You are not alone.

Depression isolates. It drives us to lonely places. Even when surrounded by friends, we feel alone. Even when we know others love us, we feel unworthy.

Oh, my friend, you are not alone.

Here I am. I have depression. You do not walk this road alone. You are not the only one who knows the joy of the Lord while toiling under the impossible burden of a hollow heart. And you and I aren’t freaks for having depression.

“But I know better.”

I know you do.

I do, too.

Every time I slip into one of my episodes, I beat myself up. Haven’t I learned this lesson already? Don’t I already know that my worth is not in me, but in the robes of righteousness my Savior won for me?

Even in this, you’re not alone. And just as we constantly need to hear the Gospel, so often we need to be reminded of other things we know. You are not alone.

But this by itself isn’t much comfort. It just means we’re messed up together, doesn’t it?

Look to your Savior. Do you see him weep? Do you hear him as he cries out, in a situation where the brokenness of this world strikes at his heart? Even when he already knows he will see Lazarus alive again in just a few minutes, when he has already made clear his plans to both the apostles and to Lazarus’s sisters, he still bawls.

I know you are tempted to despair. I know that temptation to walk away can be so strong. But Jesus faced that temptation. He knows what it is. Every temptation you’ve faced, he has, too. And he has overcome.

Your depression has already been defeated by your Savior. Gene Veith, Jr. writes, “On the cross, He carried not only our transgressions and our iniquity, but ‘our infirmities’ and ‘our sorrows.’”

He has already walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. You have experienced what it is to have the walls cut off the sun. You have lost sight of the sky. The heavens were far, far beyond your grasp. But Jesus has walked this way before. He has gone through and seen the bright sunlight on the other side. He guides you even now. Even now he is walking with you. And when your heart lies to you, when it says that you are forgotten, remind it of this truth: Your Savior knows your depression, loves you still, and stands with you.

You are not alone.