Finding Hope in times of depression

Depression can feel different to each person. Sometimes, it might feel like tiredness and lethargy. Sometimes, it might feel like irritability. But there is one symptom of depression that seems to be universal and that is a deep sense of hopelessness.

When we are in the depths of pain or depression, it feels vulnerable and even counterintuitive to hope. It can feel too painful to hope for a different tomorrow. Maybe when we’ve had hope before we were met only with disappointment, so we dare not reach out for anything better. Instead, we protect ourselves by not hoping at all.

But perhaps it’s time to reframe the way we see hope. Instead of it being something we cannot quite grasp, could we begin to see hope as someone.

Hope has a name and His name is Jesus. In Jeremiah 29:11, God declares His plans to give His people a reason to hope, and the cause of that hope is Jesus.

Hope and a future.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29: 11

The intersection of theology and therapy has a lot to say about hope and the act of hoping. Science is forever catching up with scripture, and it turns out that hope and hoping does exactly what we read in Hebrews 6:19. It anchors our souls - our mind, our will and our emotions. Recent studies have shown that being able to hope can lower anxiety levels. Hopefulness is one of the most powerful practices we can engage in, both physically and spiritually.

Acts of hopefulness actually change the landscape of our brain, stimulating the frontal lobes in which we do our best thinking. Hopefulness can turn off the worry centers in our limbic system, the part of our brain that produces our emotional responses and can even act as a natural pain relief.

We are created to be vessels of hope. The more we hope, the more hopeful we become.

We can cultivate a posture and a
habit of hope
starting right now!

Allow your body and your mind to become still.

As you read this scripture from Hebrews 6:19, allow your thinking to be shaped by hope.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

As we meditate on Hebrews 6:19, can we imagine hope entering our thoughts, our mind, our will and our emotions. We may not feel it but you can be assured that something is taking place in your brain and we can trust that something unseen is taking place in our spirits too.

In the face of hopelessness :

May you wield your hope like a spiritual weapon.When you hear the whisper of despair or you feel the temptation to welcome fear,
May you instead sing your praise and remember where your hope comes from.
Of whom shall you be afraid?
When you feel tempted to wear your hopelessness,
Will you instead dress in the clothes marked out for you:
Garments of faith and hope and love.
May you refuse to collude with the lie of hopelessness.
Instead, will you breathe your breath, wash your face,
Throw open your windows and dare to hope again.
Let us commit to hopefulness, and when one of us grows weary, we will lift one another's hands and wipe each other's tear-stained cheeks.
We will sit beside our fellow journeyers in the silence, holding space and holding hands.
We will look one another in the eye and recommission one another to hope,
Again and again and even again.
Amen

Contributor : Joanna Hargreaves

Jo is a therapist, writer and pastor who writes for Glorify