Not long ago, while attending a church worship service, I heard a statement that stayed with me.
The words were along these lines:
“I don’t understand how someone can be in the presence of the Lord and still be depressed. It doesn’t happen.”
I understand the sentiment behind those words. I understand the desire to celebrate the goodness of God, the joy found in His presence, and the transforming power of worship. But I found myself deeply troubled by what was being communicated.
Not because I question God’s goodness. Not because I doubt the power of worship. But because I couldn’t help wondering about the person sitting somewhere in that congregation who was struggling with depression.
The person who had dragged themselves out of bed that morning.
The person who had prayed, perhaps desperately, for the heaviness to lift.
The person who loves Jesus, believes in His promises, and yet continues to wrestle with a darkness they cannot simply worship away.
What might those words communicate to them?
That they weren’t really experiencing God’s presence?
That their faith was somehow deficient?
That if they truly encountered God, their depression would disappear?
I wonder whether, in our enthusiasm to celebrate God’s presence, we sometimes unintentionally make people feel that they don’t belong in it.
When Faith and Depression Share the Same Space
I spent many years in pastoral ministry before becoming a professional counsellor. I’ve preached sermons about hope, peace and the joy of the Lord. I’ve encouraged congregations to trust God through difficult seasons. And there were seasons during my years in pastoral ministry when I preached about those very things while also receiving counselling for my own mental health.
There were times when I stood before a congregation proclaiming God’s goodness while privately navigating my own emotional struggles.
Was I being hypocritical?
Was my faith somehow less genuine?
Was God absent from my life because I needed support for my mental health?
I don’t believe so.
In fact, I would suggest that some of the deepest expressions of faith occur not when everything feels wonderful, but when we continue reaching towards God despite how we feel.
Sometimes faith looks like hands raised in worship. Sometimes it looks like tears quietly falling during a hymn. And sometimes faith looks like simply managing to walk through the church doors when everything within you wants to stay home. All three belong in the house of God.
Have We Forgotten the People in Our Bibles?
One of the things I find remarkable about Scripture is its honesty concerning human suffering.
The Bible doesn’t present us with a collection of emotionally invincible believers. Quite the opposite.
Elijah
Here was a prophet who had witnessed extraordinary demonstrations of God’s power. He had seen God answer by fire on Mount Carmel.
And yet, shortly afterwards, we find him exhausted, afraid, overwhelmed and asking God to take his life.
“I have had enough, LORD.” (1 Kings 19:4)
What interests me is God’s response.
God didn’t rebuke Elijah for failing to experience joy in His presence.
He didn’t tell him to worship harder.
He didn’t suggest that his despair demonstrated a lack of faith.
Instead, Elijah was given food, water and rest.
There is something profoundly compassionate about that.
David
A man described as being after God’s own heart, yet whose psalms are filled with anguish, sorrow, fear and despair.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalm 42:5)
David didn’t hide his emotional struggles from God. He brought them into his relationship with God. And those expressions of anguish became part of the worshipping life of God’s people.
Think about that. God allowed the language of despair to become part of Scripture’s vocabulary of worship.
And then there’s Psalm 88.
It’s one of the most striking passages in Scripture because it doesn’t conclude with the kind of triumphant declaration of hope we might expect.
There is no sudden emotional breakthrough.
No dramatic resolution.
No reassuring statement that everything has become better.
Instead, the psalmist continues to wrestle with suffering, isolation and darkness.
The psalm ends with darkness still present. And yet, it remains Scripture. Still a prayer. Still part of the worshipping tradition of God’s people.
I find that profoundly significant!
Not every faithful person’s story ends with an immediate emotional breakthrough. And Scripture makes room for that.
Job questioned the very value of his existence.
Jeremiah lamented the day he was born.
Paul wrote about being under such overwhelming pressure that he despaired even of life itself.
And Jesus Himself, in the Garden of Gethsemane, experienced profound sorrow and anguish.
Of course, we need to be careful here. We cannot retrospectively diagnose these biblical figures with clinical depression. Emotional distress and depressive disorders are not necessarily the same thing. But their experiences make one thing abundantly clear: Deep emotional suffering is not evidence of God’s absence. Nor is it necessarily evidence of spiritual failure.
The Joy of the Lord Is Not the Absence of Depression!
Perhaps part of our misunderstanding comes from how we interpret joy. We sometimes speak as though joy, happiness, emotional wellbeing and spiritual maturity are interchangeable. They aren’t.
Happiness is often connected to “happenings”, or circumstances and emotional experience.
Within the Christian tradition, joy is often understood as something deeper than momentary happiness, a hope grounded in God’s character and promises, even when our emotional experience tells a different story.
That doesn’t mean we will always feel joyful.
It means our hope is not entirely dependent on how we feel.
A person experiencing depression may struggle to access feelings of happiness, pleasure, motivation or hope. That is not necessarily a reflection of their relationship with God.
Depression can affect the way a person thinks, feels, sleeps, functions and experiences the world around them.
It can make even the things they once loved feel distant.
Including worship.
Including prayer.
Including church.
And yes, sometimes even their felt experience of God’s presence.
But not feeling God’s presence is not the same as God being absent.
Surely our theology must be spacious enough to accommodate that distinction. The promise of God’s presence is not dependent upon our ability to experience it emotionally.
When Our Words Become Another Burden
I don’t believe most Christians who make statements like the one I heard intend to cause harm. Often, these words emerge from sincere faith, genuine excitement and a desire to encourage others. But good intentions don’t always prevent unintended consequences.
As a counsellor, I’ve sat with people whose emotional suffering has been compounded by spiritual shame.
People who believe they should be coping better because they’re Christians.
People who feel guilty about taking medication.
People who have been told, directly or indirectly, that their anxiety or depression reflects insufficient faith.
People who are exhausted from trying to appear spiritually victorious while privately falling apart.
For someone already struggling with depression, the suggestion that God’s presence and depression cannot coexist may reinforce an incredibly painful conclusion:
If I’m still depressed, something must be wrong with me spiritually.
That conclusion can drive people further into isolation.
Instead of seeking support, they may hide their struggles.
Instead of asking for prayer, they may feel embarrassed.
Instead of seeking professional help, they may continue trying to resolve a complex mental health condition through spiritual effort alone.
Prayer, worship and Christian community are wonderful sources of comfort, meaning and support.But they are not substitutes for appropriate mental healthcare when it is needed.
And seeking that care is not a betrayal of faith.
You can trust God and see a counsellor.
You can believe in the power of prayer and take antidepressants.
You can love Jesus deeply and still experience depression.
These things are not mutually exclusive.
What If Church Became the Safest Place to Struggle?
I sometimes wonder what might happen if our churches became places where people felt as free to acknowledge their pain as they do to celebrate their victories.
Where someone could say, “I’m really struggling,” without immediately being offered a spiritual explanation.
Where depression wasn’t treated as a contradiction of faith.
Where the person who couldn’t bring themselves to sing was just as welcome as the person worshipping enthusiastically.
Where we understood that some people come to church feeling spiritually energised, while others come because they are barely holding on.
And where both are received with the same compassion.
The church should never become another place where people feel compelled to pretend they’re okay. It should be a place where they can bring their whole selves before God.
Their gratitude and their grief.
Their confidence and their confusion.
Their joy and their depression.
Their faith and their unanswered questions.
Jesus didn’t invite only the joyful, the emotionally healthy or the spiritually confident to come to Him. He invited the weary and burdened.And surely that includes those carrying the often invisible weight of depression.
To the Person Who Came to Church Feeling Depressed
If that’s you, there’s something I’d like you to hear.
You are not a lesser Christian because you’re struggling! Your depression does not disqualify you from God’s love. Your need for medication or professional support does not make your faith inadequate. And your inability to feel joyful in worship does not mean God has abandoned you.
You don’t have to manufacture an emotion to prove that you belong in His presence.
You don’t have to lift your hands.
You don’t have to smile.
You don’t even have to find the words to pray.
Sometimes, simply being there is enough.
I believe wholeheartedly in the power of worship. I believe God meets people in extraordinary ways. I believe His presence can bring comfort, peace, healing and renewed hope. But I also believe we need to be careful about turning what God can do into something we insist He must do in every person’s experience.
Perhaps instead of declaring that depression cannot exist in God’s presence, we could proclaim something far more compassionate and, I believe, far more consistent with Scripture:
Even in your depression, God is present.
Even in your darkness, you are not forgotten.
Even when you cannot feel His nearness, His love has not diminished.
And even when the joy of the Lord feels impossibly distant, you are still welcome in His house.
Because the presence of God was never meant to be reserved for those who have it all together.
It is a place of refuge for those who don’t!
You can love Jesus and still be depressed.
You can be in the presence of God and still be struggling.
And you are no less welcome because of it.
About the Author
Wayne George is a counsellor and clinical supervisor with a background in pastoral ministry and counselling education. Through Samway Consulting, he supports individuals navigating life’s challenges and provides professional supervision to counsellors and other helping professionals. His approach recognises the importance of psychological wellbeing, personal values and, where appropriate and welcomed by the client, spirituality and faith.
This article offers general reflections on faith and mental health and is not intended as individual clinical advice. If you are experiencing symptoms of depression, consider speaking with your GP or a qualified mental health professional. If you are in immediate danger, call 000. In Australia, Lifeline provides 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.
