Podcast Summary: Ask Ligonier – “How Should a Christian Deal with Depression?”

Date: August 21, 2025
Host: Nathan W. Bingham
Guest: Dr. Michael Reeves, President and Professor of Theology at Union School of Theology, UK

Overview

In this episode, Nathan W. Bingham asks Dr. Michael Reeves how a Christian should deal with depression. Dr. Reeves discusses common misconceptions about spiritual life and depression, explores potential causes, offers biblical wisdom and encouragement, and shares insights from Christian history—including personal stories of Charles Spurgeon and William Cowper. The conversation strives to offer hope and practical guidance for Christians struggling with depression.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Depression Doesn’t Make You a Second-Class Christian

Timestamp: 00:25

• Dr. Reeves opens by stressing that experiencing depression does not make someone spiritually inferior:
  • “To struggle with depression does not make you a second class Christian. Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon—heroes of the faith—struggled with depression themselves.” [00:28]

2. Historical Examples: Luther and Spurgeon

Timestamp: 00:35

• He emphasizes that significant figures in Christian history, like Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon, faced serious depression.
  • Spurgeon’s openness about his depression, even preaching and writing on it, led to greater empathy and “tenderness with those who struggle.” [00:48]
  • “The Lord uses our very struggles to make us more Christlike.” [01:00]

3. Multiple Causes of Depression

Timestamp: 01:10

• Depression’s roots are often multifaceted:
  • Physical causes (e.g., pain, constitution, fatigue)
  • Spiritual causes
  • Mental/emotional causes
• Spurgeon, for example, found physical relief by traveling to the south of France to escape the dreary London weather. [01:45]
• Dr. Reeves suggests:
  • “It might mean your body needs rest. It might mean you need some medication… But these remedies are often palliative—they don’t address the deeper root cause.” [02:10–02:30]

4. God’s Presence & Fatherly Care in Depression

Timestamp: 02:35

• Dr. Reeves provides a crucial theological reassurance:
  • Depression is not a sign that “God has abandoned me.” [02:38]
  • “The Father adopts Christians as his children. He is no longer standing against them as their judge… When you suffer... it is actually a mark of God’s fatherly care for you.” [02:50–03:20]
  • Suffering, including depression, is a “purifying fire for our faith” (1 Peter 1:7), not a sign of abandonment. [03:30]

5. Trusting God over Feelings

Timestamp: 03:50

• In moments of despair, feelings may overwhelm faith, but God’s character remains trustworthy:
  • Advice: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) [03:55]
  • “When you’re in a place of depression… it’s very easy to say, ‘It just doesn’t feel true right now.’ That’s when you need to say, ‘I will trust in the Lord with all my heart, and I will not lean on my own understanding.’” [04:10]

6. Walking by Faith, Not Sight

Timestamp: 04:35

• Sight can look “gloomy and sad,” but faith invites hope. [04:38]
  • Dr. Reeves points to hymn writer William Cowper, who battled depression and wrote: “Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.” [04:48]
  • “God truly is good and kind in all his ways. It’s simply that his ways are far higher than ours, so they’re mysterious to us. But he can be trusted—even in that darkest valley of depression.” [05:07]

Memorable Quotes

• Dr. Michael Reeves:
  • “Don’t view yourself as a second-class Christian if you struggle with depression.” [00:30]
  • “The Lord uses our very struggles to make us more Christlike.” [01:00]
  • “Normally, rest, medication, physical remedies are only palliatives—won’t deal with the deeper root cause.” [02:30]
  • “When you struggle as a Christian... it is actually a mark of God’s fatherly care for you, that he wants you to grow.” [03:20]
  • “Walk by faith and you will see.” [04:39]
  • “God truly is good and kind in all his ways… He can be trusted, even in that darkest valley of depression.” [05:07]

Important Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------|------------| | Introduction to depression and Christian faith | 00:25 | | Examples: Luther & Spurgeon | 00:35–01:08| | Causes of depression (physical, spiritual, etc) | 01:10–01:45| | Need for holistic help and medication | 02:10–02:30| | God’s care and suffering as formation | 02:35–03:30| | Trusting God above your own understanding | 03:50–04:15| | Faith vs. sight; William Cowper’s hymn | 04:35–05:07|

Tone & Style

Throughout, Dr. Reeves is pastoral, empathetic, and theologically grounded. He speaks with warmth, drawing on Scripture, church history, and practical wisdom to encourage listeners not to despair or feel condemned, but to take heart in God’s faithful, mysterious goodness—even in the darkest valleys.

Summary

This episode powerfully reminds Christians that depression is a struggle familiar even to the greatest faithful. Rather than diminishing one’s value or status before God, such suffering is both a challenge and an opportunity for growth in Christlikeness. Physical, emotional, and spiritual factors are all important in care and recovery, but above all, the antidote is to trust God’s character over our perceptions, and to remember that even hidden behind the “frowning providence,” His smiling face remains.