Mental health is a term that can mean many things depending on where one is in the world. There can be talks of mental health when someone struggles with anxiety, fear, and worry. Then there is the mental health talk where someone has chronic depression and has to take medication to function well. According to my experience here in East Africa, whenever people talk about mental health, it is mostly not the chronic type where one must take medication to help control it. It is more of a situational issue that causes one anxiety, fear, or worry. I’ve personally struggled with these situational mental health issues, and I’m planning to share my experiences and how I’ve addressed them through Scripture in this blog.
In East Africa, the leading life challenges are poverty, unemployment, things to do with dating, marriage, fertility, schooling, taking care of family, putting food on the table, drought, floods, famine, etc. The list could go on and on. These situations put pressure on people, and that is usually the source of most mental health issues. When life is going well, it’s easy to feel excited and optimistic. Life struggles are what really take our mental health for a ride.
Fight with Scripture
Over time, I have learned to overcome my mental health struggles with the help of Scripture. For instance, whenever I lack money or work, I remind myself of verses like Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” This verse helps to remind me who God is. He is a “sun and shield”, meaning he can bring light wherever darkness exists in my life. I can, therefore, trust God to shield me from total financial ruin whenever things are hard. I am also reminded to “walk uprightly”; whenever I do that, I can trust that God will remember me and not withhold good things from me. Let me explain what ‘walking uprightly’ means in the context of this verse.
According to Psalm 84:11, I have a choice to either sit in my mental health struggles of fear, worry, and anxiety or continue walking upright. Psalm 15:1-5 excellently explains what it means to walk uprightly before the Lord. A person who walks uprightly does what is right, speaks the truth, does not slander, does no evil, despises evil, honours those who fear the Lord, has integrity, does not take advantage of people financially, and does not take bribes. The person who is living this way “sojourns” in the “tent” of God and “dwells” on his “holy hill”. In other words, the believer who walks upright is the person who is near to God, and without a doubt, God hears his prayers whenever he is in need. Put your trust in God, a sun and a shield, as you walk uprightly before him. Believe that he will bring the sun amid any darkness. Believe that he can shield you from even financial ruin. Keep walking uprightly and savour the blessing of being in the tent and on God’s holy hill as you wait on him.
Sin is More Destructive than Trials
Further, these trials that bring us down mentally can often be viewed as blessings from God. James 1:2-4 teaches us that trials produce steadfastness and perfect us so that we can know and enjoy the Lord more. James reminds us that wisdom is always available to remain steadfast in trials (James 1:5), and we only need to ask. Then, whenever we are steadfast in trials, we will eventually receive the blessing of godly character (James 1:4, 12, Matthew 5:11-12). James warns that trials can bring lots of temptation unto sin, but we should not give in to them because sin, when fully grown, brings death (James 1:13-15). In other words, instead of praying for trials to be removed, pray for steadfastness and purity amid trials. Sin is far more destructive than challenging life circumstances.
Our mental health struggles are often directly proportional to the trials we’re going through. During such situations, we may fail to realize the danger of sin that we can give way to. This is why the psalmist in Psalm 103:1-2 preaches to himself by telling his soul, which is probably caught up in struggles of fear, worry, and anxiety, to “bless the Lord” (Psalm 103:1). But whenever we’re having mental health struggles, we often don’t feel like blessing the Lord and forget all of the benefits of knowing him. That’s why the psalmist starts naming the “benefits” (Psalm 103:2) and blessings that he has in God. He reminds himself that God has forgiven him of all his sins, healed him of diseases in the past, redeemed his life from the pit, crowned him with steadfast love and mercy, satisfied him with good in the past, and renewed his strength (Psalm 103:3-5). So, as the hymn says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done.” Counting your blessings in the style of Psalm 103 has a way of defeating mental health struggles because entertaining fear, worry, and anxiety may make sin start seeming attractive.
Go Outside
Further, in Psalm 104, the psalmist is again exhorting his soul to bless the Lord, despite his mental disposition, because of how he created and sustains the world. The psalmist proclaims that God is clothed with splendour and majesty for how he’s created the world (Psalm 104:1-2). He praises God for his creation and for sustaining the water, clouds, wind, fire, grass, trees, the moon, the sun, the seas, animals, seasons, and food for all creation (Psalm 104:3-30). At the end of seeing all that God has done to create and sustain life, the psalmist says, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever…I will sing to the Lord as long as I live…May my meditation be pleasing to him” (Psalm 104:31-34). From this psalm, my main takeaway is to go outside more often and see what the Lord has done. Name what God has done and wonder at his marvellous works. This can be a healing balm for any soul troubled with mental health issues.
Life in this Fallen world can indeed be challenging and prone to cause us numerous mental health struggles. However, be encouraged to continue walking uprightly before the Lord, savouring the promises in Scripture, remembering your blessings, and the power of God to sustain and provide for his own. May these words of Psalm 56:3-4 revive our hope whenever our mental health seems to give way, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
