Pain in Our Broken and Beautiful World: Depression, Anxiety, & Panic Attacks
Our world is both broken and beautiful at the same time.
We see the brokenness everywhere—division, violence, loneliness, anxiety, depression, families struggling, hearts weighed down by grief, and people quietly wondering if their lives really matter. Pain has become so common that it often feels normal. Job 5:6–7 says, “Man is born to trouble as sparks fly upward.” Suffering is not hidden anymore; it shows up in our news feeds, our schools, our churches, and even in our own homes. Scripture tells us that creation itself groans under the weight of what sin has fractured (Romans 8:22).
Yet, at the very same time, beauty still rises up all around us.
We see it in newborn cries and wedding vows, in the laughter of children and the perseverance of grandparents, in sunsets that stop us in our tracks and friendships that carry us through dark seasons. We see beauty whenever compassion breaks through indifference, whenever forgiveness replaces bitterness, whenever broken people choose love anyway. Even amid pain, God continues to scatter fingerprints of hope everywhere we look.
This tension—brokenness and beauty existing side by side—tells us something important: this is not the way God intended the story to end. The ache in our hearts for things to be made right is evidence that we were created for something more. We were designed to live fully, to love deeply, to belong, and to have purpose beyond survival. That longing itself is not weakness—it is a holy invitation pointing us back to the God who created us in His image and redeemed us through Christ.
And because of Him, we have reason to live.
Yet some today find living difficult. Augustine said, “The entire life of the saints is a battle.” Oswald Chambers was direct in his deduction that “The Christian life is not a happy life; it is a holy life — and holiness is costly.”
Our culture asks something of us that the human soul was never built to sustain. We live under constant performance pressure—to achieve more, produce more, appear stronger, happier, and more successful than we really feel. Social media keeps the scoreboard visible at all times: more followers, more accolades, more achievements, more perfection. We measure worth by output. Identity by success. Value by visibility. And rest by exhaustion. But the truth is this: human beings were not designed to function as machines. We were made for relationship, reflection, rest, purpose, and faith—not nonstop productivity.
We were never meant to live under the burden of relentless performance.
We were meant to live under the grace of a God who values who we are more than what we produce.
Yet many live under constant burdens that result in depression, anxiety, and a paralyzing fear of moving forward in life. Winston Churchill often referred to his recurring depression as “the black dog.” He suffered for years and repeated, “The black dog returns,” and “Depression followed me like a black dog all my life.” That “big black dog” has now parked itself in over 19 million American lives. The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, experienced deep depression and wept like a baby in 1858 when it happened to him for the first time.
Depression rates have skyrocketed over the past decade, especially among young adults. In 2021 alone, estimates showed 21.0 million U.S. adults confessed to having at least one major depressive episode in the prior year. Completed suicides in America are also at epidemic proportions—affecting tens of thousands each year. In absolute terms, around 49,300 Americans died by suicide in 2023. No matter what the demographics, no one is immune. People in ministry—pastors and clergy—face unique pressures as well: spiritual responsibility, expectations, isolation, emotional demands, and, in many cases, limited support, which seem to make them vulnerable to depression, burnout, and suicidal thoughts.
This message I present on Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, and Suicide is a personal one for me. At thirty-six years of age, Panic Disorder, Anxiety, and Agoraphobia came at me out of nowhere like a locomotive at top speed, that had lost its brakes. The aftereffects of that initial hit would linger for four long years and at times last for multiple unbearable days. At about the same time, Jerry and I had a very close pastor friend who we loved dearly, and in a moment of sheer agony, he drove to a cemetery, sat down by a tombstone, and fatally shot himself. When his adult son called to tell us of his passing, Jerry and I were devastated, utterly broken. Even though we had spent 17 years of our lives in multiple high schools and university campuses delivering a thirty-minute address on these very dangers I address in this message, and we witnessed many teenagers who got help and gave their lives to Christ, the death of our pastor friend was like losing a family member.
After my own experiences with this and hearing of many other friends with family members who struggle or have lost loved ones, I researched and delivered this message to our church. The message includes a simple outline that reveals, first, the statistics helping us understand the problem at hand. Next, I discuss the sufferer. Many biblical characters experienced the depths of despair, even asking God to take their lives. I include you and me in these numbers, as sinners and saints alike who suffer. No one is exempt. I offer beautiful outcomes for the sufferer if they will but trust God in the process, which include: to promote the glory of God, exhibit faithfulness, teach us the will of God, keep us from departing from the Lord, lead us to seek God in prayer, convince and convict us of sin, purify us, and promote the furtherance of the Gospel. In conclusion, I remind us to put safeguards in place for when episodes of depression or anxiety invade. Begin with the starting points with God. Seek Him. Settle unforgiveness. Study the Scriptures even when you don’t feel like it. Secure sound medical advice from your doctor and spiritual counsel from your pastor. Join a recovery small group in your church. And make up your mind that no matter how difficult life becomes, you will choose to live—and live to the fullest. Decide to survive because God does have a plan for your life. Trust Him to fulfill it in His timing. Lastly, I remind all to be sympathetic, as God will bring us to people who struggle.
One of the beautiful results of my own suffering was that God moved on my heart to launch twenty-three recovery groups at our church, which I called Chesalon Comfort Circles (Joshua 15:10; hopes). Chesalon was a literal place identified with Mount Jearim, which formed part of the northern boundary of the tribal territory of Judah. It was a rocky place west of Jerusalem where travelers literally stumbled along steep slopes. It is noteworthy that God marked Judah’s inheritance beside a town called Chesalon — the ‘place of stumbling’ — and even though they passed through this place of stumbling, God did not route their future around the struggle—He took them through it. This further proves that our promises still run through difficult terrain, yet He never abandons us there, and God is still leading you toward a beautiful finish.
Please remember that at times when you stumble or are overwhelmed with Depression and anxiety, you matter. Your life matters. Your breath on this earth is not an accident.
Some days, survival is the bravest form of faith. In some seasons, simply getting out of bed and whispering the name of Jesus is victory. God does not look down on your weakness—He meets you in it. He walks beside the weary. He binds up the brokenhearted. He does not shame struggles; He enters them and carries us through.
If you are hurting today, you are not alone. The church was never meant to be a place where perfect people gather—it is a place where wounded people find healing together. Give yourself permission to be loved and held and shown mercy during your Chesalon moments in life. Let yourself be seen. Let yourself be loved. Let yourself be helped.
And above all, remember this: the story God is writing in your life is not finished yet. There is still beauty ahead to discover, purpose ahead to live, people ahead to love, and a beautiful life ahead to walk toward. Choose to stay. Choose to fight for life. Choose hope again.
Because even in this broken world, we serve a God who is still making beauty from the ashes and all things new.
