Mental Health...Medication...and the Christian response

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It's always been a month that I hold near and dear to me. If you're someone who knows me, I've told my story endless times. The short version is I've dealt with mental illness since I was 6 years old. I have dealt with it my entire life in a family that doesn't understand, accept, or believe in mental illness. 

I spent most of my early adulthood comparing my mental illness to my mother's diabetes...comparing my having to take medication to her having to take medication. It never sunk in. 

I've also spent my life dealing with so-called believers in Christ who do not believe mental illness is real. 

It took me until last year to accept that medication is okay and that it does not deny the sovereignty of God. 

It took me until last year to have people in my life who are Christians who do believe in the reality of mental illness and who do believe in the necessity of good mental health. 

I tried twice to remove myself from medication because I thought taking medicine was taking away the holiness of God. 

Wrong-o!

So what exactly DOES the bible say about mental illness? Is it because of the sin in my life? Is it because of demons (as some believe)? 

To be honest illness in many ways is because of the fall of man. 

So yes...mental illness is because of sin. 

Not necessarily my own sin, though. 

There are many instances in the Bible where we see people suffering from despair, loneliness, anxiety, and depression. 

King David (Psalm 38:4), Job (Job 3:26), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), and Jonah (Jonah 4:3). 

All suffered from depression. 

The Lord, however, answered them in His way. 

God has also given people in our lives the ability to create medication...and He's given us the ability to think and know that if we need medication for something, we should take it. 

It took 20 years to figure out the best medications for me. 

It wasn't easy. 

I do believe medication should be taken alongside counseling. 

I went off and on to a secular counselor--and then most recently to a biblical counselor. There's a major difference and a huge success rate with them coinciding. 

I've had people ask me, "can you tell a difference when you don't take your medicine?"

Yes. 

100% yes. 

Just like anyone who is sick...once a person stops taking their needed medications there is a difference. Maybe not after a day or 2, but in time the symptoms of the illness do show up again...sometimes worse than they did before treatment. 

My whole point in this post is that mental health should be taken seriously. Just like any other illness. And being a Christian does not negate mental illness. 

Being a Christian does not cause immunity to mental illness. 

It is real. It requires treatment. 

It is OKAY to seek treatment. 

It is OKAY to take medicine. 

It is OKAY to ask for help!

Almost 26 years after my first diagnosis with mental illness...I've finally found my voice on the issue. Not only have I found my voice--but WITH medication and WITH counseling and WITH constant surrender to the Lord, I finally feel healthy. 

Friends...if you know someone who is struggling, point them in the right direction. 

And if you need help finding the right direction, let me know...we'll talk...and I'll give you my own recommendations on good counseling and psychiatry. 

Take care of yourselves, friends, especially during this pandemic. 

Day 34...

It's day 34 of Quarantine...ask me why I know it's day 34? Because 34 days ago I left my school building for the last time, with the idea in my head that I would see my students again in 2 days. Friday the 13th, of all days, was the last day I saw the most amazing 6th graders around. While "quarantine" didn't technically start until that Monday...I count it. 
34 days (minus 5) of teaching online. Of checking emails, calling parents, helping students into the evening, and praying those I haven't heard from are okay. 
34 days of not being with my church family like I'd like to be. Of going to the church office on Sunday's to either "be the audience" or to help with the facebook feed. Zoom call after Zoom call, google meet after google meet, everything is taking place through technology. Ordering groceries online for curbside pickup, wearing masks (or trying to find a mask)...34 days of trying to figure out a new normal. 
That all sounds a little negative doesn't it? I had to get through the hard reality first. 
34 days of trying not to waste my quarantine. 
What does "waste my quarantine" mean? 
It means...making the most of this extra time I have to spend time with my savior when I complain all the time that I don't have enough time. This has been 34 days of nothing but time. 
Praying those hard prayers that I know don't go past His ears. 
Reading scripture after scripture, not only for encouragement, but for reality. 
Waking up each morning with a new song in my heart. 
Recognizing that this is nothing in the face of our future. Nothing in the face of reality. 
God has this. God has not left us. He is a just God who answers prayers in His time and in His way. He is not ignoring us. He is not being mean...He's being Just. He's being sovereign. 
34 days of unlimited time with Jesus. 
Yes, I'm having to work from home as a lot of us are having to do. Yes--many are still having to make the drive to work. We're living as though God pressed pause for a little bit though. 
Time seems to almost be standing still. He's taken our lives, He's rearranged (or wiped clean) our schedules. Really the only things on our schedules now might be work and zoom calls. 
So why waste this time? 
Take the opportunity to spend time with Jesus right now. In these minutes. When your mind starts to wander...when things start to seem overwhelming...when you're at the point of so much isolation that you can't stand yourself anymore...turn to Jesus. Crack open your Bible and read...there's going to be something in those pages that applies to today. Turn to Paul's letters and preachings. Start there! 
This is not 34 days of the worst life we could live. 
This is not 34 days so far of negativity and anxiety (though the world likes to make it seem that way).
Turn off the news. 
Stop reading articles about COVID-19 for a little bit. 
Start reading God's message to you and me. 
I guarantee life will look better if you do that instead of listening to all the opinions going on in the world. 

So yes, it's been 34 days so far. The world around us has shut down. Reality seems strange and different. We can't visit with people like we want. We can't go see our church family like we'd love to do. We are longing for those hugs again. And who knows just how much longer we will be in isolation? Regardless...God is with us. He's in control. He's on the throne. He knows the answers. 34 days is nothing to Him. 
Focus on the moment you are in. Focus on God's word. Turn to Him :). 

What is God's response to COVID-19?

We are living in a time where people are fearful of what's going on in our world...a time that we really didn't see coming, didn't imagine coming...a time where we have said in the past "that'll never happen to us" or "well it's in other parts of the world, it won't reach the US". 
We have questions. We think that having questions is showing lack of faith, but as my pastor preached this morning through Habakkuk, having questions is not a lack of faith at all. 
If you'd like to hear my pastor's sermon from Habakkuk or ANY of his sermons, click here. 
Today's message was one that really hit home with what's going on in our world. 
My pastor said this morning "Times of uncertainty can produce a lot of worries in our heart."--This resonates so true through this time of uncertainty. We question, well how many more people is this virus going to hit? How many more will die? Why is God not hearing our cries? Why is He not healing our world? 
These questions...as my pastor said today...are not indicative of a lack of faith. 

Abraham, David, and Job all questioned...all "complained"...all implored to the Lord. But these questions have a way of drawing us closer to the Lord. 

I don't want to give the full sermon away, because I'd love for everyone to listen to it...but God will and is answering us. In His time and in His way. 
Just like when Habakkuk was asking His questions...God's answer was that He was Judging Babylon. But as Habakkuk continued to question and wait on the Lord, God softened his heart and finally answered with this..."the wicked will be punished and the righteous must live by faith"

God will answer our cries. In HIS timing. 

He has not forsaken us. He has not changed. He is still on the throne. He will reign and those of us who are in His will, we will be saved. 

I've learned so much not just from my pastor's sermon, but also from just being home...God is sovereign. 
He is every present in our times of trouble. 
He loves His people, and He longs for us to spend time with Him. 
Who knows? Maybe this pandemic is a way to bring His people closer to Him...maybe it's a way to draw people to Christ. Maybe, just maybe, it will save our world. 
People need hope. Our ONLY hope is in Jesus. 
Right now...in this pandemic...people are searching for any type of hope. My prayer is they will find Christ in the midst of all of this. 

Let us continue in prayer with each other. Let's pray for our world. Pray that God will continue to have his hand on this situation. Pray that those of us who are in Him will draw nearer to Him, and that despite loneliness we can remember He is with us. 

Let us continue to hold out hope. To hold on to our faith. 

God will respond. He will answer our questions. He will continue to hold us. Seek Him!