HOPE TRIUMPHS

HOPE IN THE TIME OF DEPRESSION

Image credit: SHUBHRANSH BHASKAR on Unsplash.

By REVEREND TONY ZEKVELD

A friend describes depression as being “in an endless black hole with no light at the end of the tunnel; not even a glimmer of light”.

I go to visit someone, ringing the door bell. It is dusk. The dogs are barking; the lights are out. This person is at home, but there’s no answer.

Depression cripples one mentally and physically. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities and you often feel that life is not worth living. Being self-absorbed, you see no other world than your own world.

Loneliness, broken families, loss of loved ones, loss of community contribute to the aching empty void and feelings of despair. It’s dark! There seems to be no way out. You are locked in yourself, eyes turned inward, like living in a prison.

But God did not make us that way. He made us to live in the light, and to flourish in our relationship with Him and with others. That all changed, when we did not want Him to be King in our lives. Having chosen to live our own way, without Him, brings pain, sadness, and misery into our world and into our lives.

But God, in His love and grace, has made a way out for us to come to Him. There is an answer. There is hope. The light is not within us, but comes from outside of us. Jesus is the Light. He entered our darkness in order to conquer the darkness that sin brings. On the cross, the Light was snuffed out. But in His resurrection from the dead on the third day, the light burst forth from the grave.

Jesus is the Light of the world, bringing truth and life to those who walk in darkness. By turning from our darkness to Jesus, His light enters and shatters the darkness within. He opens the prison. There is light. There is hope. He makes a way out.

He gives these comforting words, “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily”. He gives the strength and hope we need in our darkest days. There is no darkness so deep that God’s light cannot reach it.

We return to the person we originally visit. This time she answers the door. There is conversation. God makes a way for her to come to Him. A smile breaks out. “There is no pit so deep God’s love is not deeper still.” (Corrie tenBoom).

If you want to talk more, feel free to phone or text Reverend Tony Zekveld (“call me Pastor Tony”) at Hope Centre at 416-740-0543. His email is hopecentre@primus.ca and website: www.hopecentrebrampton.com.