Why am I unhappy?
Katie Semple,
8th Jun 2018
Tags:
Life
Blog
Depression
Jesus
You wake up to your alarm and a thought intrudes on the blissful silence you were experiencing moments before. “Ugh. How am I going to do this day?"
There could be a variety of reasons why you don’t feel ready for life today. You’ve got a paper due, a tense situation with a friend, a recent breakup, or you’re just too busy and tired and you want a break!
But at the same time, life isn’t so bad, is it? I mean, you’ve got food, clothing, education, and at least a handful of people who care about you. So why the sadness and fatigue?
I’ve been there. Sometimes I’m still there. It’s easy to let discouragement take hold of our thoughts, and depression is a common issue for teens and young adults. (See Rawhide for stats and trends).
Emotions can easily spiral downward as discouragement leads to poor choices, which leads to deeper discouragement.
Emotions can easily spiral downward as discouragement leads to poor choices, which leads to deeper discouragement.
If you’re there right now, please hear me. You’re not the only one caught in this!
So what should I do if I’m depressed?
There are practical steps you can take, from opening up to trusted friends, to spending time in the sunshine. Sometimes medication and counselling are helpful. (See Helpguide.org for a Teenager's Guide To Depression for more ideas).
What if there is also something deeper going on?
But what if there is also something deeper going on?
It doesn’t take a genius to see that the world is pretty messed up. War,
bigotry and corruption are constantly in front of us. It’s easy to blame others for causing evil in the world, but have you ever looked in your own heart and noticed the motives lying there? Envy? Pride? Self-centeredness? Yep. We’re all messed up.
But that’s not new information. The Bible teaches that this world and our own hearts are corrupted by sin. Creation is described as “groaning” as it waits for Jesus to return and destroy evil forever and take his people to live in heaven.
Our bodies are compared to “tents” (temporary homes). In this temporary life on earth we struggle with depression, temptation, pain and sadness, as a result of our sinfulness and the consequences of mankind’s choices.
However, those who believe in Christ know that one day they will have an eternal home in heaven. This world isn’t their last hope. They can live with an eternal perspective like Paul did in the Bible when he said that “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
When you have this perspective, you can endure hard times with joy.
When you have this perspective, you can endure hard times with joy.
So how do you get this hope and joy? How do you have a relationship with Jesus? It's really simple and starts with a prayer.
So will sadness come? Yes. We will all weather difficult seasons. But there is an eternal hope that you can hang on to. Turn to the God who sustains even our breath and gives us life!
