

Psalm 143:7-8

Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 42:5

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Here's a prayer for you if you need help with the words:

Father, I feel overwhelmed and the darkness feels heavy. I believe You are with me even when I can’t feel You. Lift this fog, renew my strength, and show me the next step—whether it’s opening Your Word, calling a friend, or seeing a doctor. Surround me with Your love and Your people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Steps to take:

Get outside for 10 minutes of sunlight and movement today.
Read one of the verses above out loud, even if you don’t feel it.
Ask your spouse or a friend to pray with you right now.

God bless

- Melissa