He ministered to millions of people in his lifetime, sometimes preaching up to ten times a week. He wrote countless books, commentaries, poems, and hymns, with over 3,500 of his sermons recorded and bound in books. He built an orphanage and founded a college. He captivated people with his clear exposition of Scripture and his passionate spirit.

This nineteenth-century preacher’s works are still widely listened to and read to this day. But what many do not know about Charles Spurgoen, the “Prince of Preachers,” is that he suffered a life-long battle with anxiety and clinical depression. In his book The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing he says, “My spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for.” He often referred to himself as a “prisoner” trapped by “soul sickness” and many times found himself laid aside for weeks, consumed with sorrow and pain.

How could someone so close to God and so used by God suffer so much inner turmoil?

Or is that precisely the case—that when someone is being used mightily by God, it often comes at the cost of emotional duress and pain? Spurgoen often agonized over lost souls and the sin he saw enslaving people, and felt burdened to convey the right message to his congregation.

The amazing thing about Spurgeon is that though he may have at times sunk into the depths of despair, he never lost sight of his purpose, even realizing that the pain itself was part of God’s purpose. “Depression of spirit is no index of declining grace,” he wrote. “The very loss of joy and the absence of assurance may be accompanied by the greatest advancement in the spiritual life.” Hardships go hand-in-hand with growth in godliness!

These rough times not only helped Spurgeon grow in grace, but also allowed him to minister to others who were hurting. “I would go into the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to be afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.”

Now, a hundred and fifty years later, I am one of the weary ones on the receiving end of his encouragement! His vulnerable words cheer my downcast spirit! Because when I am overcome with self-doubt and discouragement, it sure helps to know that even the most heroic figures of faith battled it, too. Spurgeon refused to let anything tear him from his divine calling, and by keeping our eyes on Christ, we too can stay strong and persevere.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”  Psalm 42:5

(“Charles Spurgeon’s Battle with Depression” thegospelcoalition.org)