Every day feels like I'm in a state of hyperactivity. Perceptual awareness overload of what needs to be done and when. A never-ending to-do list where my eyes are wide and my soul is fading. Hypervigilance to productivity is a slave.
Most days, I'm scared. Scared that one day my heart will just stop. I'll keel over. Dead from this anxiety. Depression. Cyclone of thoughts swirling in my mind. Blurring my vision.
Scared of what will happen if I stop. Rest. Take a few minutes to not be productive. To actually allow my mind the time and space to breathe. Think. Sit with itself. And that's a scary place to be.
Because we're not created to be machines that never stop, we're human beings with flesh and bone, soul and marrow, joint and spirit.
An alarm on my phone startles me. A national alert system to keep me safe.
Then why is my heart pounding? My eyes glued over the screen. My hands are shaking even though I know it's just a test. Perhaps because trauma is written into us, it's not something easily erased. And the smallest trigger makes us jump like the monster out of the closest into our realities.
In his profound recollection of the human experience, Bessel Van Der Kolk explains how one's body keeps the score in almost every facet of life. From big T trauma, like the Holocaust, 9/11, or WWII, to little t trauma, such as divorce, chaotic upbringings, and car accidents, trauma is trauma, and our world needs to know how to respond. As a Christian, I think our churches especially need this guidance.
How can those within the church respond to these mental health issues? By offering comfort, hope, and transparency to those who are hurting.
1. Comfort
Over the last decade, I've struggled to find a small group of young adults who can relate to what I'm going through. Especially after graduating college and entering a workplace where I engage with 15-year-old students all day every day, this connection has grown stagnant.
Recently, Ben and I were welcomed into a new church and a new small group. After getting married and exploring half a dozen churches, we've been thrilled to find one with people our age and activities we can participate in. Even more so, we've found a community that comforts us in the highs and lows of life.
In Galatians 6:2, Jesus reminds us that sharing burdens is how we comfort each other. Not because we are airing dirty laundry or sharing secrets, but because when we share the parts of us that are dark, that's how the light begins to shine through.
Comfort to those who are in the depths of trauma, anxiety, depression, and you name your mental health struggle here, doesn't look much different than Jesus' two greatest commandments in life: Love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40).
2. Hope
Unlike, comfort, offering hope can seem difficult, especially when you yourself are suffering. But one of Satan's greatest lies he tries to convince us of is that if we're struggling, then we're useless to others. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Those who struggle are not only able to understand what we're walking through but they are equally equipped to walk with us. Only those who've experienced grave suffering and turmoil truly know how to offer hope to those who're walking the same road they once navigated. Perhaps that's what makes survivors of tragedy, pain, and heartbreak so brokenly strong and powerful.
In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul writes that Jesus is a High Priest who not only died for our sins but experienced the same pain and brokenness we do today for the purpose of relating to us. He suffered for us because He cares. He suffered for us because He loves us. He suffered for us so we could look forward to a place where suffering will no longer exist.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3-7, NIV).
Hope reminds us that even though our circumstances may never change, our God is within those places fighting for and standing with us. To those who are presently suffering, know this: your pain doesn't disqualify you from serving others; it empowers you to show Christ's light amid it. And to those who are attempting to comfort and offer hope to those who are hurting, pull from within. Hope isn't a wish or an unfulfilled promise. It's a promise of God's Word to come. A confident expectation in something we can't yet see, but know someday we will.
3. Transparency
Of all the things the church can offer those who are struggling with physical or mental health conditions, transparency is one of the most crucial. Why? Because it's real and raw. Not something covered by fake smiles, nonchalant halfhearted answers, or Christian clichés.
I've attended too many church services or events that prescribe Bible verses like candy for conditions like anxiety and depression. The reality is that while reading the Bible is helpful, stating it's all one needs to heal isn't helpful. If someone had diabetes, would you tell them to resist treatment with insulin and just have more faith? Of course not.
Transparency means seeing physical and mental health on an equal playing field both inside and outside of the church. It means praying for those who are suffering and checking on their spiritual life but also checking on all the other parts of who they are. Again, we are multifaceted creatures created in the complex image of God. Our souls can't be separated from our minds and physical statures, so why would we pretend they can be?
Call to Action
Today, I'm blessed to attend a church that not only supports the holistic whole-body approach to mental health but also prays and believes in God's goodness and healing. This is rare and so are the people.
I'm not sure what churches those of you reading this attend. I'm not even sure if you know their stance on mental or physical health and healing. But here's my challenge to you: Find out. Then encourage comfort, hope, and transparency to those who are suffering.
Chances are, if you're suffering, you're not alone. Someone else is wondering the same questions and probably desires the support you equally desire. If you aren't suffering, take this as an opportunity and blessing to be with those who are. Your time will come, and when it does, you'll want the same condolences you now give.
Comfort, hope, and transparency don't ask you to have all the answers; they ask you to point others to the One who does and who sits with them now and even after the answers come.
Agape, Amber
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