Thought for Wednesday, 25 April

Mental Health is a topic that’s at the forefront of today’s society and this is very much for the better.  This subject is no longer TABOO! What is surprising is knowing that men and women of faith who are found in our Bible stories also struggled with their mental health too.  The struggle around mental health is timeless.  Our own Bible is filled with key people who knew and loved God and still wrestled with their mental health – anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Hopefully in today’s modern world we can still learn the Biblical lessons of how they dealt with and responded to their own struggles.  Three examples are below:-

Gideon: (Judges 6-8) One of the most prominent examples would be the story of Gideon who is often considered the poster boy for fear. God first commanded him to rescue the Israelites. God chose a weak, fearful man who is characterised by fear and inadequacy; he has little or no self- confidence. God comes to him as he is beating out wheat in a wine press. He is hiding because he is afraid (Judges 6:11).

Throughout his entire story, Gideon demonstrated fear, anxiety and doubt.  Gideon showed great faith by answering God's calling and smashing the altar that his father had built. This lesson from Gideon is that God calls upon believers to first put their own house in order before they can help others.  What we can learn from Gideon is that every experience in life is a test.  Every trial in the lives of God’s people is tailored to draw us closer to God.  The point being - When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is punishing you, try to see them as God's gift of grace.

Hannah:  Hannah, Who Longed for a Baby (1 Samuel 1:1-20)

Hannah is a woman who knows grief. She longs for a baby, but her womb is painfully empty. She is continually mocked and taunted by her husband’s second wife who has children, and weeps to the point where she can’t eat. 

Each year, Hannah and her husband visit a place called Shiloh to worship and make sacrifices to God. One particular year, Hannah is praying outside the temple. “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly,” says verse 10. 

Hannah’s pleas to the Lord for a child are so raw and desperate that the priest who sees her praying outside the temple thinks she’s drunk (v. 13). She’s been praying for a baby for years, and yet her prayers have gone unanswered. We can only imagine how she must feel; confused, ashamed, disappointed, or worn out.  Yet in her sorrow and desperation, Hannah doesn’t give up—she keeps seeking the Lord and worshiping him. The book of 1 Samuel,Chapter 2 tells us that Hannah gave birth to 3 sons & 2 daughters.  When we’re facing pain, grief, or any mental illness, may we be like Hannah and keep turning to God. 

Jesus:  Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion.  He always knew he would face a truly horrible death. The reality of that fate seems to come to a head for him in the hours before his arrest. The gospel writers describe Jesus as “deeply distressed and troubled”, and Matthew writes that Jesus tells Peter, James, and John, who were with him in the garden that he is “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Luke even describes Jesus’ sweat “like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

We learn that fear, anxiety, and other difficult emotions are a normal part of the human experience - even for Jesus. That having hope for our future won’t take away the pain and sorrow of today, and that’s okay. Despite knowing he would have victory over death and would be raised to life on the third day after his crucifixion, Jesus still experienced anxiety about the death he was facing. Jesus then sought a quiet place and prayed to his heavenly Father.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father in prayer we bring our fear, anxiety, troubles, depression & suicidal thoughts to you.  We ask for our family and friend’s support.  We need to remember whatever we are facing and when we are wrestling with our mental health to take it to you God and also share how we feel with our closest friends and neighbours so they too can help and support us.  All this we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.