Posted by
Dodo David on Sunday, March 18, 2007 5:01:19 PM
I used to enjoy blogging on a daily basis, but during the past few months I haven't been blogging like I used to. The main reason for my inactivity is depression. I have it, and I have to take medication for it in order to function normally.
During the past three months, depression has gotten the better of me. One thing fueling my depression is my separation from my wife and my six-year-old son. While I live and work in Oklahoma, my wife and son are in California, where my wife is an out-patient at a cancer hospital. I haven't been with them since last November, and I won't get to be with them again until some time this coming Summer.
I am also separated from the young woman who calls me Dad.
Her name is Ruth, and she lives in Colombia. When Ruth was age 6, I began supporting her after her earthly father abandoned her. I cannot forget what she put in her first letter to me. Her letter began with these words: "Dear Sponsor, I am very happy because in a far place called Oklahoma lives a person who loves me. I was sad because my father doesn't think about my needs."
Over the years, I encouraged Ruth to trust in Jesus and to grow in the Christian faith. One day, Ruth decide that I was her real earthly father, and from that time on she constantly told me that she was my daughter.
Well, I lost contact with my daughter when she turned 18 and left the child sponsorship program through which I supported her. Ever since then, I have been searching for her. Recently, I made contact with an evangelist who speaks English and who lives in Ruth's city. The evangelist is helping me to locate Ruth. Thus far I have received no word about Ruth. There is still hope that she will be found, since the evangelist can make contact with Ruth's pastor. Yet, as I wait, my heart yearns to be reunited with Ruth, as well as with my wife and son, and often I feel depressed.
Having depression doesn't mean that there is something wrong with my faith. A person can be a Christian and still have clinical depression, which is a medical problem, not a spiritual one.
Granted, depression can have a spiritual cause, such as not knowing about the free gift of eternal life that we can receive through faith in Jesus. It is easy to feel depressed if you don't know where you will spend eternity. It is easy to feel depressed if Jesus isn't your anchor during times of trouble.
Yet, you can have clinical depression (such as I do) even if Jesus is your anchor. Having clinical depression isn't a sin, and neither is seeking medical help for depression.
I do wish that pastors would address this issue more often. There is no need for a Christian to suffer from clinical depression when medical help is available.