Faith & Mental Health

@ENKELI I'd like to follow the discussion but I'm not sure how much I can contribute... I'm conflicted. I was caught up in bad old interdenominational disagreements in the family as a kid.

Years ago a psych said my religiosity seemed to peak when I was unwell. These days it still simmers.

Love this discussion topic.

I'm Christian and I'm bipolar. I wouldn't say my faith in Jesus has ever caused me any problems when considering my bipolarity. Occasionally I fleetingly push back against God for giving me this bipolar brain. But only occasionally and fleetingly. Really I love my brain, and I take what I am given, though it is hard to wrangle often.

For me, Jesus understands everything. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses" Hebrews 4:15. And God is the perfect, all loving parent. Jesus has suffered everything. All the rang of human suffering. and He knows everything. He gets it. And He is all love.

Why we suffer is a big one. One of the greats. But I am sure this suffering will end, and we will all, every one of us, live fully in a perfect place, covered with both justice and mercy. Everything will be right. This Earth is like a prequel.

I don't think anything would have meaning without suffering.

I find it helpful to zoom out, which can be so hard, and try keep your core tenets as forefront and as close as you can. It's hard my friend! I am praying for you right now. You've got this, and God's got you. Happy to keep discussing. Love and peace Jenn4

All I can say is beware of psychiatrists and religion. There is industrial demarcation in this, and power delusions.

Hi @ENKELI

Ive been a Christian and had a faith since my late teens, I’m 41 now. My faith has been all over the place over the years. In my late 20s I spent nearly a year in a faith based rehab program after battling with my mental health for a few years. This program really helped me, taught me a lot of life skills, I worked through a lot of my childhood trauma and laid the foundation to get on with my life and i graduated a different person and had a really good 10 years. (I studied, got a great job and was able to progress and given lots of amazing opportunities, got married and had my daughter, continued in with my faith and had leadership positions in my church).

but then my marriage ended, more trauma happened and 2020 happened and I started struggling with my mental health again. I felt deserted and unsupported by my church and leadership (we had a change in leadership) and that was a huge blow.

I’ve struggled with my faith since. I’d say I still believe, but I doubt a lot, I have a lot of anger and a lot of questions. I don’t go to church much anymore. I could list off a whole heap of statements and scriptures, things that helped in the past, but now I struggle with them.

anyways, I’ve shared enough.

I'm not sure what to say @ENKELI

I am a bit torn with religion.

I'm open to seeing what you and others have to say.

@Jenn4 I'm so glad you joined this thread!

I love Jesus, He has saved me in more ways than I care to remember. I have been a believer all my life but in my 30s I gave my life to Jesus and was baptised. I was deeply involved in church activities for several years but the leadership team changed and it wasn't the same after that. I found another church I enjoyed going to but my ex friend and my God children (her kids) still attend that church and I don't feel comfortable going there anymore. It was painful enough when my friend cut me out of her life because I haven't seen my God kids in over a year and I miss them like crazy. I'd probably break down if I saw them and wasn't able to hug them.

I don't have any other Christian friends to talk to anymore either so I find myself struggling. I still.pray and read the Word but it would be nice to chat to fellow Christians who also experience mental health issues.

Do you have a church you love?

I found my faith has strengthened and helped my MH journey. I've never once told God I wish He'd never let me have bipolar 2, depression and anxiety. Between medication and the Lord I feel comforted, but I desire more time with Him and other believers.

Feel free to post your favourite verses too.

Mine is Hebrews 13 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (NIV)

@ENKELI !

I only just saw this thread and read it right through. Thanks for sharing.

I have to say I can relate to what you are saying about questioning your faith when it comes to mental health. I certainly questioned my faith. At the same time, my faith strengthened me to keep going when things were tough.

My parent are non-believers, but I came to know the Lord when I was in my late teens. The experience was one I'd never forget. It was as though the world opened up and became heavenly - everything was new. Just like the scripture "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor 5:17) KJV

A verse that kept me going in my MH journey was "when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." (Ps 61:2) I have this verse hanging on my loungeroom wall.

Yes! @ENKELI @tyme @Birdofparadise8 @ArraDreaming @Bow @Dimity @Stout I love this thread! So good 😍 Thankyou for all your contributions

Jesus and faith and hope keep me going! I always think (commonly attributed the late great John Lennon) - 'everything will be alright in the end, if it is not alright, it is not the end'. I love that so much, and honestly I would say that is the cornerstone of my faith and worldview. The corest of my core tenets.

Love! These scriptures you have shared @ENKELI and @tyme Thankyou! Where would we be without scripture, it's so good! I have never heard that psalm before, that's absolutely beautiful, I want it on my loungeroom wall too now!

@Dimity I'm sorry you were caught up in interdenominational disagreements as a kid! Interdenominational disagreements suck!! As far as I am concerned we are all siblings in Christ and we should be diverse in unity! The apostle Paul was literally so emphatic when he wrote about this in the New Testament, he was like, 'church, don't split up! Do not split up!' See Ephesians 4 as well as other places. I just read all of Ephesians 4, it's amazing, I love it. Can recommend.

@Bow I'm so glad that the faith based rehab was good for you and so sorry you've experienced trauma in 2020 and about your marriage. And to hear that you felt deserted by your church! That's not okay at all! I'm so upset to hear that. I say it's okay (good even!) to have questions and even be angry at God! The scriptures are full of people expressing doubt and anger at God, Psalm 44 is a great example of this! It goes through thankfulness, then anger, then confusion! It's heaps good. God gets it. He gets us. And He doesn't expect us to be anything except how He made us - His human children. God gets it completely and He loves us completely. It is not a sin to doubt and it's not a sin to be angry, and it's not a sin to be confused! - And never feel like there should be a cap on how much you can share with those you trust if you want to share. We are made to share and support eachother as we share and because we share. And I feel like (I feel like I can at least!) trust this forum, and people listen and care and get it.

@ArraDreaming , love that you believe in the Dreamtime. The dreamtime is beautiful and good for heaps!

@ENKELI , I'm sorry about your God kids! That sounds incredibly hard. Friends cutting you out is incredibly hard. And it's so hard when you don't have other Christians to talk to - especially ones who get you and get it! I am so happy to keep this thread going with you and everyone/anyone else for as long as it needs to. Not having a church is really hard. I have a really good home church where I'm from. I recently moved and am in a new church that has a lot going for it, I'm still getting to know it and forming family there. I encourage you to keep looking for a church even though looking for a church is hard and tiring! It was hard and tiring for me when I first moved. I love that you've never told God that you wish He'd not let you have these challenges, that's amazing and takes great strength and faith. Praise God. Great verse from Hebrews, so good. So so many good verses. Romans 8:38-39 for example, 'For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord'. So good.

Praise God!

@Dimity I'm glad you're here. Don't feel that you have to contribute, we all have different thoughts and beliefs as you know.

I created this thread so that anyone who wants to talk about their thoughts and beliefs on faith can share, or just read what others think and believe.

Thanks for speaking up 🥰