Depression is not a malfunction of the mind, it’s a signal.

My illness does not need to become my identity.

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set me free.

Lamentations 3:17-20
 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” I remember my affliction my wandering my bitterness and my gall I well remember them and my soul is downcast in me.

2 Corinthians 1:8
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

1 Kings 19:1-4
When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

1 Kings 19:1-4
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

Here are six ways you get in the cave:

1. Life imbalances.

“We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, socially isolated, fast-food laden, sleep-deprived, frenzied pace of modern life.” ~Stephen Ilardi

Ecclesiastes 4:6
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

2. Comparing ourselves with others.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Galatians 6:4-5
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

3. Ruminating and self-talk.

“95% of your emotions are determined by the way you talk to yourself.” ~Brian Tracy

Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things… and the God of peace will be with you.

4. Inability to process pain in a healthy way.

2 Corinthians 1:4-6
God… comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation…

There is purpose in your pain.

5. Isolation and loneliness.

The first problem in the Bible wasn’t sin, it was solitude.

Romans 12:5
“…Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.”

6. Spiritual Warfare

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…