Today’s guest post is from our friend, Emily Barrus. If you’ve ever faced difficulties, hard times, depression, or seasons of feeling down, this one’s for you. ❤️

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Ps. 31:7b tells us, “for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;”

Have you ever felt like a rock in a hard place? Feeling stuck or in a deep depression, yet you don’t know why?

Changes come and go in our lives. Some for the better… some for the worse. We may find ourselves in certain circumstances or seasons that we wish we were no longer in.

It may feel like we are the only one who is suffering. We may feel all alone—no matter if family and friends surround us or not. It also may seem like we are the only ones that continue to battle through hard times while others seem to only have days filled with sunshine and roses. 

We may think, “Why do we always have hardships? Why do they never suffer?”

Growing up with family nearby made for fun-filled holidays. I would nestle on the couch by a front window and for what would seem like hours, I would wait. I eagerly awaited the arrival of my family.  I eagerly awaited for the fun to begin. 

But then family members moved away. Things changed…. The older I’ve gotten, the family gatherings seem to have shrunk to an all-time attendance low. 

No one ever told me that things may seem lonelier once I reached adulthood. Friends tend to scatter over time.

Recently, I began dreading the arrival of holidays and other special days. One after another was filled with a deep loneliness. Inevitably, tears would begin to stream down my face. 

I have never been diagnosed with depression, but several months ago, I had never felt as low as I did then. Rampant thoughts were running me ragged.

“Does anyone care about me?”

“Would anyone care if I wasn’t here tomorrow?”

“Why should I keep going?”

“I don’t have a reason for living.”

“Where is God when I need Him the most?”

I knew the devil was feeding those lies into my soul. I knew those thoughts were absolute lies. I knew God was right there next to me waiting for me to cry out to Him.

And yet… in that moment I felt utterly helpless. I almost felt too far gone. It was a scary feeling (I NEVER want to feel that way again).

I wasn’t doubting my salvation: I knew I was safe and secure in my loving Savior’s arms for eternity. There’s truly no way to describe that low feeling —unless you may have also been there and felt it too. 

Recently, when I read the Bible, the verse I needed the most at different moments would be in the passage I was reading. Don’t you love it when God does that? God sees us. He can use a verse to encourage us.

Highs and lows will come: we experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows as part of life… but God is with us through them all.

Life is a journey, but it is not a journey we need to take alone. No matter how hopeless or lonely we may be feeling, God is right there next to us. He is huddled close. He is reminding us that that we are never truly alone, no matter how alone we may feel. 

I don’t know for sure if what I had experienced truly was depression, but it got me thinking of a scary depression statistic: did you know that depression is most common in young adults aged 18-25?

Why are so many young adults depressed? What has changed in our world, our lives, to make us more susceptible?

To be totally honest, I can spend more time than I should mindlessly scrolling social media. Do I feel wonderful and super happy scrolling past images of people that have things my soul craves for? No, not at all… and yet I find myself scrolling and scrolling. 

While banishing social media from my smartphone will help my mental clarity, it doesn’t automatically fix everything. 

There are so many distractions in this world. It can be so easy to get caught up in something we love, or something completely random. 

Perhaps, you may overthink obsessively. I tend to do this. I can tell you: absolutely no peace is found in overthinking anything. Overthinking can cause so much unnecessary stress. It can cause us to spiral and that spiral will go as down and deep as we let it. 

The devil loves to whisper lies and deceit to us: he wants us to believe those lies. He loves it when we do. In those moments, it can be easy to forget who is right there next to us trying to remind us of His amazing love. God. 

God loves us more than anything. We are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image. He sent His son to die for us. If we were the only people on Earth, He would have gladly died for us. 

His unconditional love can be hard to fathom at times. He has a plan and purpose for each of us. If there is still breath in our lungs, it is because He still has a plan for us here on Earth. 

We read in Psalm 31:15a that “My times are in thy hand […]” and in Psalm 23:4, we find the reminder, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

He knows exactly what we are going through. Even if we think no one cares, God does.

God is for us. He is right by our side encouraging us to press on for Him. We will make it through the hard times. We will make it through. Why? God. 

He has us in His loving arms. He will never let us go. Lean into Him. Look to Him. He is right there next to us. 

We will make it through. 

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Emily addresses the spiritual aspect of depression (the part that affects our soul and our need for God’s presence in our lives). However, we are tri-part beings: we consist of the body, the mind, and the soul. If you are facing a season of depression or anxiety, please reach out to your doctor to address your physical needs (vitamin deficiencies, iron deficiencies, hormone imbalance, antidepressants) and please reach out to someone for counseling your mental needs. Depression affects every part of who you are and we must meet the need every part of us has to truly overcome. ❤️

You are too important to God, to the people in your life, and to the world to not use the resources available to you, ladies.