Katharina Luther once resorted to a clever ruse to rouse her famous husband out of his depression. She entered his room dressed in funeral clothes, and when Luther predictably asked who had died, she said, ‘I thought God must have died, by the way you are acting’. I wonder how Luther responded. Hopefully with enough good sense to recognize her love, and with enough faith to put aside his mood.

Depression is not an easy condition to either endure nor relieve, and those who care for depressives need to be careful with their counsels. I dare say that Katharina knew her husband well enough to risk the potential offence; and no doubt his moping was impacting the household sufficiently that something needed to be done. So well done Mrs Luther, and perhaps your example offers a gentle challenge to carers to not be too precious with their counsels.

God is not dead. Nor is He deaf, blind, nor incapacitated. Nor is God uncaring, insensitive, callous, indifferent. Nor is God absent, inattentive, distant, distracted. But the very opposite of all of the above. Why He allows us to pass through seasons of pain is not always easy to fathom. And why He does not heal us immediately and completely is not always easy to figure out. But that He cares is beyond doubt, and that He loves has been proved, and in all our mopes and moods we are not to tempt others to put on their funeral attire.