Today we are going to continue thinking about how to keep a positive outlook. Thanksgiving is coming in the next week or so – then we begin the holiday season which appears to be one of the most difficult times of the year for many people. We should always remain in a state of evaluation and reevaluation, but we cannot dwell on things that induce negativity. So to get you ready for Thanksgiving, I want to spend some of the days ahead talking about three very important people who struggled with depression or negativity at times. Each of them are easily recognizable figures, but what you may not know is that they struggled at times – more than you might imagine.

Most Christians assume that the lives of these spiritual heroes played out or presently exist in a state of continual divine ecstasy. Yet, numerous saints throughout the ages have experienced the phenomenon of darkness or an extended awareness of God’s silence or seeming absence. The fact that they suffered does not change their status as some of the greatest believers of all time. After glimpsing into the life struggles of a few of our Superstars, I think you will agree that the implication is that depression is a common road allowed by Deity. Therefore, depression is not a sin to be confessed, but rather a normal state of mind stemming from man’s universal desire to live independently from God; it is our attempt to control life per our own paradigm.

First, let’s consider John the Baptist. Except for Jesus, no one was ever more heralded. Christ himself declared that there was never a greater prophet than John. Angels prophesied his birth, position (in relation to the Messiah), message, and ministries, and these facts are well-documented. We know, beyond doubt that he had intimate communication with Deity. John was the Billy Graham of his day. He was highly promoted by the people of his time, and widely publicized throughout his area of the world. Yet, a time came in his life when he questioned his Messiah, the Son of God, (Matthew 11:2 and Luke 7:18–20) because Christ did not fit his preconceived notions of a conquering messiah, or those of his contemporaries. John, who at one time declared, “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God,” but would later ask, “Are you the one who was promised?” What brought John to this later state of mind, heart and faith?

John asked his question from a lonely, wet, and nasty prison cell. After days, weeks, and months of imprisonment, this energetic, popular, thirty-one or thirty-two-year-old preacher could no longer see his Kingdom value and began struggling with feelings of emptiness. Those days when he had called out to God and received answers and direction seemed to be a lifetime ago. John was tired of the unrelenting loneliness, hunger, and stench of his own waste. As he questioned why these things were happening to him, he slipped into gloominess, sadness, and most probably depression. Remarkably, it was at this same point in John’s life that Christ said, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” The season of depression endured by John was a time to refine him in preparation for his eternal (Kingdom) position. Therefore, we have no right to judge John’s depression or questions.

Earlier this year we talked about “what Satan means for temptation, God means for testing.” So it was for John – so it will be for us. We just must be wise enough to ask: “What do you want me to learn during this process?” Only then can our present sight be as good as hindsight.

Love Dad