If you have a friend going through depression, follow 1 Thessalonians 5 where it says: “Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.”
SHAUNA: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Today Joni asks, who do you hold the rope for?
JONI: And I ask that question because I was inspired by a special story. In 1792, William Carey and a few other pastors formed the Baptist Missionary Society. These men were praying earnestly, because they were about to leave everything – their families, their possessions, everything – to become the first missionaries to India. They were just a small band of praying brothers and had no one to depend on but God and each other. One of the men, John Ryland, recorded the scene this way. He said, “Our undertaking to India really appeared to me, on its commencement, to be somewhat like a few men, who were deliberating about the importance of penetrating into a deep mine, a mine which had never been explored. We had no one to guide us; and while we were thus deliberating, [William] Carey, as it were, said ‘Well, I will go down, if you—[my brothers]—will hold the rope.’”
I love that story. Because at the time, India was a dark and dangerous far-away land. It was like descending into a dark shaft down an unexplored mine where no one had ever ventured. To me, whenever I read that, I think of another dark and dangerous mine shaft. The pit they call depression. A place where there is no light; where you grope to find your way; a dark place that feels suffocating and so hard to breathe. And I know how it feels because I’ve been there. And, oh, as I look back on those seasons of deep depression, I am so grateful, so glad, that there were Christians friends who held the rope. My friend Betsy was one. She had never been paralyzed; didn’t know anything about quadriplegia or wheelchairs or pressure sores, but still, she held the rope. Betsy would come by on a Friday night when I was still confined to bed, and she’d bring a book, and just read to me. Sometimes I was interested; but mostly, I wasn’t. I slept while she read. Thirty minutes would go by, and when I woke up, Betsy was still there with book in hand; she had not left. She cared that much. It made her like a Jesus-with-skin-on rope-holder, keeping a grip on me, sometimes giving the rope a little slack when I was too weary to talk; other times, reeling me in when she sensed I was floundering and in danger. It’s been a long time since those heavy, somber days when I was very depressed. And I thank the Lord that God held on to me through my friend Betsy who would not let go of my rope.
So, again I ask: who do you hold a rope for? Because depression is like a dark, black vein in an unexplored mine, narrower and more suffocating than any shaft. You struggle to keep breathing, keep living, keep moving forward. Do you have a friend who’s going through that? Well, when they are going down, will you please hold their rope? Will you let them borrow your faith, your courage, your love, your sacrificial giving? Will you, like Betsy, give these friends your presence? If this is you, if you’re helping a friend through depression, there is a paraphrase I love of 1 Thessalonians 5 where it says, “Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.”
SHAUNA: Dear listening friend, if you’re depressed and you need someone to throw you a rope, tell us about it, will you? Go to joniradio.org. We want to pray for you, and we’ve got all sorts of free resources that will help you through this dark time. Remember that’s joniradio.org. And as always, thank you for listening to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope.
© Joni and Friends