[Elijah] sat down under a broom plant and wanted to die. “I’ve had enough now, Lord,” he said. “Take my life! I’m no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down and slept under the broom plant. An angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
1 Kings 19:4–5
If you never felt depressed, then you wouldn’t be human. It’s the nature of a rock to never get depressed, but you’re not a rock; you’re a human and humans have emotions. The lows of life are what give you the ability to feel the highs. This world includes some bad things that are depressing. Don’t get mad at yourself when those things show up in your life and sometimes get the best of you.
Elijah was depressed in this story. The world seemed to be out to get him, and he wanted nothing to do with it any longer. But look how God intervened. He didn’t give Elijah some big revelation; he commanded him to do something simple but powerful: “Get up and eat” (1 Kings 19:5). Elijah didn’t have a vision. He didn’t see God in all his glory at that moment. He just did what he was told.
Depression doesn’t have to win. If you’re willing to do what God asks you to do the minute he asks you, you can kick depression before it becomes too much for you to overcome. If God helps you to intuitively know that you have to do something like get out of bed and eat, then you’ve got to do it. When you get up and do something, you’ll see the depression start to lift. You have to make the effort to decide today who you will follow—the voice of depression or the voice of God.