We ought with reverence to approach that tremendous divinity, that loves courage, but commands counsel.

Those despotic governments which are founded on the passions of men, and principally upon the passion of fear, keep their chief as much as may be from the public eye. The policy has been the same in many cases of religion.

All general privations are great, because they are all terrible; vacuity, darkness, solitude, and silence .

Depression ... involves a complete absence: absence of affect, absence of feeling, absence of response, absence of interest. The pain you feel in the course of a major clinical depression is an attempt on nature's part ... to fill up the empty space. But for all intents and purposes, the deeply depressed are just the walking, waking dead.

Scripture is about suffering. It has given comfort to millions. It has spawned hundreds of wonderful books that highlight God's gentle care and Scripture's probing insights. You can be assured of this: God really does speak in our suffering, and we have good reason to believe that the words he says are good and powerful enough to lighten our pain.

with this? Do you live as if this is true? Let's keep going. The Bible isn't just about heaven and only for the by-and-by. It is gritty and real. It is about messed-up people and the way God pursues them. The Bible describes real life—with its ups and downs and our stubborn quests for independence—better than anything.

Now listen more carefully to depression. Like all feelings, it is a kind of language. Guilt says, "I am wrong." Anger says, "You are wrong." Fear says, "I am in danger." Depression, too, has a message, but the message is usually not that simple. "Whereas some emotions are clear and unambiguous, depression's language is more heavily encrypted. It might take some decoding before it is understandable, but it is worth the effort.

All it takes is a tradition of demeaning, critical words from the right person. All it takes is nothing from the right person. No interest in you, no words spoken to you, no love. If you are treated as if you do not exist, you will feel shame.

Think about the nature of depression. Life is turned inward. You already have a sense that, for all practical purposes, God is not present. Add to that your relentless condemnation and pervasive self-criticism, which have persuaded you that God doesn't love you. You couldn't be a more obvious spiritual target if you painted a bull's-eye on your chest.

Our fears have typically already decided that the worst is about to happen. Catastrophe is upon us and there is no hope. But "Don't be afraid," when spoken by the Lord, is a promise that the end will be different from what we predict.

The odd thing is that fear and anxiety are running away from something, but they don't know what to run to. They know danger, but they don't know where to find peace and rest.

Scripture assumes that we will be afraid and anxious sometimes. What is important is where we turn, or to whom we turn when we are afraid. The God who calls you to trust in Him when you are afraid will spend a great deal of time showing you that you can trust Him.