“I have never felt the flames melting the skin off my veins, but I’ve been through hell in my mind. I’ve had the long sleepless nights, felt the breathless despair in the fight. I’ve laid on the ground crying for help. I’ve felt the rush of anxiety’s waves, and the guilt that won’t wash away, and the deep dread of hopeless days.”
I wrote those words about a year and a half ago after enduring a brutal season of despair.
I’ve endured countless seasons of emotional “winter” since I was kid. And the Lord has significantly healed me, but I still have weaknesses and regularly battle my mind and emotions.
But the difference now is I’ve weathered enough anxiety and despair to know that, without fail, God won’t let go. I’m also better prepared with a thicker jacket, winter boots, and gloves to know what to do when the storm comes.
And I want to share that winter wardrobe with you.
Mind, Body, and Soul
Before we dig into the wardrobe, it’s important to note that mental health is nuanced; it’s not entirely spiritual. All diagnoses aside, there are hosts of physical factors that impact one’s emotions.
Why are women moodier during certain parts of the month? Hormones. Why do people feel happier after exercise? Endorphins. Why are parents prone to impatience while raising an infant? Sleeplessness.
Not every case of mental turmoil is due to sin. Think of Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane. His agony was due to obedience, not failure (Luke 22:44).
In addition, pastors, such as Martyn Lloyd-Jones, have wisely said that some people’s personalities and makeups may predispose them to certain anxious tendencies more than others. Mental health is not always black and white. And we can’t see and understand every aspect of God’s sovereignty that allows suffering in our broken world. We’re not God.
But to blame our anxiety entirely on the physical is short-sighted and unbiblical. Our mental health is largely affected by our spiritual state. Plus, God reigns over the physical, too — so, as a counselor told me, all things are spiritually related.
Christ gave us peace. The Bible commands us not to be anxious about anything (Phil. 4:6–7). God promises us peace when we come to Him in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. The Bible instructs us on what to think about (Phil. 4:8–9). We are told what to set our minds on (Col. 3:2, Rom. 8:5–6). We must take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5).
Our mental health is affected by spiritual and physical factors. Therefore, I urge you not to lose sight of the physical or spiritual when seeking healing. Start exercising, consume less sugar, get more sleep — those gifts of common grace will undoubtedly strengthen you to endure the fight. More on that later.
With those caveats in place, here are seven tools Christians can utilize during ongoing seasons of anxiety and depression.
1. God’s Word
God’s Word never changes, so it’s the best tool to rely on during any season. No matter how hopeless you feel, stay in Scripture.
If you don’t feel anything. If you hate what you’re reading. If you doubt God and His Word. If you feel condemned by the Bible. If Scripture itself indirectly causes you to spiral. If you feel as dry as the desert — which are all things that I have experienced — keep reading.
God’s Word is an anchor meant for the storm. Sailors undoubtedly feel seasick, nauseous, and fearful when the waves are tossing them about, which is why they use their anchor.
2. Prayer
The first thing to do when anxiety and depression creep up is step away from whatever you’re doing and pray. Tell God everything. Lay it all out to Him. Cast your burdens on Him (Ps. 55:22). Cry out to Him in prayer (Ps. 55:16–17).
We often view prayer as a means to an end. We pray for cancer to go away and hope that the end of that prayer is a tumor-free CT scan. We pray that our anxiety and depression will leave, but when it doesn’t, we become more anxious and depressed because “it didn’t work.”
But what if the answer to prayer is Christ? The greatest gift we can receive from anxiety and depression is a greater dependence on and love for our Savior. The more anxious and depressed we are, the more times we go to Him in prayer.
So why would God take away the trials that lead us to Him? I love the lyrics in the hymn, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”:
Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore? The rock of Christ
Christian, I tell you with certainty that your prayers are working — for they are leading you to Christ.
3. Community
During my own bouts with despair, I was tempted to leave my faith and the church. My flesh promised that I’d be carefree and happy if I left.
“What if I just took a break for a little while? It might help,” I thought.
Logically, it made sense to leave, because most of my anxieties were intensified by anything spiritual. Church seemed to be hurting more than helping my situation. And yet, over time, it was the church (God’s people) that was stronger than me — that God used to heal me.
By God’s grace, I never left Christ or the church.
One caveat: It’s possible that you may need to leave a church if it’s unhealthy. But never leave the church, God’s people. Always join yourself to a healthy, local body of believers.
Friend, I plead with you not to walk away from God’s people — they are your lifeline. It was the prayers of countless saints that allowed me to endure (side note: ask friends for prayer!). It was going to biblical counseling that helped me take baby steps forward. It was the people of God who pointed me to Him over and over again. Don’t leave the church. And if you’ve already left, then it’s time to return. Christ will welcome you back (Luke 15:11–32).
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37, italics mine).
Don’t believe the enemy’s lie that you’re better suited to deal with this fight alone, or that you’re the only one with this struggle. Whatever you’re dealing with may seem less common, but you’re not the first person in history to have dealt with it.
4. Preaching to Yourself
A wise professor once told me, “Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself.”
That wisdom changed my life. It’s what David did when he was downcast; he preached truth to himself.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation” (Ps. 42:5).
When your thoughts and feelings take over, stop. Stop and recognize what you’re feeling and thinking, share that with the Lord, and then practice self-control to direct your attention upward and outward. I can almost guarantee you won’t think and feel your way out of a funk, so move on and get to purposeful work.
5. Music
God has used music to carry me through difficulties. “Faithful” by Erik Neider got me on an airplane to Estonia for a mission trip when I was anxious. “Desert Place” by Jon Lind reminded me every morning on my way to work that the Lord’s “manna” for the day was sufficient — and I just needed to take life one day at a time. “Stronghold” by Redemption Church carried me when I couldn’t muster up the faith that I desperately desired, “How I need You, just to need You …”
When I felt like I was “too far gone,” and that “God had rejected me,” I sang “This I Know” by Aaron Shust at the top of my lungs:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand,
My saving grace, my only hope
My Jesus loves me this I know
God has provided us with gifted artists who speak truth to our hearts and lift our spirits with the melody of music.
6. Exercise
I remember a time in my teens when I was so “worked up” and anxious with my spiritual doubts that I lay in agony on the living room couch. And my dad told me to go outside and run sprints.
To which I encourage you: Go outside and run sprints.
I say that both jokingly and with all seriousness. God created your body to produce feelings of pleasure through hard work. Take a walk. Lift weights.
Move your body when you can’t fix your mind. Use your body to help heal your mind. Steward your body for God’s glory.
And in the case when your body is broken or sick, causing mental anguish, and there’s nothing you can do — beloved, trust God that His grace is sufficient for you (2 Cor. 12:9–10).
7. Anything Good
Harness the good things around you to direct your gaze back to Christ.
Maybe it’s learning to play drums, or strumming a guitar, or writing poetry, or baking bread, or painting with your mouth (Joni Eareckson Tada). God’s grace is all around and can help lift our spirits.
And if it seems there’s no good around, you only need to look to Jesus (Ps. 16:2).
Jesus, the Rock that Won’t Break
When all else fails, Jesus never will. Jesus is a rock — and your doubts, feelings, depression, faithlessness, and anxiety can’t break that rock (Ps. 62:1–2, 5–8).
Go to Him and never stop going to Him. Even if you’re convinced that your case is hopeless, resolve to never leave the Lord Jesus Christ, your only source of hope. That is faith.
“The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned” (Ps. 34:22, emphasis mine).