Re: Emotionlessness for the Lord?

That's okay, but a lot of other people can, so I'm glad he made that comic.

Sometimes Depression and anxiety has primarily a physical cause. It can be because of something chemically wrong in the brain, or something like adrenal fatigue, or hormones gone awry. And in those cases, until the physical cause is fixed, Depression and anxiety will still result. But it can still very much help to be reminded of the truths of God's word, that despite what someone is feeling, the gospel is still true, and they are still secure in God's arms despite the suffering.

I have a christian friend that I've known for years that is usually so positive and calm, etc. But lately she's been going through some very severe illnesses and she told me that sometimes through all of this, her heart begins to speed up insanely and her anxiety will be extreme from that. She said someone that was with her recently during one of those times told her she just needed to calm down and she said that bothered her because it was purely physical and nothing she could control with better thoughts.

I think that is probably what happened to Adam Ford when he said he was driving, and suddenly he had a panic attack. He was probably having a heart arrhythmia (the kind that makes your heart rate speed up super fast). I have had them too at times, and it feels like you are having a heart attack. And I've had them when I was completely happy and calm in my mind. So I know it was purely a physical thing.

In my reading about heart arrhythmias, I've read about how the brain is hard wired to go into alert mode when this is happening, causing severe anxiety no matter how much you try to calm your mind.

But of course, there are so many other physical causes that can bring about anxiety, and also depression.

So there is a big difference between Depression and anxiety that results from believing the lies of the flesh, devil and world and depression and anxiety that results from something physically wrong in the body, including the brain. That makes sense, right?

But I don't even think we should condemn someone for having depression and anxiety even if it's not physical related. The Apostle Paul talked about despairing of life at one point. Job certainly sounded depressed during his trials. Who wouldn't if they went through all that, but of course Job had physical causes too. And so did Paul. Jeremiah got very depressed. Of course, I think all three of those were eventually lifted out of their depression by the grace of God, but there is a reason why their experiences with depression are recorded and I believe it's to encourage those that would go through times like that in the future.

I mean how depressed does Jeremiah sound here, but you can see where he turns around and starts getting hope again and praising God again:

Lamentations 3:
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the object of their taunts all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with Wormwood .
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the Wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” Tweet