Hope For Those Struggling With Mental HealthExemplo

God is With Me

I seem to consistently put words into God’s mouth without even being aware I am doing so! I can be convinced my understanding is completely accurate, and I can project my fears and doubts onto God and translate them as truth. Do you ever do this?

I have suffered with mental illness for close to thirty-five years, and my shame from these mental and emotional battles can often make it feel hard to even breathe, much less deserve the Truth which God has for me. The lies my mind often screams can be paralyzing. I am a Christian, a child of God, yet my recovery and healing from these mental health challenges have not looked like I what I expected or hoped for at any point or in any season of this journey.

My struggle with borderline personality disorder and depression are a direct result of physical and emotional abandonment reoccurring in my life until college. Through this conditioning, I began to believe abandonment was my reality. Trust of others or of God was difficult if not impossible.

Growing up, food was often scarce and, when it was available, I was taught to limit my portions until long-term malnourishment became a part of my story, my path. This led to full-blown anorexia which I have to fight to prevent from overwhelming me all day, every day.

My point is not to drown you in these many waves of my story but to help you see that Jesus has become my only hope to rescue me from the past hurts and traumas. The hope I now experience has come from hurt, harm, and much pain. God uses everything. No suffering is wasted…ever.

None of these thoughts and feelings, the deceptive beliefs I have often staked my life on, are from God. The anguish of mental illness breaks the heart of the One who protects me in ways I cannot even imagine. He does the same for you, my friend. God’s Truth replaces the lies my mind can so often be tempted to believe. It tells me that He will not abandon me, His presence is with me wherever I may go or whatever I may go through.

My heart begins to soften so quickly when I hear the Truth of how God feels about me, my painful mind, and my past. He is healing me of those traumas, and I am learning to trust – which is no less than miraculous and beautiful. His mercy and grace are at times unfathomable yet epic.

Scripture tells us, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my mighty right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

My mental health can cause dismay, yet my living in a reality of hope and Truth depends on who I choose to believe one day and then the next. God’s Word does not change, and neither does God. His mercies are new each morning and all the days of our lives.

Would you join me to believe what God says about us in His Word? He never responds to my doubts or despair the way I’ve been conditioned to believe I deserve. Rather, He holds me and introduces His peace to my turbulent mind and nourishes my body broken by anorexia with both healing food and Truth.

Hang on with me to His Word, His Truth, because our Father doesn’t want us to merely survive. No, my friend, He wants us to thrive.