The Miracle of Metamorphosis: Depression and the Process of Healing, Growth, and Change

One dazzling spectacle in nature is the mystery shrouding the caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly. In all of its wonder, the insect endures a process that changes it from the inside out. Looking nothing like its initial stage, it morphs in shape and structure, reflecting some relevant truths for us humans to behold, especially those of us who suffer from depression.

We, too, experience a newness in our becoming with God (2 Corinthians 5:17). Though our beginning may seem undesirable, a transition that seems awkward, excruciating, and isolating, our Father and Creator orchestrates exquisite beauty that exceeds the pain of healing, growth, and change.

Promises of progress reinforce us, though we may be experiencing despair. Scripture asserts that we advance from one place of glory to another, and the same is echoed in other verses as we increase from strength to strength, faith to faith, and joy unspeakable and full of glory (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 1:17; Psalm 84:7; 1 Peter 1:8).

Like the caterpillars in our surroundings, we may feel like our entire person has decomposed into an unrecognizable pulp during seasons marked by depression. Yet, our Father works in the dark, where our faith feeds on His unchanging Word versus the shifting shadows of circumstance (2 Corinthians 5:7). Here, we mine the treasures of the obscure and unknown as He commits Himself to complete the work that He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6).

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. – Isaiah 45:3, NASB

Eternally embraced.

As debilitating as depression and its symptoms can be, no darkness can eclipse the blazing gaze of our Sovereign Savior (Revelation 19:12). The One who surrendered His all redeemed us from the jaws of a vicious enemy, will not be deterred by disorder or diagnosis.

Although we may feel abandoned and forsaken when we are in a pit, His eyes always regard us, and His attention remains riveted on us, as we are engraved on His scarred palms (Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 49:16). His thoughts toward us outnumber the grains of sand in every ocean and at every seashore (Isaiah 39:18). Despite all foes and temporary conditions, we remain eternally embraced, inseparable from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39, ESV

We can neither abandon nor forget our greatest cheering section in the Father, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. God Himself, has placed resources in the earth, through people and outlets to support our journey of healing, growth, and change.

As we seek and trust Him in the darkest times, we can pray for spiritual insight and practical strategies. As always, the Holy Spirit responds to our faintest whisper and silent tears to console and counsel us through grueling difficulty.

Stretch and strengthen.

Nobody likes suffering, but we won’t expand into our next stage without the trials that stretch faith. Before time, God had planned and prepared good works for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). To see the fullness of what awaits in what He wants to do with and through us, we have to embrace the God-identity of being His masterpieces. Who He’s created, chosen, and called us to be is often formed and forged in difficult places.

All of us experience these difficulties in different ways. As those who have experienced depression in its various forms, darkness may have crept in through a traumatic incident. While sometimes these encounters originate in our most vulnerable states, such as childhood, that isn’t everyone’s story.

Unexpected and unplanned life events such as death, illness, breakup, job separation, or financial loss can squeeze us under the weight of despair. One distressing encounter followed by multiple others can fray the fabric of our well-being, wearing down our hope and desire to connect with family and friends and unraveling the threads that anchor and stabilize the fabric of our lives.

When trials produce an opportunity for us to isolate ourselves from God or take refuge in Him, we have to cling to our Savior with intention. Drawing joy out of tribulation doesn’t mean we put on a false face, pretending to be okay when we are not (James 1:2). We aren’t rejoicing because we celebrate the pain associated with depression.

God doesn’t relish our hurt either, but He uses it and wants us to bring it all, for help and healing. The joy produced in trial emerges from knowing that He is working, even through depression, to make us eternally and increasingly like Jesus (Romans 8:29).

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. – Isaiah 12:2-3, NIV

Furthermore, joy in our challenges grows when we recognize that through our suffering and the phases of our process, God is being glorified as greater than any foe (Romans 8:18). The enemy may have wanted to destroy us during our depression, but God has sustained us, testifying on His power to safeguard what we’ve committed (2 Timothy 1:12).

God is praised when we allow Him to work through our brokenness to reintegrate and put us back together, binding up the fragments of our lives with His healing balm (Jeremiah 8:22). While we see ourselves as the caterpillar that once was, He sees the butterfly. Although He is Alpha and Omega, God regards our beautiful endings as a place of completion and rest (Genesis 2:1-2).

The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit. – Ecclesiastes 7:8, NASB

You are not being manipulated by a diagnosis, but rather you are metamorphosing into whom God has always imagined you to be. We often see our difficulties as hindrances to God’s purpose, but rather they serve as catalysts and essential agents in the process.

At a significant point in the metamorphosis, the caterpillar begins to struggle against the cocoon that encases it. Onlookers might be tempted to rescue the creature from the wrestling. However, it is only through beating its wings against the interior of its temporary home that it develops the strength and endurance to soar and thrive once released into its new and next season.

Likewise, as we become who we were always meant to be, it may be helpful to recognize the value of opposition God employs to develop our strength. The area that irritates us the most is often the place where we need to pour out with God, surrendering our frailties. When we consistently bring our concerns to Him, He reveals His Truth and helps us to address and grow through painful incidents.

We may see that resolution does not come from a mystical answer or a swooping rescue from an outside force. On the other hand, it emerges as a transformation when our faith is forged in hard trials, including the depression that we experience.

Next steps for overcoming depression.

Just as nature provides colorful illustrations of transformation, God completes the work that He has initiated in us. While we experience the diagnosis and symptoms of depression, we do not have to exempt ourselves from joy. We can savor God’s attentive care for us. He takes the most excruciating elements of our experiences to weave healing, growth, and change through the backdrop of pain.

As you search this site, locate and schedule time with a counselor who can empathize and support your process of navigating depression. The miracle you are longing to experience may not be limited to what you expect to see outside of you but may be discovered in the metamorphosis that begins from within.