As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“ministry leaders are not mental health professionals… typically unsure of how to help people—including ourselves—through dark seasons. Here are four lessons I learned through my experience.” - Lifeway
“Christmas season is the season of joy, but it is also a time when the cumulative weight of all that has happened in the course of the year catches up with you. Moving into the last month of the year often causes a sense of being worn out, discouraged, or stretched thin.” - Colin Smith
“t’s easy to see only the negative—and even magnify it—when we’re hurting. That’s when we need to pray the prayer of Moses: ‘Please, let me see your glory’ (Exo 33:18).” - Chuck Lawless
“Charles Spurgeon is known as one of the greatest preachers in history. Not everyone knows about his ongoing battle with depression. Even fewer people know about his advocacy for people who lived with the same—or a similar—condition.” - Ref21
“I find deep encouragement in knowing that God has everything I need. Jesus is the chief shepherd of the church. Ultimately, what the church is or becomes is up to him. He’s in charge.” - TGC
Perhaps it isn’t commonly known that Charles Spurgeon suffered from depression. In his book, Spurgeon on the Christian Life, Michael Reeves notes that today he would most certainly be diagnosed as clinically depressed.
At age twenty-two he was the pastor of a large church and the father of twin babies. While he was preaching to thousands of people, some pranksters began yelling “fire.” They created a stampede killing seven people and severely injuring twenty-eight others. Reeves cites his wife Susannah,
“In the interpretation of the responses, the study authors articulated five things that contribute to stress and, one could argue, be correlated to mental illness in clergy.” - Church Leaders
“For starters, there’s oversharing. We’re hardly meant, as ambassadors of Christ, to talk about ourselves all the time. Also, not everyone in the church needs to know about everything you struggle with.” - TGC
Discussion