Clinical perspectives often describe depression or anxiety as the result of neurochemical imbalances or genetic predispositions. And I don’t deny these realities. There is such a thing as clinical depression, and medical intervention can be necessary and good. But even here, I find myself asking: Where did the imbalance begin? Could early emotional trauma have shaped it? By grief absorbed in the womb? By generational wounds passed down without words? By a bullying incident in middle school?
From a faith-based lens, I see much of our sorrow as a perceived separation from God.
That separation can take many forms. Sometimes it feels like abandonment; God has forsaken me. At other times, it stems from shame, as if I don’t deserve to be in the presence of the Lord. Whether the source is external (trauma, loss, war, disease) or internal (sin, guilt, conscience), the heartache remains: a soul aching to be reunited with its Creator.
Science, despite all its achievements, grapples with mystery. It aims to hypothesize, test, and prove. But many of the most significant truths—those offered by God—remain unprovable. They are revealed. Received. Believed. Accepted. Consider marriage. Science can describe the hormones that bind a couple, but it cannot fathom how two souls become one. Science can explain and detail how the egg meets the sperm and forms life at that precise moment. If most scientists were honest, they would admit that conception is more of a miracle, a mystery, than anything else. Marriage, in its truest sense, is a sacrament, not merely a contract. It exists not just for companionship or procreation but to bestow grace.
And this brings me to a word of encouragement.
If you are reading this now, weighed down by sorrow, and especially if your suffering stems from the invisible burdens you carry for your spouse or child, know this: your suffering is not wasted. It is a symbol of God’s love for you. In fact, you should rejoice, because you know you are now sharing your suffering with the Lord’s suffering – the type of suffering He feels when you become distracted from Him.
Just imagine the warm feeling you might have with the comforting assurance that God loves you most deeply when you feel most abandoned. Don’t be afraid, He says. And when He says it, He truly means it.