Firstly, I would like to apologise for not posting to the website, or even the Instagram page as often as I would like. The reason is that I have been struggling with my mental health and it has made things more difficult for me to focus, contemplate and provide pieces for you to get something from. As a result I would like to take a few moments to write about mental health and provide some food for thought.
Mental Health has become a much more widely accepted and understood part of human existence, we all have physical faculties and mental faculties; just as we can injure or have a breakdown in our physical bodies we can also injure or have a breakdown of our mental faculties. This can be from many different things from external interference to internal ones. We must also consider the fact that sin & disease are in the world and as a result our bodies or minds can break down or develop illnesses that were never meant to be there.
We all face challenges everyday and it is how we deal with those challenges that determines how good our physical and mental capabilities are and when we get tired, the question becomes about how good our self-care is to avoid strain, injury or illness.
Along with the worldly challenges we face each day, we must also consider the Spiritual challenges we face and ask ourselves, are we Spiritually prepared for what comes our way and do we have a rest plan to recuperate from any Spiritual battles we have just faced?
For me, I have not had the right balance in place over the course of my lifetime to deal with things when they have arisen and rested in the calm afterwards. As a result of 23 years of challenges I have now been impacted to the point that I cannot live life in the manner I would like, I also cannot serve God in the manner I would envision either. This is deeply upsetting to me as I want nothing more than to live a good life fulfilling all the things I want/need to like being a good husband, being a good employee, being a good servant to Christ, being a good friend.
There are different types of ill mental health and for a long time we have feared or misunderstood them. For me I would say mine isn't that bad, but how can you compare what one person is suffering from with another? It would depend on the individual and how they can cope with what they have. It also depends on what plan Jesus has for their life too and when we look at healing what their journey has in store.
For me I would say my personal experience differs from time to time, there are times where I don't feel there is any impact and others where I cannot concentrate enough to focus on my work, or that I want to be outside with people. I am usually an outgoing person who has lots of stamina and tolerance to get through a usual work week, visit or see people in the evenings, possibly play a sport and do something on the weekend. I also had the ability to focus on more than one thing at once, like listening to a customer and thinking of what would help/suit their needs or perhaps being able to hold down multiple conversations at once.
But I felt like I hit a wall a few months ago and something happened in my mind where I only have the mental capacity for one thing at a time, I am more forgetful and at times I am overwhelmed with negative thoughts the like I have not had for many years and this pulls me away from my confidence.
The reason I tell you this is because I want you to understand that mental health is something genuine and something that can be impacted both positively and negatively. As I mentioned earlier there are many types and I do not have enough experience with some of what we might determine as a more permanent condition and one that we may not have much control over like Alzheimer's, Bipolar and Schizophrenia. My advice in circumstances like these would be to seek medical advice and come to a plan that helps you manage the condition. In the same way something like traumatic experience(s) can negatively impact the brain so much that you develop PTSD, this again I would recommend seeking medical advice as well as prayer to make sure you do everything to help your peace of mind.
For depression, anxiety any ill mental health that you are facing, let us remember there are tremendous facilities you are able to talk to, whether that is through the doctors or counsellors. A lot of churches have great pastoral care these days that some have a programme you can seek out and look to gain help from. I must say some may not be equipped for the level you are suffering so it may be the case to seek medical support (I am doing this).
In it all we mustn't forget God! We have come such a long way as humans with our intellect and scientific discovery that we can help each other in so many ways now. But we mustn't forget the one who create us, who see's everything and knows our hearts and minds intimately, Psalms says that God knit us together in our mothers womb, therefore God knows which nerves are working and which aren't, what faculty is working and which isn't, what battles we face or have been through and what they have done to us, he knows the full picture and can suggest ways out, directions to take to help you get from suffering to healthy again. But he can also outright heal you too if necessary, potentially if you do not have the right level of support around you.
During any difficult period you are going through, I would encourage you to continue to spend time in prayer with Jesus listening as well as speaking. Continue to be in the word and whether that is reading your bible or something that helps you study parts of the bible as this will help. Whatever brings you close to God, to understand His nature and His thoughts about you, humanity and directions to live better lives as a disciple will help you. I find it incredibly illuminating when I see something new or gain understanding of something for the first time or from a different perspective that it helps lift my heart and bring peace to my mind.
I have a way to go in my journey to get back to where I need to be, but I understand that Jesus loves me, comforts me, enlarges my understanding of Heavenly and earthly things and as a result I can appreciate and be fulfilled more when following his directions in life.
Something else I wanted to point out from a sermon I was listening to the other day concerning negative or tempting thoughts. As we know perpetual sin can be a problem and feelings of guilt and shame can override us as Christians, especially when we strive for Christlike perfection. But also people can suffer from negative thoughts that make them think less of themselves or that they want to hurt themselves potentially even the worst of killing themselves or others. Well the sermon asked this question - where do negative/bad thoughts come from Jesus or the satan?
We know that God is good and only wants good for you and the world, we also know that satan wants to destroy what God created, which includes us. So does God or satan make us see or do bad things? No, is the answer as we have freewill to make up our own minds as to what we believe and do. For example a man tries to fit in a size 30 inch wasted jeans and as he struggles he thinks he is too fat and as a result ugly, (I apologies ladies as this example may be more common for women but it is too difficult to use a size example as sizes change all over the world and several times in the same country depending on which company you shop at). Now the person could be a slender size 32 or 34 inch waste and is trying to fit into trousers that are just too small. The enemy could seize an opportunity to attack your self-esteem and make you think negatively about yourself.
I know this is a light example, but this can be the first step into starting to believe that what you look like is not good enough, this can then lead into continuous negative thoughts about yourself, then the enemy can start to highlight the negative interactions in your day which you can believe is because of your looks and this start having a profound impact on your mental health as you now follow a negative thought pattern, which can become worse over time.
Freewill gives us the power to determine what we listen to mentally in life and how it will impact us. As I mentioned before I do not have much experience with PTSD, I do understand it is difficult with trauma and this can impact you in different ways and if you are struggling then I would recommend seeking support to help you. But for ill mental health through various things like depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or even those who have lost their self-esteem the way out is by renewing your mind. The way to avoid these things or to aid recovery is by being mentally vigilant of what you accept mentally. Has someone said something bad about you? Have you thought something bad about yourself? What you need to do is assess the comment and see if there is any validity in it, if there is feedback upon an action you could have done better, then this might be worth taking on board and adjusting yourself to. But if it is not edifying to you as a person, then chances are it is not something you should be listening to and can forget it.
How do we know what is good and edifying for us? Well search the scriptures and see, God is constantly telling us who we are and how we should be living to make sure we stay positive and fulfilled in life. It is fair to say that this sermon had a positive impact on me! It is time I assess my thoughts, take captive the negative ones and dispose of them, finding the positive ones and building off of that. Small steps each day take me along the road to recovery, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones will build a solid healthy mind resulting in more confidence, more action, better memory, and more fulfilled existence.
If you are struggling, I encourage you to do the same. Each step of the way let us praise God for His goodness, His creation and the glorious life we can have in Him that is waiting for us - God has plans for you and me, to grow and to prosper, Jeremiah 29v11. Lets get back on that path together so we can see the fulfilment of the promise in this verse.
God Jeremiah Mental Health Prayer Recovery Self Esteem Thoughts← Back to Teachings