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The Bible Breakdown
Job 30: This is What Depression Looks Likes
What if depression isn't just a medical condition but also a deeply spiritual struggle? Join us as we explore Job Chapter 30 with Pastor Brandon, providing a comprehensive look at the emotional and spiritual depths of depression. Through Job's heartfelt lamentations, we gain a deeper understanding of the isolating nature of this struggle and the importance of recognizing its signs. Pastor Brandon emphasizes the necessity of seeking help and the wisdom of trusting God amidst profound suffering. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of Job's emotional turmoil, illustrating the profound despair and sense of abandonment that can resonate with anyone who has experienced or witnessed depression.
In this episode, we also tackle the challenging idea that depression can distort reality, making individuals feel isolated and despised. Pastor Brandon sheds light on how these feelings can narrow one's perspective, obscuring positivity and fostering false beliefs. We reflect on Job's sorrow, his perceived disdain from society, and his belief that even God has turned away. But there is hope—this episode underscores the power of turning to God for healing, recognizing depression as a legitimate issue, and the importance of prayer in supporting those who suffer. Join us in this poignant discussion, as we continue to trust in God's wisdom and presence through our trials.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, job chapter 30, and today's title is this is what Depression Looks Like. Oh, my goodness, this is what it looks like right here. This is an important chapter because if you've ever experienced depression, you're going to read this with me and be like yeah, yeah, there it is. And so in the future, if you ever talk to someone who says, you know, I don't know if I've ever experienced depression before, be like how about you go read Job 30 and you go know what it is. On the other side, if you are walking with someone and they're telling you that they're dealing with depression and you can't relate to that because you've never been depressed, truly depressed, in your life, today, when you read this, it's going to give you a better understanding of what it feels like when you really do feel like you've hit the bottom. We're going to get all that in just a moment. It's a very important chapter, but before we do that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook, because we're doing devotions on there every day and they're so wonderful, so great to read and, man, the more we dig, the more we find, and we would love for you just to gather with us in this community of people where we are reading God's Word one chapter at a time and letting God's Word renew us every single day, and today is one of those very important ones. And so, if you want to open up with me to Job, chapter 30, remember, the overall theme of Job is trusting God's wisdom in suffering. Trusting God's wisdom in suffering, and one of the things that is important is to sometimes just take a moment and just have a reality check, because many times we can get to a point and we don't realize we're in a really tough situation. It's time for us to seek help. It's time for us to do something about what we're doing. If something goes from just being a bad day to now, we're in a deep cycle. We need to reach outside of ourselves for help.
Speaker 1:Well, today's chapter, job has been in the middle of his final discourse with his so-called friends, and he's just talking about what's going on in his life. A couple days ago, we talked about how Job said you know, god is bigger than I am and I know what I know and I trust God that if I'm going through it it's because he has a plan. And then the next one was, and God knows the way, and then after that he just continues to build on this. And now he's going to say, but this is how it feels right now, like, even though, guys, you may not understand this, I'm just going to tell you this is what I'm going through and I think it's important because if you've ever been depressed before, you're going to look at this and you're going to read this with me and you're going to be like, oh yeah, that that's, that's it, that's what I've been feeling. On the other side, if you're walking with someone, maybe a spouse, maybe a friend, family member, and they're dealing with depression and you don't get it, you don't understand. This will help you to get a little bit of an idea of what depression looks like. So, if you're ready, we're going to dive into this and walk through this with Job and Job, chapter 30, first one says this but now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with the sheepdogs.
Speaker 1:I a lot of good. They are to me those worn out wretches. They are gaunt from poverty and hunger. They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands. They pluck green, wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees. They are driven from human society and people shout at them as if they were thieves. So now they live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks. They sound like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the needles. They are nameless fools, outcasts from society. And now they mock me with vulgar songs, they taunt me, they despise me and won't come near me except to spit in my face, for God has cut my bowstrings, he has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraints.
Speaker 1:These outcasts oppose me to my face, they send me sprawling and lay traps in my path. They block my road and they do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me and they come at me from all directions. They jump on me when I am down and I live in terror. Now my honor has blown away in the wind and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud, and now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days and my nights, and at night my bones are filled with pain which gnaws at me relentlessly. With a strong hand, god grabs my shirt and he grips me by the collar of my coat. He has thrown me into the mud and I am nothing more than dust and ashes. I cry to you, o God, but you don't answer. I stand before you, but you don't even look. You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me. You have thrown me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm. I know you are sending me to my death and the destination to all who live.
Speaker 1:Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble. Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy? So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell. My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me. I walk in gloom, without sunlight, and I stand in the public square and cry for help. Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and the companion to owls. My skin turned dark and my bones burn with fever. My harp plays sad music and my flute accompanies those who weep. It's kind of hard to read, because I can feel so deeply what he's talking about.
Speaker 1:He starts off with saying I was once respected, but now nobody wants anything to do with me, that even God has turned away from me. I feel like God himself is working against me. And then, when I turn to others and when I try to do good for others, all I get is more and more trouble in its place. Now, is that true? No, no, those things are not true. And when I try to do good for others, all I get is more and more trouble in its place. Now, is that true? No, no, those things are not true. Is it true that everybody has now disrespected Job? No, not at all. Now, his friends certainly probably have. But to be honest, think about it. A lot of other people probably just feel terrible for him. But from his perspective it is narrowed and all he can see is what he thinks people think. Then he thinks that God has turned against him. Is that true? No, it's just. He's in such a dark place. And then he says that he feels like that everything in his life has just turned terrible. Is that true? No, not everything. It just feels that way. And that's what depression feels like For some of you who've been through depression before, maybe you're going through it right now.
Speaker 1:You read this and you go exactly Like for you, that was a checklist. I feel like that. I feel like that. I feel like that You're just kind of going through it together, right, and you're like, yes, absolutely, but can I tell you the truth? You're like, yes, absolutely, but can I tell you the truth? Just like with Job, he felt like those things were true, but they weren't.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you and I mean this with all respect your emotions are probably lying to you. Yes, things may be bad, but they're probably not as bad as you think. If nothing else, god's not against you. If nothing else and I don't mean this, bad people do not think as bad of you as they think, because the truth is they're probably not thinking about you at all, and I don't mean that disrespectfully. I'm just saying think about it. Like right now you're not thinking about what they're going through. You're thinking about what you're going through. Well, you're thinking about what you're going through. Well, most people, that's exactly what they're doing. They're thinking about what they're going through, and so they're not not thinking about you as a disrespect, it's just, their life is filled with their things. So everybody doesn't hate you, god doesn't hate you, and every single thing in your life is not going wrong.
Speaker 1:But it doesn't stop it from feeling that way, and that's what depression is is. It twists and distorts your view of things because of the deep anguish of your soul. Now, for others who you haven't gone through it, but you know someone who is, that's why it's so hard to quote, unquote, talk, sense into them. That's why they can't just snap out of it. Can I tell you, as someone who's experienced depression, we would love to just snap out of it, we would love to just see the brighter side. But what you got to understand is is when you get into that space, you start to get this just revolving door of negativity in your mind and it saps your joy, it saps your strength, it saps your energy and everything in your life, until all you can think of is the downside. So we would love to do that, but can I tell you only one thing will work.
Speaker 1:Now, you can put a lot of Band-Aids on it, you can do things that will get better for a moment, but only one thing truly works and that's the presence of the Lord. Only a supernatural being can do a supernatural thing in our life. Only God can do a God-sized or fix a God-sized problem in our life. And so one of the greatest things you can do is to first of all, understand that it's not just something we need to get over, but it's a legitimate problem. And then the second thing is take us to the only one who can fix us, and that's the Lord. That's what Job is getting ready to do. You'll see in the next few chapters. He's saying God, I gotta talk to you. After he has finished talking to his friends, he's gonna say God, only you can fix this, and that's when things start to turn around. I can't wait to get to that in the next chapters, but I want to encourage you today.
Speaker 1:If you were reading this with me and you're like, yes, that's me, then it's time to turn to the Lord. If you're walking with someone who's going through this and you're saying, yes, that's them, then do me a favor. Stop telling them to get over it. Stop telling them that they just need to change how they think. Take them to the Lord, make it a moment of prayer, pray with them and ask the Lord to give you wisdom on how to bring them to him. God's word promises those who draw close to him he will draw close to you. Watch what God does. Let's pray together.
Speaker 1:God, thank you so much that your word is raw and it is real. And, lord, as we see what Job is going through for so many of us, we can identify with it. God, I also love that we can identify with the fact that we don't have to stay there, but that your presence is more powerful than anything we go through. God, I pray right now for those who would say, yes, I'm experiencing depression in my life. I pray, god, that you will lighten that load and share with them and show them, lord, that you have the power and the ability to exceedingly and abundantly above all they can ask or think. I pray you will show yourself strong in their life.
Speaker 1:I pray for those who are walking with others who are going through it. I pray you'll give them wisdom, lord, to not try to fix it themselves, but, lord, to bring them to you, to pray with them and to pray for them and, as they lead them to you, that, god, you'll heal some areas of their life as well. And we thank you for all things. In Jesus' name, we pray amen and what God's word says in Job 1, verse 21,. I came naked from my mother's womb. I'll be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. But praise the name of the Lord. I trust God with everything. It's all His and I trust Him with it. That's the greatest way to live right. I'll see you tomorrow for Job, chapter 31.
