Posted on

God Does Care About Your Mental Health

Jesus is Life

Mental health and Christianity make up the backbone of this blog. But, are these two topics even relatable to each other? Based on what I’ve learnt about both topics, I can easily say that both sides have a great deal to do with one another. And I believe that God does care about your mental health. So, continue reading to find out as to how they connect with each other.

Your Mental Health is More Complex Than You Think

The mind you possess is intricate and almost impossible to entirely fathom. Your brain is like a computer that no human engineer can ever fully understand. And the entirety of your mental health is as mysterious and as incomprehensible as it can get.

The reason for this is because your brain is the most complex organ in the human body. There ain’t a thing in the human body more complex than what you’ve got in your noggin. Why?

Well, it’s because your brain is the computer for your body. Everything that you do is a result of the instructions coming from your brain.

So, for such a thing as complex as the brain, there should be a designer. And that designer is God, Himself.

Hebrews 3:4 World English Bible (WEB)
4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

And I think the person who fully understands you at the moment is God. I cannot understand you, your parents cannot understand you, your best friends cannot understand you, your pet cannot understand you, but God can understand you.

God can understand your weird ways because He’s God and He is the one who oversaw the making of your DNA, the sculpting of your brain, and the experiences you’ve endured.

Psalm 139:1 World English Bible (WEB)
139 Yahweh, you have searched me,
    and you know me.

Furthermore, if you’re facing anxiety, He knows why you’re anxious. If you’re struggling with depression, He knows what’s making you feel that way. And if you’re facing anything which is against your mental health, He knows how to fix it.

Psalm 139:16 World English Bible (WEB)
16 Your eyes saw my body.
    In your book they were all written,
    the days that were ordained for me,
    when as yet there were none of them.

God Does Cares About Your Mental Health

I need not say much more to convince you that God cares about you. And because He cares about you, God does care about your mental health. Lord Jesus Christ did not say he came to heal you only physically, He said he came to heal you entirely.

Luke 17:19 King James Version (KJV)
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Moreover, you must exercise faith in God to stay mentally healthy. Ask God to heal you of your depression, anxiety, food-eating disorders, and whatever other condition makes you less than mentally fit. Trusting God is the way out of your crisis.

For example, if you are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, ask Lord Jesus Christ to heal you of it. Ask God for His forgiveness and strength to overcome your horrific memories. God understands the traumatic things you’ve gone through if He remembers the number of hairs on your head. I talk more about PTSD in this post.

Luke 12:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

So, be aware of the fact that God cares about you and that He does not intend to leave you in a broken, mentally-sick state, especially when you trust Him.

1 Peter 5:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Therefore, humble yourself before the cross of Christ and put your pride away. Trust God that He will keep His promise to heal you if you allow Him to do so. Let Him restore your mind to its ultimate state and wash you in His tender love.

He Suffered More Than Just Physically

Now, as we draw to the end of this post, I want to leave you with one more point to support the fact that God does care about your mental health.

He suffered to restore not only your physical health but your mental health also. At the cross, Lord Jesus Christ endured anxiety, trauma, abandonment, and a bunch of other crises while being beaten to death.

He wore the crown of thorns as a symbolization of the stress and pains he had to endure.

Mark 15:17 World English Bible (WEB)
17 They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

Furthermore, Lord Jesus Christ felt abandoned and alone as He bore the weight of mankind’s sin.

Matthew 27:46 King James Version (KJV)
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Lord Jesus Christ suffered a lot on the cross. And the stress wasn’t only hurting His body, it was hurting His mind. But why?

The answer to that question is you. God came down to Earth in the flesh as Lord Jesus Christ so that legalistic people, being the crafty creatures they are, would pressure the Roman government to crucify Lord Jesus Christ. This crucifixion was unjust but it was all part of God’s plan so that when He suffered your hell, you would experience His heaven.

Now, when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you become His beloved child. And as a beloved child of God, you have His mind, the mind of Christ Jesus to live life for God’s glory.

1 Corinthians 2:16 King James Version (KJV)
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Posted on

Stepping Out of a Traumatized Past Into the Now

Restoration is in Christ

The daily price we pay to stay in the moment is sometimes all too high. And for those of you who are suffering from a vividly painful past, you are not exempt from the joys of life. That is going to be the topic of this post as we explore PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and as to how one should overcome it. So, to find out what it takes when stepping out of a traumatized past, continue reading.

The Pain Behind the Trauma

PTSD is a real issue in a our society. No doubt about it. When people go through painful and horrifying experiences, it does, at times, leave a scar. And that’s the thing about mental health; it’s just as real as your physical health. So, I believe that God cares for your mental health just as much as He cares for your physical health.

3 John 2 World English Bible (WEB)
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.

God outlines the importance of your soul. And your soul is your mind, will, and emotions which includes your mental health.

Continuing on, these mental scars come in the form of things like PTSD. Now, PTSD is a disorder where people see hallucinations or dreams reminding them of their terrible experiences, or where people avoid socializing so that they do not encounter anything that might trigger memories about the painful event. Overall, it’s a terrible disorder that induces anxiety because of horrible experiences.

The things that tend to cause PTSD within people are really terrible events such as the following: natural disasters, military conflicts, assaults, accidents, and more.

And so, I do acknowledge that there is a deep pain or terror that lies behind the issue of PTSD. People go through things God never meant for them to ever go through, as human beings.

God never intended for these things to occur. We live in a fallen world, and in a fallen world, there is pain.

So, if you’re suffering from PTSD, I cannot understand the pain you’ve gone through as I do not know it or have probably not experienced it, but, I do know that your pain is real. Your hurt is real. But, there’s a way out of it, there is a solution.

The Weight of Trauma; the Height of Suffering

Now, I believe the solution is Jesus Christ. I did say I cannot understand the pain you’re experiencing as it does not relate to my own experiences. But, there is one who does understand how you’re feeling. God understands your pain, more than you think He does.

He not only knows it out of his omniscience, but He knows your suffering out of His experience. He knows the grit and heart-pounding terrors which you have experienced. He’s felt it all. Whatever sexual abuse or military battle or car accident haunts your memory, is a pain which God relates to.

He does not deny your pain, He does not ignore your pain, He feels your pain.

Isaiah 53:3 King James Version (KJV)
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

If your experience is something out of hell, Jesus’ experience is out of a deeper hell than that. He was physically beaten, stripped out of his clothes, scourged, had to carry a wooden cross up a hill, and was then pinned to the cross with nails in His hands and in His feet. He can relate to your hell, but, you will never be able to relate to the extent of hell which He endured. It is beyond human imagination to suffer a fate worse than His.

Furthermore, Jesus is God, who came to Earth in the form of a fragile human being to redeem/save humanity. And a symptom of PTSD is the stress or anxiety one feels when remembering a traumatic event. But, I believe Jesus was experiencing a form of PTSD before His traumatic experience even happened.

That would be because He is God and He knew every single detail that would outline His suffering the next day. And when He remembered the future should He choose to save us, He started sweating blood. And sweating blood is a medical condition where people experience severe stress. So, Jesus felt severe stress or anxiety about the suffering He was going to endure, on the night of His arrest.

Luke 22:44 World English Bible (WEB)
44 Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Stepping out of the Trauma

Jesus knows how you feel. You can be sure about that. But, is stepping out of a terrible experience possible? Are you capable of stepping out of PTSD? The answer to these questions is a resounding “yes.”

Jesus does not have PTSD, now. He did what He did with a purpose. And He accomplished it. That purpose was to experience our hell, so, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, He saves us.

John 19:28-30 World English Bible (WEB)
28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” 29 Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

Jesus recognized how His pain ended, and how His pain had a purpose. And three days later, He rose again victorious and alive. He rose again so that you would also have the benefit of a resurrection where you are a new, whole creation.

Romans 6:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

But now, in the case of your life, how do you step out of a traumatized past? You give it to Jesus.

Remind yourself that you are not the product of your experiences, but instead, you are a child of the Living God! When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, He makes you His redeemed child. You are a beloved child of God.

Furthermore, enjoy your family life. Let God walk you each step of the way through your path to recovery and restoration.

Overall, when it comes to stepping out of your trauma, recognize Jesus’ immense suffering, realize that He rose again victorious, and surrender your pain to God. He is there with you, pray to Him to heal you and read His Word in pursuit of the life-changing truth of Jesus Christ in our lives. Paying a price to enjoy every moment of your life, is not yours to pay, Jesus already paid for it. Therefore, through Christ Jesus, stepping out of your pain is not impossible.

By Andre Wijesekera