Latest / Finding God at Work / 11: Depression and Will

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11: Depression and Will · Finding God at Work

• 0:06
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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  course.
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  Check it out at FindingGodatWork.org.
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  Our current series is wholehearted, Becoming Healthier Christians
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  at Work, and right now we're looking at
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  depression.
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  We started in our last episode just kind
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  of continuing.
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  Last episode we talked about acceptance and the
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  importance of accepting the love of God in
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  our weakness if we have an experience of
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  depression.
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  In this episode I want to talk about
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  depression and the will.
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  So again, we did our work as theological
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  anthropologists, letting Jesus be our teacher, letting Jesus
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  be our anthropologist, looking at different aspects of
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  the human person, that Jesus kind of assumes
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  a holistic attitude.
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  He says that we are to love the
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  Lord our God with all our heart and
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  all our soul and all our mind and
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  all our strength.
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  He's specifically using language that talks about the
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  different aspects of the person, how they're all
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  meant to integrate and go together in our
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  relationship with God, so a kind of implicit
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  holism there.
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  And we talked specifically about thoughts, feelings, will,
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  body, and soul.
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  Okay, so depression affects all of those things.
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  Depression affects your thoughts, it affects your feelings,
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  it affects your will, it affects your body,
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  it even affects your soul.
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  So I would just kind of want to
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  break that down a little bit and specifically
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  focus on the piece of will, which is
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  often misunderstood and can really help us if
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  we're having an experience of depression at work.
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  So the first thing I want to say,
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  very similar to what I said last time
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  about acceptance versus denial, is that willingness leads
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  to healing while willfulness does not.
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  Willingness leads to healing while willfulness does not.
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  Now those words sound similar, so just to
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  kind of clarify what I mean.
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  When you are willing, that means you're open,
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  you're willing to be led, you're willing to
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  receive something from someone else.
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  In the context of a relationship of authority,
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  you're willing to follow someone else or to
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  submit to their authority versus willfulness is the
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  attitude that says, I must have my own
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  way, my way or the highway, I will
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  it, that is how it has to be.
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  And so I want to go to a
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  biblical paradigm for this.
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  This is from Second Kings chapter five.
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  Also, I just noticed today, like we're spending
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  a lot of time in First and Second
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  Kings in the Finding God at Work podcast
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  so far.
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  Like when we concluded the Imagining Work series,
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  we were in Second Kings six with Elisha
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  and the Arameans.
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  I'm kind of going to go back to
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  Elisha and an Aramean today and one chapter
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  earlier, we talked about Jeroboam at some point.
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  So I don't know why that was not
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  intentional.
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  I wasn't even like reading First and Second
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  Kings while preparing for the series.
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  Somehow, just all of my ideas apparently are
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  illustrated by the stories of First and Second
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  Kings.
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  So make of that what you will.
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  If someone has some great theological insight about
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  why that is, let me know.
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  Okay, but Second Kings chapter five, same characters
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  from that earlier story with Elisha and the
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  Arameans.
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  So Elisha is the prophet.
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  He's ministering in Israel.
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  Aram is a different kingdom that often is
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  in conflict with Israel.
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  And there's this fellow named Naaman who's a
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  commander of the army of Aram.
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  And he has leprosy, a skin condition, which
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  could be life-threatening and certainly life-altering.
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  He comes because he hears of Elisha's reputation.
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  Okay, so starting in verse nine.
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  So Naaman went with his horses and chariots
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  and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
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  Elisha sent a messenger to say to him,
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  go, watch yourself seven times in the Jordan
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  and your flesh will be restored and you
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  will be cleansed.
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  But Naaman went away angry and said, I
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  thought that he would surely come out to
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  me and stand and call on the name
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  of the Lord his God, wave his hand
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  over the spot and cure me of my
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  leprosy.
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  Are not Abana and Phapar the rivers of
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  Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?
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  Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?
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  So he turned and went off in a
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  rage.
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  Naaman's servants went to him and said, my
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  father, if the prophet had told you to
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  do some great thing, would you not have
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  done it?
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  How much more than when he tells you
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  wash and be cleansed.
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  So Naaman went down and dipped himself in
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  the Jordan seven times as the man of
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  God had told him and his flesh was
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  restored and became clean like that of a
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  young boy.
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  Okay, I find this story full of humor.
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  I think that the author of first and
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  second Kings were authors, plural, perhaps.
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  They really loved creating irony and just moments
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  of laughter.
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  One of these is Naaman, right?
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  Naaman is coming to Israel with leprosy, hoping
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  he can be healed, right?
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  And then the prophet tells him exactly what
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  to do to be healed.
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  And he just gets huffy.
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  He's just he's in a huff.
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  He's like, I don't want to do that,
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  right?
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  Why doesn't he want to do it?
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  Because it's not impressive enough, right?
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  He expected that the prophet would come out
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  and make a show, right?
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  Wave his hand over the place, call in
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  the name of his God, acknowledge the greatness
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  of Naaman, this commander of the army.
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  But Elisha does no such thing.
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  Elisha doesn't even come talk to him.
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  Elisha sends one of his servants to pass
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  along the message.
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  So we see that Elisha is queued in
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  to what's going on for Naaman, probably because
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  God has revealed it to him or maybe
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  Naaman has a reputation.
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  I'm not sure.
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  But Naaman is full of himself, right?
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  Naaman is getting huffy because Naaman is willful
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  and proud and arrogant.
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  And he thinks that he needs things to
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  happen in a certain way that he's insisting
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  on.
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  Now, thankfully, Naaman has a servant that's a
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  little bit more spiritually mature than he is.
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  And he says, well, look, if Elisha had
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  asked you to do some impressive thing, right?
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  Some grand, you know, quest adventure so that
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  you could be healed, you would totally be
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  down for that because that would, by implication,
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  that would appeal to your pride, right?
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  So he's like, so why not do an
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  easy thing?
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  Right?
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  It's like a very pragmatic suggestion, very wise
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  suggestion.
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  So Naaman folds, he says, okay, whatever, I'll
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  do it.
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  And then he's healed.
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  He's healed because he's willing to submit to
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  the authority of the prophet.
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  The authority of God has expressed through the
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  word of this prophet passed along by the
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  messenger and then reinforced by his own servant.
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  There's also a great story because it's like
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  the little people winning, right?
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  Like the servant gets to give the announcement.
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  The other servant gets to persuade Naaman to
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  do the right thing.
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  It's one of those upside down kingdom stories
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  where God is not impressed by titles or
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  rank the way that human beings are.
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  He looks at the heart.
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  Okay.
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  So Naaman had this willfulness at first.
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  I have to be impressive.
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  I have to get this done in the
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  way that I say that recognizes my merit
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  and my value as the commander of the
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  army that I am.
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  But then what actually leads to his healing
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  is willingness, willingness to be led, willingness to
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  bathe in what he considered the unimpressive Jordan
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  river, willingness to take advice from his servant,
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  willingness to follow the instructions.
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  Okay.
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  So this is true for us too.
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  If we have an experience with depression, healing
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  is going to come from willingness, not from
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  willfulness.
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  What do I mean?
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  Well, similar to how I said before one
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  is we could just live in denial about
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  our depression, but there's another thing here too
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  about the will, which is we could take
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  an attitude of just a white knuckling it
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  trying to muscle our way through the experience
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  of depression by just continually relying on our
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  will, right?
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  Our capacity to choose the right thing.
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  Now caveat here, will is irreplaceable.
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  Will is important.
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  It is very important to choose the right
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  thing.
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  We've taught about that.
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  We talked about that in the fruitful work
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  series, how God has given us this capacity
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  to choose that's deeply inside of us.
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  And that's a good thing.
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  And that we're meant to have this flow
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  of God's will and then our will saying
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  yes to God.
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  And then the formation of habits and then
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  the expression of that and our bodies in
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  terms of our actual behavior and our words
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  and speech.
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  That's good.
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  That pattern that God has given us is
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  good.
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  And will is an essential and irreplaceable piece
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  of that.
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  But when you try and white knuckle your
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  way through depression, it's like you're taking will
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  and thinking that it's everything, right?
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  Will is irreplaceable, but it's not everything.
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  It's almost like the steering wheel of a
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  car.
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  It's like if your steering wheel is broken.
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  And so you fix your steering wheel and
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  you're like, I've got a good steering wheel.
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  Everything should be okay.
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  But also your engine is broken, right?
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  You've got the check engine light on, but
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  you're like, but the steering wheel is good.
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  The steering wheel is good.
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  Why should I have to check on the
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  engine?
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  And this is what it's like when you're
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  like white knuckling, like I'm choosing good things.
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  I'm choosing to do the right thing.
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  I'm choosing to go to work in the
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  morning.
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  Why should I have to pay attention to
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  like my emotions or the dynamics that are
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  contributing to my depression in the first place,
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  like, or my body, like, can I just
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  choose to do the right thing?
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  It's like, well, yes, yes, that's essential.
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  You need a steering wheel.
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  You need to choose to do the right
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  thing, but it's not everything.
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  So another way of saying this is that
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  depression is multifactorial.
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  That's the technical term.
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  It means there's multiple factors that contribute to
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  depression.
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  So something that can contribute to depression could
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  be a kind of personal crisis, a sense
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  of identity or a question around vocation.
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  Sometimes people get depressed after losing their job
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  or not getting a promotion or feeling like
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  they're in a dead end job.
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  But depression also can have biological components, chemical
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  components.
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  There are receptors in your brain that are
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  designed to work in a certain way to
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  establish certain sorts of moods that are good
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  to experience and sometimes those get out of
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  whack.
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  So your brain chemistry contributes to a sense
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  of depression.
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  Sometimes depression can be related to other physical
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  conditions.
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  Exercise is often one of the best natural
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  antidepressants.
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  Okay, so there's multiple factors that contribute to
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  depression.
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  What that means is that if you are
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  relying solely on your will, white knuckling by
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  always choosing to be productive, by choosing to
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  do the right thing regardless of how you
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  feel, you are ignoring several important factors that
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  contribute to your experience of depression in all
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  likelihood.
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  Okay, it's like you're pretending there's a steering
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  wheel but there isn't an engine.
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  So instead, what a healthy response to depression
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  would be would be willingness.
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  Like Naaman, willing to listen to the servant,
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  willing to listen to Elisha, willing to go
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  to the unimpressive river.
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  Willingness to look at those other factors.
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  Willingness to say, oh, maybe I do have
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  a brain chemistry component that's affecting my mood.
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  Maybe I do have some emotional experiences that
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  are affecting how I'm making sense out of
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  my life and my career.
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  Maybe I do have some sort of crisis
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  that needs to be confronted rather than ignored.
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  Okay, now none of that is a replacement
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  for the will, right?
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  The will is irreplaceable, but all of it
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  needs to integrate with the will.
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  Multifactorial depression requires a holistic response.
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  You got to look at the steering wheel
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  and at the engine and at the exhaust
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  pipe and whatever else might be having an
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  issue there.
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  And that requires humility, right?
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  Because sometimes the reason why we don't want
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  to look at all that other stuff is
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  that we have a self-concept that says,
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  I just get things done and that's who
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  I am.
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  And if I were to admit that I
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  can't always get things done, then there's a
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  problem with me.
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  It's like, well, yeah, yeah, maybe there is
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  a problem.
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  Not a problem with you, but a problem
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  that you're facing and that you can get
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  some help facing if you're willing to ask
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  for help and to get a holistic response.
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  Okay, so willingness leads to healing.
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  Willfulness does not.
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  We see that in name and story.
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  This is about humility.
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  It's about wholism.
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  It's about recognizing that God created us with
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  multiple parts and all of those parts need
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  attention.
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  What does that look like as it plays
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  out in the workplace?
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  Well, one thing is that if you're noticing
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  that your depression is affecting your work, that
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  just continuing to grit it out is not
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  the best strategy.
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  It's good to think, okay, what can I
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  do that might even indirectly help address this
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  problem?
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  So like in the moment, it's like, I
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  am so exhausted.
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  I cannot answer one more email.
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  I feel like I feel like I'm going
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  to die.
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  And so you just grit it out.
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  I will answer the other email.
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  Okay, not the best strategy.
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  Instead, what if I go for a walk
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  and then see if I have the energy
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  to answer the email after going for the
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  walk?
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  How about I use my body?
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  How about I take a holistic approach and
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  see if that helps me cope in some
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  way, right?
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  And of course, there's research that shows that
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  like taking a break at least once an
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  hour, at least standing up for a couple
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  of minutes once an hour has all sorts
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  of wonderful effects on your health and your
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  productivity.
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  So even on the metric of just productivity,
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  taking the walk is a good idea.
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  But then the other thing to think about
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  is that your productivity is not the only
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  thing you bring to your workplace, right?
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  So it's not just that you need to
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  question the strategy of gritting it out from
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  the standpoint of productivity, although you do.
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  You also need to question, oh, what am
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  I bringing to my workplace besides my productivity?
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  Because sometimes there are some very productive, gritted
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  out people like that.
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  Like that's the thing, like gritting it out,
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  you can get some mileage out of that.
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  Like you might be able to force yourself
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  to answer one more email and some people
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  just make a habit.
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  Again, their will is forming their habit all
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  throughout their lives, where it's like you cram
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  yourself into this productivity shape where it's like,
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  even when I'm terribly depressed, I can be
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  productive.
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  But then you know what you're not able
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  to be to the people around you is
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  like emotionally present, caring and pathetic, right?
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  Like if you squeeze all of your powers
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  of will just into productivity, all of your
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  other capacities as a human being will not
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  fit.
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  They will not fit.
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  You will not be able to look at
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  the people around you with compassion or if
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  you're a manager to take into account the
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  weaknesses of your team and the way that
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  you divide your work.
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  You don't just bring productivity to your workplace
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  and to your team.
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  You bring your presence, you bring your whole
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  self.
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  So that again is why we have to
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  take a holistic approach to seeking healing and
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  seeking a response to depression is that the
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  gift that you're giving to your workplace is
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  not just productivity.
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  You are not just a machine.
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  You are a human being and whether you
• 14:28
  realize it or not, your depression is affecting
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  you along those lines too.
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  Okay, so that's how we live this out
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  in the workplace.
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  We question the strategy of gritting it out.
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  We instead take a holistic, sometimes indirect approach,
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  you know, go for a walk, talk with
• 14:46
  a friend, schedule an appointment with a therapist
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  and then that will bear fruit in your
• 14:51
  workplace over time, maybe not the same day,
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  but over time.
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  And we also remember that we're bringing our
• 14:58
  presence with us to our work relationships, not
• 15:00
  just our productivity, all the more reason to
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  take a holistic approach.
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  Okay, I wanted to just start there, but
• 15:07
  I wanted to end actually back with the
• 15:08
  Naaman story.
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  As we think about this willingness, this openness
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  to something that comes from God that's beyond
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  us, let me just read that final verse
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  of the part of the story where Naaman
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  gets healed.
• 15:22
  So Naaman went down and dipped himself in
• 15:24
  the Jordan seven times as the man of
• 15:26
  God had told him and his flesh was
• 15:28
  restored and became clean like that of a
• 15:30
  young boy.
• 15:32
  Then Naaman and all his attendants went back
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  to the man of God.
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  He stood before him and said, now I
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  know that there is no God in all
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  the world except in Israel.
• 15:43
  When early interpreters of this passage in the
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  first centuries after Christ read it, they realized
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  that this was an image of baptism, that
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  just like Naaman went down into the water
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  and then was healed when he came back
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  up and recognized the God of Israel.
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  So when we are baptized into Christ Jesus,
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  we are healed, we are saved from the
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  power of sin and death, and we come
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  into knowledge of God through faith in Jesus
• 16:10
  Christ.
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  So it's a beautiful image of baptism, but
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  it's not just that it's an image of
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  baptism, it's that that openness to healing, that
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  willingness to be led leads to a deeper
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  vision of God.
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  Naaman sees God in a new way on
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  this side of his quote-unquote baptism.
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  We see God in a new way on
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  this side of our literal baptism in the
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  name of the Father and the Son and
• 16:35
  the Holy Spirit, but also whenever we step
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  into that baptism in willingness to receive something
• 16:41
  from God that's beyond ourselves and we experience
• 16:45
  that healing, we experience it in small ways
• 16:48
  and in big ways, we actually get a
• 16:51
  clearer vision of who God is.
• 16:53
  It's not just about us feeling better, although
• 16:55
  hopefully it will involve that.
• 16:57
  It's about us seeing the goodness of God,
• 17:00
  that there is no God in all the
• 17:02
  world except him.
• 17:07
  Lord Jesus, thank you that you reveal God
• 17:10
  as he really is and that by your
• 17:12
  death and resurrection we can experience going down
• 17:14
  into the waters of baptism and coming up
• 17:16
  clean and cleansed and healed and we pray
• 17:20
  that you would show us how to experience
• 17:22
  that if we struggle with depression, when we
• 17:24
  struggle with depression, that we would act according
• 17:29
  to your will, that we would choose to
• 17:31
  pursue healing even indirectly and holistically instead of
• 17:35
  being willful and pretending we don't have a
• 17:37
  problem and that in that we would catch
• 17:40
  a deeper vision of you.
• 17:42
  Lord Jesus, do your work in us as
• 17:44
  we do our work with you.
• 17:46
  Amen.
• 17:51
  Thanks for listening.
• 17:52
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 17:54
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 17:57
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 17:59
  life.
• 18:00
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 18:02
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 18:04
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 18:06
  and Thursday.
• 18:07
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 18:09
  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
• 18:12
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
• 18:14
  go to our website, missioncentral.church.