S8.10 | Christian Truths About Walking with Mental Illness: Unspoken Realities Revealed
In this episode of "Affirming Truths" with host Carla Arges, join a candid discussion about the often unspoken truths of the Christian walk with mental illness. As a woman of faith who has personally navigated bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and trauma, Carla shares four affirming truths that offer hope, encouragement, and a fresh perspective for those struggling with mental health in their Christian journey.
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Key Takeaways
IT’s NOT Divine Punishment:
Carla addresses the common struggle of feeling as though mental illness is a form of divine punishment. Drawing from biblical wisdom, she reminds listeners that God can use our brokenness for His glory, reframing the experience as an opportunity for God's power and sovereignty to be revealed.:
Doubting God's Love:
It may be common to question God's love in the midst of mental health challenges, but Carla emphasizes God's unconditional love and provision, encouraging individuals to root their identity in Christ and hold onto the truth that nothing can separate them from God's love.
Overcoming Church Hurt:
Carla bravely confronts the issue of shaming, blaming, and gaslighting within religious communities, debunking misconceptions about mental illness and highlighting the importance of seeking the support and guidance of a healthy church community.
Coping with Suicidal Thoughts:
Addressing the raw reality of wanting to die, Carla shares personal experiences and offers a refreshing perspective on God's sovereignty, affirming that even in the darkest moments, God is close to the brokenhearted and offers rest and nourishment for the soul.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Renewing Hope Course —-> https://www.carlaarges.com/renewing-hope
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
TRANSCRIPT
Carla Arges [00:00:02]:
Hello, friends. Welcome to affirming truths. I am your host, Carla Arges, and I am so glad that you're here with me today. Today we're going to have a little bit of a tough talk. I think it will be tough. We're going to talk about four truths about the christian walk with mental illness that no one talks about. We're going to talk about things about being a woman of faith, walking the christian walk while at the same time dealing with mental illness. And that could also be trauma that's impacted our mental health that no one talks about.
Carla Arges [00:00:41]:
And so I want to say off the bat, there's a trigger warning here because we're going to talk about things like wanting to die and difficult topics like that, which is very much a reality for many christians walking with mental illness that we don't talk about it. So we're going to talk about it today. Four truth. And we're not just going to talk about what no one talks about to commiserate over it. I want to provide you hope and encouragement if you are currently walking and living in one of these truths, because God is for us. And really what I want you to walk away with today is that truth that God is for us. Now, I'm not going to capture everything here that no one talks about. I'm going to center in on four, four that I am very personally and intimately familiar with in my journey with bipolar and borderline and trauma as I've tried to live a life that gives God glory.
Carla Arges [00:01:55]:
Now, the first thing about the christian walk with mental illness that no one talks about is that we actually do sometimes question if this is divine punishment. And we don't like to admit that because we want to believe that God is all loving, God is for us. But the truth is, for many christians that walk with mental health issues, they've doubted, did God do this to me? When prayers for healing have gone unanswered, we wonder, is this punishment for something? Am I not good enough? Am I not being a good enough Christian? Am I not having enough faith? Is my faith even smaller than a mustard seed or nonexistent? Do I have too much sin in my life? Is God punishing me for something that I've done? And if you're walking with that thought, and I've had that thought before, I want to encourage you. With John nine one to three, Jesus and his disciples are out and about when we pick up here. And as he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, but he was born blind. Neither this man or his parents sinned, said Jesus. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him, in them.
Carla Arges [00:03:28]:
So a couple of things to note here. First, they assumed that the blindness was a punishment for sin. And sometimes, whether we like to admit it or not, we've made assumptions about our trial of walking with mental illness, that it's punishment. And here's the reality. And when Jesus says neither this man or his parents sinned, he wasn't saying that they were perfect. It's not what he was saying at all. They had sinned in their life. They were imperfect, sinful people.
Carla Arges [00:04:00]:
What he was saying is that it was not a result of their sin. But if God has allowed it, it is. So the works of God might be displayed. So if you are suffering with mental illness and you're like, why has God allowed this be encouraged? That it is something that God's going to use to show his glory, to show his power, to show his sovereignty. And I have definitely seen that in my own walk. This podcast is an example of it. This podcast was born out of me walking with mental illness and wanting to encourage other women of faith who struggle with all of that. And through that, God is being revealed in this podcast, and women are being encouraged and pointed to Jesus.
Carla Arges [00:04:50]:
So God wants to take that thing that is a result of living in a broken world and use it for your good and his glory. You see, our mental illness is just the fact that we live in broken bodies. Since Eden, until we're in heaven, we live in a broken world with broken bodies. And that broken body includes broken minds. It includes having broken experiences that impact the way our brains develop. It's brokenness. It's brokenness from original sin, not your specific sin, and a punishment specific to you. It's that through Adam and Eve's decision and choices, it allowed the enemy to come and enter this world and be prince of this world.
Carla Arges [00:05:42]:
But we are not of this world. When we are born again in Christ, we are set apart. And he will take our brokenness as we surrender it to him, catch that as we surrender it to him. And he will use it not as a divine punishment, but for his divine glory. And how exciting is it that you get to partner with God in something that the enemy wants to use to destroy you, but God's going to use for glory? That's exciting. The second truth about the christian walk with mental illness that no one talks about is that we've really wondered and really questioned and really doubted if God truly loves us. And that sounds like, oh, to be a good christian, you could never admit that you think God doesn't love you, right? Like, who's going to worship and praise and devote their lives to entity? A God? A person that doesn't love them back, right? We don't like to admit that. We question if God truly loves us.
Carla Arges [00:06:53]:
It goes back kind of to this idea of divine punishment. Not so much that it's punishment, but that God isn't rescuing us. See, if God loved me, he would rescue me. If God loved me, he wouldn't have allowed me to go through childhood trauma. If God loved me, he wouldn't have allowed me to be hurt. If God loved me, he wouldn't have allowed bipolar and BPD to be part of my life. These are realities of what we sometimes think in our doubt, and the enemy loves to latch on to that and feed that. When we start going down that train of thought, the enemy loves that.
Carla Arges [00:07:38]:
But here's the truth. John 316 I know you guys know it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God demonstrated his love for you in the fact that Jesus came as the atonement so that you can be and are reconciled with God the father, so that one day you can be restored in body, in heavenly places where there is no more sadness, no more pain, no more grief. This life is temporary and while it feels heavy and long and important, it is actually a vapor. So if we wonder if God loves us, he loves us that he is securing our eternity, we may have to go through this vapor of brokenness, but our eternity is secured. God bought that eternity for us with the blood of his son. That's how much he loves us and we have to hold on to that truth.
Carla Arges [00:08:49]:
And when the enemy comes and tries to tell you and make you wonder, oh, but if God really loved you, right? Just like he came and had Eve question really God's intentions and God's character, the enemy is up to his same old tricks. He doesn't have new tricks. We have to say, no, God loves me. And he demonstrated it by sending his only begotten son. The third truth about the christian walk with mental illness that we don't talk often enough about is that we have experienced shaming, blaming and gaslighting at the hands of the church. Shaming, blaming and gaslighting at the hands of the church. We've experienced real church hurt for many of us, where we have been open about our struggle with depression or anxiety or mania or bipolar or whatever, we've struggled with the mental effects trauma has left imprinted on our brain, and we have been met more times than not with, oh, if you are praying more, if you are in the Bible more, if you believed more spiritually burdening us. I've had people come to me where people have said there's no such thing as mental illness.
Carla Arges [00:10:25]:
You're demon possessed. Let me tell you right now, you are not demon possessed. You are not a vacant vessel. You are infilled with the Holy Spirit. There is no room for any other occupancy. You are not demon possessed. Okay? Really, if you've ever been told that, and if you've ever doubted that, if you've ever questioned that, let me put that to bed right now. You are a child of God.
Carla Arges [00:10:53]:
If you are walking in the christian walk, if you've given your life to Christ, if you believe Jesus is your lord and savior and you're committed to living for him, you have the indwelling Holy Spirit. There's no demons there. Demons can't possess you. Can they try to oppress you from time to time? Sure. And that's when we use our sword of the spirit and we get them off our backs with the power and authority that God's given us. But we are not demon possessed. Schizophrenia is not demon possession. Bipolar is not demon possession.
Carla Arges [00:11:30]:
Okay, we've been gaslighted too, to be like, oh, really? Are you sure? That's what it is? So many churches make christians afraid to take medication. I've been told myself that I'm limiting the power of God by taking medication, as if anything could limit the power of our limitless God. What ridiculousness is that now? I say that now because when that was told to me, I was already firmly rooted in my identity in Christ, and I was firmly rooted in the way that God was blessing me in stabilizing my mental health. Early on when I was struggling with my mental health and I didn't have the right supports, I wasn't on the right medications, I wasn't going to therapy, and I was very vulnerable. It really had me question my faith and my walk and make me feel like I was a bad Christian. If that has been done to you, I want you to tell you you're not a bad Christian. Having mental illness, having lived through trauma, does not make you a bad christian. It makes you the exact type of Christian Jesus came to save and to walk alongside.
Carla Arges [00:12:52]:
Hebrews 13 six says, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me. I want you so grounded and rooted in who your heavenly Father is and what he has spoken over you that when you hear this nonsense from an uneducated person in church, then you can chalk it up to that. It's ignorance. It's ignorance. And I don't have to receive that because I've received so much better from my father in heaven, who loves me, who's directed me to a great therapist who opened the doors for the right medication. Will there always be a season that I have to be on medication? Who knows God at any point of time can choose to miraculously heal me? Absolutely.
Carla Arges [00:13:42]:
I believe in full restoration. But until then, I am thankful for the blessing that he's gave me through mental health medication, through trauma, informed therapy. These are blessings, right? Just like God has blessed cancer patients with chemotherapy. May not feel like a blessing at the time to go through something, but he's brought some healing, like he's blessed diabetics with the creation of insulin. God can bless us through the medical system. Absolutely. So I don't want you to own the shame and blame and gaslighting from the church. And here's the thing, okay? Leaving the church is not the solution because we are called to gather.
Carla Arges [00:14:32]:
Sticking at home to online church is not the solution. Doing online church as your main form of church is not doing what God intended us to do, which was to gather in person and edify the body and be edified. You're not edifying the body by being on the other side of the screen. You're meant to be in person so that the gifts that God has given you edify the body of Christ. If you are doing church from a screen, the majority of the time you are being a consumer of religion rather than an active participant in the body of Christ. And I say that with full confidence that it's going to irritate some of you. And I'm okay with that because sometimes the truth is irritating. You are meant to be an active participant in the body of Christ, not a consumer of sermons through the screen.
Carla Arges [00:15:25]:
Okay? But I understand if you've been hurt from the church, why you've gotten there, but you can't stay there. You need to go back to church. Maybe not the church that hurts you, but you need to ask God to lead you and guide you to the body that he wants you to be in, and you need to go and be in person. Or maybe there's conversations you have to have with people that have hurt you, and there's biblical ways in which we are instructed to deal with conflict. There are biblical ways that we are instructed to deal with hurt that has happened in the church. And if you want, I can always do a podcast episode on that. Hit me up on Instagram at Carla Arges if you want me to do an episode on that. But you don't have to receive the shaming, blaming and gaslighting.
Carla Arges [00:16:15]:
But the solution is not to leave the church. Remember, the Lord is your helper. You will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to you? Even ignorant people in the church, they cannot take away your identity in Christ. So like we talked about on the bonus episode last week, you've got to root your identity in Christ. Okay, now the fourth truth about the Christian walk with mental illness that no one talks about, and we really don't talk about that, and it's the fact that we've wanted to die. As a Christian walking with mental illness, I have wanted to die. And I know that there are some of you that have identified with that.
Carla Arges [00:17:14]:
Maybe you've never been actively suicidal, with an active plan to take your life. Maybe you've never attempted suicide, but you have moments where you have not wanted to exist. Where the pain of dealing with your mental illness, with the pain of dealing with the consequences of your mental illness has felt overwhelming, that you just wanted to escape life. You didn't want to exist. Maybe you didn't want to actively take your own life, but you did not want to exist. I remember lots of times before I was stabilized and treated appropriately that I'd be driving and I would just daydream of letting an 18 wheeler plow into my car so I wouldn't have to do life. Or thinking about driving off a bridge so I wouldn't have to do life. I've been there, and I think that's a place that a lot of us that struggle with mental illness have sometimes been where we have not wanted to exist.
Carla Arges [00:18:26]:
And my encouragement for you here is in psalms 30 418, that the Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. In those moments where you don't want to exist, know that God sees you. I just recently, and I shared this on my Instagram stories, I recently had a little bit of a depression. So having medication, having therapy does not spare me from all the effects of my mental illness. It just makes them more manageable. So I still feel the effects of depression and I still get suicide ideation. And I was lying in my bed a couple of weeks ago just with that sense of not wanting to exist. And the Holy Spirit so graciously nudged a thought in my head and it was, do you believe God is sovereign? And I was like, yes, of course I believe he's sovereign.
Carla Arges [00:19:27]:
Do you believe he's sovereign over your life? Yes, Holy Spirit, I believe God is sovereign over my life. And then the Holy Spirit asked me, do you believe he's sovereign over your death? And that was a perspective I've never thought of before. Oh, yeah, God is sovereign over my death. And so if I am still alive, that means God has plan and purpose for me. If I'm still alive, God has deemed it necessary for me to exist in this time and space. And that was a real flip in my perspective. But God is sovereign over my death. So if I'm alive, God is calling me to something in this specific time and place.
Carla Arges [00:20:18]:
Nothing God does is without purpose. So I am planted here for purpose. And while life may be hard, life may be heavy. God has planted me here with purpose and he will equip me to fulfill that purpose as I lean on him. And it brought me back to a posture of leaning on him. Now, I'd love to say that that conversation with the Holy Spirit immediately removed my depression. It didn't, but it gave me new perspective within it. That God's sovereignty reigns at the beginning and at the end.
Carla Arges [00:21:00]:
And he has destined for me to exist in this time and space. And while I may be broken hearted in this moment, he comes and encourages me. He comes and walks with me. He comes and restores me. When Elijah was depressed and wanting to die himself, God didn't chastise him. You're not sinning for having these feelings oppress you from your mental illness. What did God do when Elijah experienced depression? He sent an angel to care for his needs, to give him food and to help him get some sleep. This is our God.
Carla Arges [00:21:46]:
This is our God that when we're struggling with our existence, wants to come and nourish us and give us rest. Nourish us by his spirit, nourish us by his word, nourish us by his presence and give us sweet, sweet rest. So I do not want you to add shame on top of something that is already so hard for you. My affirming truth for you today is I will walk in the confidence and assurance of God's love. And we're going to romans 838 and 39. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So nothing, nothing that you're walking through as a Christian who battles mental illness that no one wants to talk about, none of those things can keep you from the love of God. God loves you, period.
Carla Arges [00:23:04]:
Not only if, not when, not because God loves you. Period. There is no continuation of that sentence, and nothing you do can stop him from loving you. His love is not like a human love. It's an unconditional love, far beyond our comprehension. And he has lavished it on you and is lavishing it on you and will continue to lavish it on you. So walk in confidence and assurance of God's love. I'll talk to you next time.
Carla Arges [00:23:46]:
Bye.