How the Lord Healed me from Depression

Depression. It’s a dark pit—a place of pain and suffering that no one can truly comprehend unless they’ve been there themselves.

I’ve been there, and I promised myself I’m never going back, because that pit was the most horrid place I’ve ever experienced.

There seemed to be no way out. I sat there, wondering if anyone would even notice I was in a dark place and needed help.

I carried this dark pit inside me wherever I went. I tried talking to people about the pit I was in, but they couldn’t understand—and to be quite honest, neither did I.

I cried out to God and pleaded with Him to get me out of that pit. The depth of loneliness, emptiness, isolation, and hopelessness was unbearable. I would go to bed each night secretly wishing not to see the morning daylight ever again. But I woke up every day, and I got up, I believe, with strength coming from the Lord. My two kids were little, and they needed their mom. Staying in bed wasn’t an option—I had to get up and care for my precious ones who weren’t in school yet. The Lord used them to keep me alive.

I never knew what depression was like until I experienced it. It was like a thick, dark cloud that hovered over me wherever I went. It was a heavy weight on my chest that I carried around. My prayers bounced off the walls, and I could no longer feel the Lord’s presence. But one day, by God’s mercy, I decided that I couldn’t live without God and without His presence. I couldn’t live like that anymore. It didn’t matter how I felt; I decided to trust Him, believing that He heard me and cared about me.

David’s prayer in Psalm 143 sounds like he was going through a similar experience that was crushing his spirit, but he cried out to God and trusted that God heard him and would save him from distress.

Psalm 143:1-8 NIV

1Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.

7 Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 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 entrust my life.

Then one day I saw Jesus. It was just a flash in my mind. He was right there, sitting beside me at the bottom of the pit. He knew my pain, and He wanted to heal me. Jesus visited me in the pit and promised me that He has been, and always will be, with me. He has never forgotten me.

God does not want anyone to be in the pit, but sometimes He allows us to struggle in order to strengthen us, not to harm us.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God used that pit to work in my heart. I learned to be still and to trust.

Getting out of that pit was not instant. It was a slow, sometimes painful process of surrendering to His will, knowing who He really is, and finding my identity in Christ. God worked in my heart and broke the chains that kept me bound. There were things in my heart that I didn’t even realize were there. The Lord helped me get unbound one chain at a time. I had to let go of pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, lies I believed about myself and God, and my old way of thinking. I had to forgive, lay down everything I was carrying, and work my way through all the pain I was embedded in.

Jesus showed me the way out. It was one Bible verse at a time. As I meditated on His love and His Word, His promises of help, protection, freedom, and salvation started jumping out at me. God’s Word shone bright and revealed the way out one step at a time.

Here are the Bible verses that I read and meditated on daily while I was struggling with depression. God’s Word is truth. It can lift us out of the dungeon of despair. We just have to believe that God is who He says He is and that what He says is true – that His plans for us are for our good and that He can set the captives free!

Psalm 119:105 NIV

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV

10As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Here are the Scriptures that drew me closer to the Lord and gave me assurance that God loves me, and He will deliver and heal me from depression.

Psalm 34:17-18 NIV

17The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 103:1-5 NIV

1Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Psalm 147:3 NIV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 34:18 NIV
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 23 NIV

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Psalm 121 NIV

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV

1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of joy
instead of mourning, and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

I encourage you to prayerfully meditate on these verses daily for a month, or for however long it takes you. One verse a day is totally fine. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through Scripture and help you understand. Ask for insights and revelations. Memorize the Scripture and make it a part of you.

Jesus, our Savior, is also our Counselor and Healer, and He loves you. He speaks through the Holy Spirit and His word. The Scripture is the Word of God, and it is powerful to change and heal us.

God also uses His people to walk alongside those who are hurting. He used people from my church who prayed for me and listened to me. Some of them I met for the first time when I asked for prayers!

If you are struggling with depression, find someone you trust and tell them what you are going through. There are Bible-believing, God-fearing people who can be there for you and pray for you. You don’t have to suffer alone.

Jesus brings healing and hope through His Word, His Spirit, and His people.

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