Happy Wellness Wednesday, Garden Fam!
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week, so I wanted to use this episode to offer an alternative perspective to what is often shared in the mainstream. Enjoy and be encouraged! 💕
Focus Scriptures
2 Timothy 1:7
John 14:12-14
Isaiah 61:1-3
Episode Transcript
First, let me start off by saying that I am an advocate for taking care of your mind just as much as, if not more than your body. Mental Health is super important as it is one of the aspects of life that strongly affects the rest! I believe we must be intentional about what we are taking in, such as content and food, and should be intentional about implementing healthy practices overall in order to maintain good mental health. I believe in saying ‘no’ when needed, taking breaks when needed, ensuring we are maintaining healthy relationships and environments, and implementing healthy practices that help us to operate at our best. I DO NOT believe in overriding or suppressing what is going on within, and I think it is super important to address when things may be off within us instead of just pushing through and hoping it goes away.
There was a time when mental health was not much of a thing… when going to therapy and caring for your mind and emotions was taboo, or even thought to be for the weak or faint at heart. That certainly wasn’t healthy and definitely led to the stigma towards mental illness and even remedies for mental health. As someone who has had my own struggles with depression, I was very happy to see the shift take place when the world began embracing and promoting the importance of mental health. It is something that I’ve always held in high regard, even if I didn’t necessarily call it by that name. Our minds are one of our most valuable assets, so obviously we should be caring for them. However, I’ve begun to see another shift taking place, and though it seems ‘fluffy’ and ‘feel good’, I actually believe it is a disservice and detrimental overall…
What I see is that in our efforts to normalize mental health, we’ve actually normalized mental illness. In our efforts to destigmatize mental illness, we’ve embraced it as a normal part of life. Instead of instilling hope and offering curative solutions for mental health struggles, we’ve kinda set up shop here and accepted that mental illness is just something that happens and that we’ve just got to deal with it, potentially for the rest of our lives…
In a world that’s constantly telling you that it’s totally okay and totally normal to be depressed, anxious, bipolar, autistic, or to have attention deficit disorders… In a world where there is heavy emphasis on long-term treatment options instead of prevention and the availability of a cure… In a world where sickness (mental and physical) is celebrated and embraced as a badge of solidarity, while you continue to suffer day-to-day…
I want to take today to offer you a different, more hopeful perspective.
Though no one should feel shame for struggling mentally or emotionally from time to time, or even for receiving a diagnosis for a mental illness for which you've been told there is no cure, I want you to embrace the idea that this does NOT have to be your reality for the rest of your life! I’m going to share a little bit of my own deliverance experience with you and I want you to know that I’m not special. The same healing is available to you and I need you to know that! I pray that you don’t take away from this any shame, discouragement, or stigmatization, but rather hope that if it happened for me, that it can also happen for you!
[listen for my story]
Now, after hearing that, you may be thinking a few things, like “well, yeah, that was just you,” or maybe, “I’m not depressed though..” or potentially even, “what I’ve got going on is a lot worse than a little depression.” To you, I still say, it is possible for you to not suffer for the rest of your life. I know a man who holds the cure to EVERY illness you may ever encounter. This may sound cliche or like something you’ve heard before, but stay with me until the end anyway! I say it now with the experience to back it up and not just from the place of my own belief: Jesus CAN and WILL heal you from any illness, seen and unseen if you ask Him and welcome Him to do so!
If you don’t yet know Him, I encourage you to try Him. Call out to Him today, and see that He will respond. And to those who know Jesus, but don’t yet believe that He can cure your illnesses, mental or physical, I want to encourage you that He can AND that He has given your the authority by His Spirit to heal the sick, cast out demons, and do even greater works than He did while on the earth.
Again, I pray that each of you would be encouraged and that you leave this podcast with even a glimmer of hope that mental HEALTH can be and IS your portion, and that you don’t have to struggle with mental illness, whether acute or chronic for the rest of your life. There IS another way! Know that you can pray for healing for yourself and others and if you believe, they shall be healed, in Jesus’ name! I will leave you with a devotional from my Bible that was super encouraging to me, and I pray that it is for you as well!
I will link a blog in the description that lists all of Jesus’ recorded healing miracles. Read them and know that there is NO case that is too hard for the Master Healer, and know that it does not have to take years, months, weeks, days, or even hours for your healing to take place. God can heal you in an instant if you only have the faith to believe Him!
Even if you don’t yet believe, I want you to declare everyday this week, or more if you need to: “My mind is sound, in Jesus’ name!” If God gives you instructions on what to do next, make sure you follow through!
I love you so much and I will be praying for you to be free from whatever has had you bound mentally! I look forward to hearing your healing testimonies!
Have a healthy and wholesome week!
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