Your Faith Can Heal You
And that may include a therapist and anti-depressants.
In Mark 10, Blind Bartimaeus receives his sight in Jericho. He is sitting by the side of the road and calls out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus and his disciples call Bartimaeus over, and Jesus asks him what he wants.
The blind man says: “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” Jesus answers, “Your faith has healed you.”
Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road, the Bible tells us. (Mark 10:52).
A recent analysis from the March Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor found that those hardest hit by the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have been younger people and women, including mothers with children under 18 years old in their households. And across the board, Americans are struggling with mental health today.
Indeed, I can relate to that on a personal level. In the study, mothers are among the most likely to report that stress and worry related to coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health.
If you are a parent, or an individual who is struggling with mental health issues like anxiety or depression, you are not alone.
As Bartimaeus showed us in the Gospel of Mark, calling out to Jesus, or praying, is most certainly a powerful conduit for healing. But let us not presume to know exactly where the Holy Spirit will lead us, and how Jesus will heal us.
Having faith in Jesus to heal us is the foundation of our transformations. But as a Christian woman, I also believe that God helps us to transform through our relationships with others, and through the gift of science and medicine.
God has gifted those around us (and this may include you, dear reader!) with skills and talents that can help us to grow, learn, and heal from all kinds of illness, including mental illness like addiction, depression, and anxiety, to name a few.
Perhaps mental health and spiritual health are not so separate as we once thought.
To seek medical help for mental illness does not mean you don’t have faith in God. Quite the opposite. It means you can ask God to show you the way forward, and you can trust that the way to healing may involve the help and assistance of others in ways that you could not even imagine. Let us not presume to know what God has in store for us!
In my video, I talk about why I believe that reaching out and partnering with a therapist, counselor, and/or a psychiatrist who can prescribe anti-depressants and medication, can be a helpful, even life-saving, means of seeking treatment to feel better. When we are healthy in mind, body, and spirit, we are best positioned to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit and bless those around us!
It took courage and strength to admit when I needed help and was struggling over the course of this past year. You can find a therapist or doctor by calling your health insurance company, or by visiting Psychology Today.
God wants the best for you!
May God bless you richly.
In Christ, and with love,
Kristen