Ed Welch

We’ve all been there. Peer pressure, desire for acceptance, fear of rejection. These aren’t just issues for teenagers in the lunchroom. From young adulthood into old age, these struggles are still an issue for many of us. The Bible calls it fear of man and demonstrates it against the backdrop of fear of God.

Ultimately, they cannot coexist.

On today’s episode of the Great Stories podcast, David Wollen is joined by Dr. Ed Welch to discuss these common struggles. Using his book When People are Big and God is Small as a launching pad for the conversation, this episode strives to help you—whether you have been aware of it up until now, or not—to grapple with the tug-of-war between fear of man and fear of God.

When People Are Big and God Is Small

Do you crave people’s love and approval? Do you dread their rejection or mistreatment? Ed Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.

All experiences of the fear of man share at least one common feature: people are big. They have grown to idolatrous proportions in our lives. They control us. Since there is no room in our hearts to worship both God and people, whenever people are big, God is not. Therefore the first task in escaping the snare of the fear of man is to know that God is awesome and glorious, not other people.

“Few living writers have helped me more deeply to connect the dots between my heart and my actions than Ed Welch.” —Dane Ortlund

Biblical counselor Edward Welch tackles this struggle head-on in a groundbreaking work that has been substantially updated and revised for this new edition. Discover a fear of the Lord that, in Christ, is filled with gratitude, love, and devotion—freeing you to need others less and love them more.

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Depression and anxiety. Two words that are all too familiar for so many of us. And the statistics have only gotten more bleak in recent years.

But what is the depressed or anxious Christian to do? Do we pray? Seek help? Take a prescription?

Christian counselor Ed Welch and clinical psychologist Tim Sisemore join today’s episode to offer practical advice and tangible hope for anyone struggling with one or both of these debilitating conditions.

Ed Welch, M.Div., Ph.D. is a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. He’s written a number of books and articles about depression, fear, and biblical counseling. Today, he speaks with Charles Morris about anxiety and how Christians suffering with this condition can find relief and heed Jesus’ command: “Do not fear.”

Dr. Tim Sisemore is a clinical psychologist who served as Professor in the PsyD program at California Baptist University, and now works as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at St. Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute. In this conversation, he speaks with Charles Morris about how Christians struggling with depression can find hope in our constantly changing world.

More on Depression and Anxiety

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A well-known Christian counselor in Philadelphia was asked last week how he was doing. His response: “I’m very tired.”

Why was that? Was his counseling load too heavy? “No,” he answered. “I’m tired because I have to keep shoveling snow.” 

The 2013–2014 winter is the fifth snowiest on record for the eastern two-thirds of the country, even as the west is experiencing a severe drought. Right now, as I write this blog post from a hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, I’m watching the snow sweep in again and hearing the strange sounds of thundersnow (yes, there is such a thing).


Licensed for use by Creative Commons by Flickr user NASA Earth Observatory

That counselor who was tired of all the snow, Ed Welch, of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation of Philadelphia, says that the emotional condition of depression tends to peak around now—during the holidays and then after, in the early months of the new year. 

Are you struggling with depression? How would you know? If you’re feeling sad and those feelings are interfering with your work, sleep, eating, and things that you once considered fun, and especially if you’re surprised by suicidal thoughts—the idea occurs to you that not living might be better than current struggles in your life—then you might be suffering from depression.

You ‘might not have noticed a downhill turn of their emotions, but all of a sudden … [you] notice a certain hopelessness that creeps in and says, “Why bother living?”‘ —Ed Welch

Welch says that these dour feelings tell a story: “I’m a jerk, God is far away, I am all alone, nobody cares, and if they say they care, I don’t believe them.” 

If you’re suffering from depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder and the winter storms are only making it worse, it might be tempting to try to hold out until the light and warmth of spring and summer. Rather than look to outside circumstances to affect the heart, though, we must look to God.

Pray that God would tell your heart a different story: I love you, I am with you, I care deeply about your hurt and pain.

Here are some resources that we pray will give your aching heart a glimmer of hope:

And remember, as Welch says, “The normal Christian life is one that feels like we can barely make it. It’s not unusual.” You’re not alone. Your grief is not unusual. 

Since suffering is normal, then Jesus surely knows and sees your pain. We want to leave you with words that are more powerful than any words we could write. Listen to what He says to you in His word:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. —John 14:27

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

Lindsey M. Roberts is the editor of the All About Jesus blog. She spent years writing exclusively for secular journalism, including such outlets as The Washington Post, Architect, and Gray magazine, before she first tried to write about Jesus. She’s thrilled to explore in words how everything—cleaning the kitchen three times a day, delighting in the maritime history of Nantucket, describing the flavor profiles of different coffees—is an opportunity to meet and glorify God. Lindsey lives with her husband, a pastor and U.S. Army Reserve chaplain, and son in Virginia.