I’ve read Happiness in pre-publication issue, and it is excellent. I encourage you to buy it when it appears. I’ve also recently re-read Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ classic, Spiritual Depression – a book I first read on honeymoon 32 years ago. Yes, Grace did find that a bit odd.

My conviction is that Christians are meant to know joy. God is very happy, so getting close to Him means an encounter with happiness. That means the pursuit of joy should be a central part of our discipleship. There are many ‘joy-suckers’ though, which can rob us of joy. Lloyd-Jones offers an analysis of this which I have found helpful. Here are five things he highlights that we should be alert to if we are not to sink into the doldrums.

Personality type

But while I emphasize, with all my being, the fact that temperament does not make the slightest difference in the matter of our fundamental salvation, I am equally anxious to emphasize the fact that it does make a very great difference in actual experience in the Christian life, and that when you are trying to diagnose a condition such as that of spiritual depression, it is something with which you should start, it is something to put at the very beginning.

Salvation is no more dependent on our personality type than our eye colour, but personality does impact how we feel and respond to things. This is why it is important that we know ourselves. Some people are more naturally tiggerish than others, but whatever our personality, the Lord provides pathways along which we can find joy. We need to follow the paths that lead to true happiness and not the false paths that offer comfort but in the end only make us more miserable. If you want to be happy, know yourself.

Physical conditions

Is anyone surprised again? Does someone hold the view that as long as you are a Christian it does not matter what the condition of your body is? Well, you will soon be disillusioned if you believe that. Physical conditions play their part in all this.

Ill-health can suck joy. The physical and spiritual are deeply intertwined but the reason we are feeling glum might very well be because of physical conditions rather than some spiritual failing. How to overcome in this reality and fight the fight for joy? It is a huge topic but my observation is that it is those who deliberately practice gratitude who overcome illness and pain and find their way to joy. Thankfulness is pain relief.

Post-blessing depression

Another frequent cause of spiritual depression is what we may describe as a reaction—a reaction after a great blessing, a reaction after some unusual and exceptional experience. I hope to call attention sometime to the case of Elijah under the juniper tree.

This is a strange one, but I’ve found it to be true – an emotional slump following hot on the heels of a time of special blessing in God. Elijah went from the triumph of Mount Carmel to suicidal ideation within a matter of hours. If we experience times like this we shouldn’t be surprised but recognise it as a blip, not the prevailing reality. Joy has to be pushed into, not assumed.

The devil

In a sense, and in the last analysis, that is the one and only cause of spiritual depression— it is the devil, the adversary of our souls.

It is just Satan who, though he cannot rob us of our salvation, can definitely rob us of our joy. His great concern is to prevent anyone becoming a Christian, but when that fails, his one object then is to make them miserable Christians.

We have an enemy, a discourager, an accuser of the brethren, and must not ignore the spiritual dynamic at play. God is very happy but the devil is very miserable and he wants to make God’s people miserable too. When that happens to us it is a problem personally, but it is also a problem missionally. If Christians are as miserable as everyone else what do we have to offer the world? The gospel is good news! That must mean it brings us to joy – and that means we must resist the devil.

Unbelief

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?

All of us experience doubts; the real problem is when doubt hardens into unbelief. That can happen when the narrative in our heads is negative, discouraging, and lying. It is very easy to listen to this negative voice and allow unbelief to grow. Instead of that, we need to preach to ourselves, declaring the truth and power of the gospel and commanding the negative inner-voice to silence.

Earlier today there were a few minutes of brightness. Now the rain is sheeting down again. It’s a grim time of year. But in the Lord there is joy, now, forever and even in February (Ps 16:11)!