How Does the Bible View Mental Health?
Transcript
INTRO: Good afternoon and welcome back to the Sunday School Podcast, the pod all about digging deeper into the Bible using social, historical, and scientific context. I’m Sean Parker, and today we’re going to discuss a topic that has some real life application in our everyday lives.
Since the beginning of 2020, mental health has been on a steady decline. According to a CDC report published over a year ago, rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and thoughts of suicied have more than doubled. In the year since this report was published, those numbers have only gotten worse.
We’ve seen massive civil unrest, and honestly, just an overall decline in civility and humanity to our fellow man.
I believe we all know what the primary catalyst for this change has been– COVID. But, I believe COVID was just the spark that ignited an already primed fuse. We live in a society that has moved further and further away from Jesus.
Our world brings lots of problems, but offers no lasting solutions. Today, we will discuss what God has to say about dealing with life’s challenges.
Mental health issues are real, but God offers hope, joy, and peace. Today on Sunday School with Sean.
(Transition)
I want to begin today in the book of Psalms. If you’ve only ever viewed Psalms as a book of confusing poems, you’re missing out on a lot. Psalms is basically a blueprint for how to bring your problems before God.
Let’s start in Psalm 42. It shows that a lot of times you can’t help how you feel, but you can choose how you react to those feelings. Listen to how the psalmist expresses their feelings, followed by their choice to still praise God.
Psalm 42 New Living Translation
1As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9“O God my rock,” I cry,
“why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
So the speaker here doesn’t understand why he feels the way he does, but he actively chooses what his focus will be. Instead of focusing on the despair he’s feeling, he focuses on God. He focuses on the goodness of God. He focuses on what’s actually important in the greater scheme of things.
We often get wrapped up in the finite things in our lives, and lose sight of the eternal things that truly matter. Regardless of how messed up things are in this world, we are only here for a short time. We have an eternity of heaven to look forward to.
So it’s important that we focus on that salvation that our good good God has provided, not on the temporary pains of this world.
Another psalm that is extremely comforting comes from:
Psalm 139:1-12
1O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
No matter where we are, God is with us. He knows everything about us and loves us beyond comprehension. That’s a comforting thought. He knows the darkness in our minds and in our thoughts, but as it says in verse 12 even in the darkness I cannot hide from God.
So we should take our prayers and supplications to God. Prayers- telling God our problems, and supplications- asking God for help. The key piece that goes along with that is thankfulness. When we bring those prayers and supplications to God, we should do so with a thankful heart. That’s hard to do when we are feeling anxiety or despair, but if able to do it, it can totally change how you feel.
Have you ever tried smiling when you are truly angry? It’s really tough. But, if you can do it, you find that it’s not as easy to stay angry. God’s wisdom is truly incredible.
Phillipians 4:4-8 gives a great example of this
4Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
(Promo)
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(Transition)
At this point, I want to make a statement. The verses and examples I’ve given will absolutely help, but that doesn’t mean you may not need some other form of help. There’s nothing in the bible that would prevent you from going to talk with a counselor, or taking some kind of medication. God created us body, spirit, and mind. It would be insane to think that we don’t need food for our body or medicine to treat an illness. The mind is no different.
Now, I also want to emphasize that a lot of the mental illness we experience is a result of spiritual sickness, or separation from God. One of the greatest gifts of salvation is the restoring of our soul. So we need to take a multi-faceted approach to caring for our mental health.
Diet and exercise can positively or negatively impact our mental health. Sometimes we have a hormonal or chemical imbalance that needs to be treated medically. You may have experienced some kind of trauma that requires counseling. But, we need to make sure we also address the most important aspect– our spiritual standing with God.
We need to remember that sin has consequences. Not all things that are bad in our life are a result of sin. That was the misunderstanding Job’s friends had when blaming him for his downfall. But, sin does come with a price. So, work to remove sin from your life and rely on God. Proverbs 12:20-21 says
20Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil;
joy fills hearts that are planning peace!
21No harm comes to the godly,
but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
God promises joy to the godly. This isn’t to be confused with happiness. Happiness is fleeting, and based on our circumstances. Joy comes in spite of our circumstances, because we know whose we are, and where our final destination is.
So remember, we serve a loving God. A God that allows bad things to happen to good people, because he doesn’t have the same mindset as us. We have a finite understanding of the world, while God has an eternal mindset. So, I want to end with some words of encouragement from 1 Peter 5:8-11
8Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
10In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11All power to him forever! Amen.
Outro: As always, I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, don’t forget to leave a review in whatever player you use to listen to podcasts.
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Sources
https://www.gotquestions.org/mental-illness.html
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/messages/2021/one-year-in-covid-19-and-mental-health