If you had asked me how I was doing in the middle of my own mental health crisis, I would have told you “I’m fine.” I was far from fine. Maybe you are too. You aren’t fine, you’re lonely, depressed, anxious, grieving. You might even feel like there is something wrong with you. After all, everyone else seems to be smiling. The reality is their smiles are often hiding deeper fears and concerns. You aren’t alone. You aren’t broken beyond repair. There is hope. Jesus made this two-sided promise in John 16:33. In this world you will have trouble. The language of the verse gives us the idea of being squeezed by pressure. Physical and emotional pressure. It is reality. But it is a reality with hope. He ends that verse by saying take heart because he has overcome. God cares about you and your mental health. He invites you to something better. You don’t have to walk through this alone. He is the God of peace who can give you perfect peace as you learn to lay the whole weight of your troubles on

Fear is often running under the surface. Fuel for the struggles we have with our mental health. As tough as we want to act everyone has a weak spot. Elijah was a warrior prophet. He had lived so courageously. He had done some incredibly bold and brave things. Yet in a moment of weakness, he gets hit with an empty threat and it blows up his world. Fear untethered will drive your life diminishing the voice of God and your faith. Fortunately, he met him in the middle of his fears and he'll meet you in the middle of yours. We need to tether our fears to know His presence, to see His provision, and to hear His voice. God is bigger than what scares you. He is gentle and good. He wants to speak peace to your troubled soul.

Grief is something we will all experience at some point in our lives. It might be the loss of someone or a relationship or dream. Regardless of what you are grieving, it is so important to mourn. Don’t run. Don’t hide from it. Grieve. In this message, we look at the story of Naomi found in the book of Ruth. She had so much. She lost so much. It was bitter. But God worked in her circumstances to bring life to what she thought was over. God brought joy out of the bitterness. It felt over. But it wasn’t. This is such an important topic. Jesus tells us that those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted. Romans teaches us that a practical way we show love is by grieving with those who grieve.

Life will throw unrelenting waves at you. Challenges that will mess with your balance. Some of them are big and some are small. When you are worn down, even the littlest wave can knock you off balance and send you crashing down. Anxiety works like that. Our brains get overloaded and our fight or flight response gets triggered. The unrelenting waves become harder and harder to deal with. We need a hand—some need help. You can see the anxiety output for David in Psalm 139, especially verses 17-24. Fortunately, David pauses enough to invite God in. This message has some real tools to help you walk through your anxiety.

Depression is tough. It isn’t just sadness. It’s a desperately empty, dark, hopeless state. It is an imbalance of Gods design. Psalm 88 gives us a tough picture into the heart cry of a person who was really struggling with the darkness. This is the “saddest” Psalm. But in the sadness there is help and hope. If you are struggling with depression please know your feelings aren’t permanent. They change. There is always hope with God.

Feeling overwhelmed? I think most of us are. Or at least in today’s fast paced, high expectation world most of us will face feeling overwhelmed at some point. It might be triggered by work, or home, or relationships, or by trying to keep all of those things in balance; however we end up there it is a smothering, paralyzing feeling. It impacts how we think, feel, behave and believe. This passage teaches us that realizing it is not all up to you, shifting your focus towards God, praying short prayers and doing little things while trusting the results to God will help you start to see your way through the weight of feeling overwhelmed.

Feeling stuck dramatically affects our mental health. We can feel stuck in our circumstances, I. Our relationships, in guilt and shame, purposelessness, fear, bitterness, comparison…. It is a long list. Paul was literally stuck in prison yet he wrote a letter that in the Bible is called the Book of Joy. It’s Philippians and in chapter 3 verses 12-14 we learn his key to living un-stuck. Paul was able to experience the freedom Christ came to give us and we can too, no matter what our circumstances look like.

Loneliness is a serious issue that is on the upswing. 10% of people deal with it on a daily basis and 30% feel lonely weekly. It is an epidemic and it is not a respecter of persons. The effects are devastating. Where is God when we are lonely? The story of Hagar and her son is a powerful story reminding us that God sees us, provides for us and gives us his presence to help us through the lonely spaces.

There are all kinds of negative characters. It isn’t just Negative Nancy. Here family is just as messed up. Critical Carl, Perfectionist Patricia, pessimistic Peter, inadequate Ian, catastrophic Cathy, overthinking Olivia and so many others. Left unchecked out negative thinking consumes us and distorts our view of life. It’s a spiritual problem and there is hope to be experienced through the renewing of our minds. Take your negative thoughts captive and replace the space with some incredibly positive gifts from God.

Worry. It’s not the same as anxiety. Anxiety is a generalized feeling of fight or flight. It is a systematic and exaggerated response to a trigger. Worry is practical, day-to-day concern mongering. The difference is between a condition and a decision. No wonder Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to make a choice to not worry. He goes on to talk about "the more." Life is more than what you are worried about. Your body (God’s design) is more. You are more valuable to Him. He is more powerful and better than we ever thought. Break the cycle of worry. Focus on the moment. Trust God. Practice gratitude. Get in a good prayer rhythm.

There is an obstacle to your mental health, and it’s you. Just like when we refuse to ask for directions, or double down on an argument already lost, sometimes our pride prevents us from getting the help we need. Pride can mean different things, but the definition of the negative context of the word is having an inflated view of self. Our importance, abilities, self-centered-mess all are inflated. It isn’t always coming across as arrogant. Sometimes our pride looks like an extremely low view of self. Pride is a huge barrier to our journey towards health and towards God. The best example is found in 2 Corinthians 12:5-10. In this passage Paul embraces his weakness so that he can see God’s power made perfect in him. There is so much healing and help in having a right view of self. That is true humility. You are so valuable…and you are also broken and in need of a God who loves you and wants to do something new and great in your life

Hope, for people of faith, is resilient, powerful, and sustaining—not mere wishful thinking. Its strength depends on what you place it in. Is your hope too small or misplaced? True hope thrives even in the darkest moments when rooted in Jesus. Be intentional: place your hope in Him, and watch it grow into a sustaining force, even in life’s hardest trials.