We are loved.

That’s our starting point as we explore this topic.

Your or your loved one’s mental health challenge is not a sign of God’s displeasure or punitive judgment … it’s more about a benevolent and graceful God with you for any mental health challenge.

The angry and punitive God in relation to depression, anxiety, or mental health challenges, unfortunately, arises from the God meta-narratives based on a harsh, authoritarian, critical, or distant God. According to psychological studies, this type of thinking leads to an anxious or “avoidant detachment” from God and increases mental health symptoms. It can result in the sufferer thinking the remedy is more spiritual service, surrender, and sacrifice to alleviate the pain. Working to please God, not knowing God is pleased.

Jesus always displayed a merciful God, not a God of judgment (i.e., theophany).

We see Jesus addressing and reframing His disciples from this harsh, angry, and punishing God mindset. Jesus helped them rewrite a new narrative from a God of wrath to a God of love and mercy to heal … not more sacrifice or service to get “blessed” (see Matthew 912-13 and 12:7).

Let’s explore how this works in mental health challenges … we’ll explore a lot of hope.

"You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." - Luke 9:55

Jesus said (or sharply reprimanded) this to his disciples, James and John after a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus. To the disciples, disobedience and denial were equal to punitive death …. to Jesus, it was a mercy story (see the story in Luke 9:51-55).

1. The context and why the disciples had a “wrath of God” mindset.

The tension and hate between the Jews and Samaritans were centuries old. The Jews regarded the Samaritans as “dogs” and “half-breeds” and despised them for only accepting the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) as the law and rejecting any other Old Testament book.

So, when the Samaritans refused Jesus, with ingrained bias and hate, you can see why James and John were angry and believed that the Samaritans deserved to be “consumed” (destroyed) by God’s wrathful justice (like the story of Elijah, 2 Kings 1:10-12). All they needed was for Jesus to give them authority and permission to act out God’s “justice” - anger, wrath, and revenge … "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them." 

However, the scriptural narrative and true meaning of “justice” are more about restoration, reconciliation, and mercy, not revenge or punishment. Jesus “rebuked” them for thinking this way. Jesus corrected their thinking to love and compassion… “I came not to destroy but to save.”

Even if our struggle with mental health challenges has caused us difficulty in our lives and relationships …. Jesus came not to destroy but to save (i.e., heal, restore, redeem, etc.).

2. Why mental health challenges lead to a “Wrath of God” mindset (marginalizing ourselves).

In short, for many, “joy” equals being blessed, but “misery” equals God’s judgment, displeasure from not following God’s plan (and suffering because of it). But it’s not that simple of a formula. We all will experience trials and difficulties … and mental health challenges are not God’s anger or punishment. Later, we’ll explore how it’s an opportunity for connected grace in Jesus, not displeasing anger.

Here’s some science to understand why we can easily think God is angry.

Many well-meaning Christians experience stress, depression, anxiety, and other challenging symptoms. This causes the brain’s prefrontal cortex to go into critical thinking to predict and analyze the threat, causing an inability to regulate and have positive moods and thoughts. The brain (person) is in threat-processing to figure out, fix, adapt, and survive. The brain is looking for the formula for safety (physically …. and spiritually).

Brain blood flow to fix

The brain adapts to focus more energy and blood flow on the threat centers (amygdala). It causes a metabolic response to prepare against “threat” (nervous system and a neuroendocrine reaction). This is why we feel stress, even if we are sitting still. As a predictor, the brain uses all its data (and scriptural/biblical teachings - narratives, “interception”) to find fault, fix it, and survive. The brain needs the predictive formula to survive … and thrive. In this heightened state of arousal, the brain is not primed for processing and reframing perception - it’s all about pressing through. That’s where a helpful mentor and therapist can help process or reframe the perception. Thus, the thoughts will go into exhausting “reactive formation” to find what’s wrong and fix it with more “spiritual disciplines” to convince and please God to relent His punishment and bless and alleviate the mental and emotional pain.

Reactive Formation (Learned Helplessness)

Based on those spiritual sacrifices to live and have a blessing from God (faith meta-narratives …), “Reactive formation” begins with scrupulous intrusive thoughts that survey, "What's wrong with me? ... Lord, what did I do wrong? … Lord, why are you doing this to me?" This will spiral into many self-accusations and illusions of an angry, wrathful God who “commands and demands” sacrificial obedience. More spiritual sacrifice, pressing and forcing our lives into pleasing God to alleviate the mental and emotional pain, “learned helplessness” sets in. “Learned helplessness” is a state of being, or brain-state, when the brain shuts down, staying stuck with no solutions. Thus, to avoid that state, the person avoids seeking and pleasing God … which triggers more stress responses.

But there’s a better way …

Sacrifice is a sharing with God, not a service of debt.

The beauty and meaning of “sacrifice” is more about unloading or giving over our pain to a God who is present, caring, and desires to bring relief and restoration (Psalm 68:19-20), not working to prove spiritual worthiness to get God’s attention to help. It is a reliance in Christ and God … like in the first part of John 15, Jesus reaffirms our belonging as the vine and the branches, connected and aligned together (John 15:1-4). When Jesus talks about pruning, this is about cutting off those “sucker” twigs on the branches … He wants to remove these false and harsh ideas and perceptions about God and Himself that “suck” or take away the true love and energy for our lives. It’s not a harsh image; it’s a loving one.

Mercy-Grace Formation (Learned Hopefulness)

Amid your or your loved ones’ mental health challenge, God commands His love and mercy to be freely poured out - unceasingly to enrich. In other words, you can’t make it rain, but when it does, all you have to do is stand in it (see Isaiah 55:1-2 and v. 9-12). It’s changing the perception followed by affirming actions (cognitive tools, new experiences that support it - safe community). Hope is always practical.

We can apply and adapt the Luke 9 passage and imagine Jesus speaking to us …

“You do not know … I did not come to destroy you; there is no wrath against you — for I desire mercy, not more sacrifice … because I am your Savior for life abundantly (John 10:10).”

We can quickly marginalize ourselves in mental health challenges, but this “Learned Hopefulness” narrative NEVER changes. Within your midst right now, Jesus is there to help, heal, and save, not make you pay.

“The Cross was NOT to change and appease an angry God; rather, the cross was His act of LOVE to transform us into a new life ... Not motivated by anger, but by God's kind and loving will (see Ephesians 1:5 and John 3:16 … “for God so loved the world …”).

In Christ, we are now in a “wholeness journey, not a brokenness one.”

- Joe Padilla, The Grace Alliance

3. It’s not a sin to be human. (We accept and validate pain, acknowledging abundant grace to grow through challenge).

Life can hurt. It’s not a sin to experience hardships causing mental and emotional distress.

We were not meant to memorize and quote scriptures like, "Do not be anxious about anything ..." (Philippians 4:6), and that somehow makes it all go away. Denying (i.e., bypassing) our human experience does not lead to a more spiritual life, and God wants us to express our pain with Him (explore many of the Psalms).

If anything, this scripture reference in Philippians is not a command to not “feel” anxious. Instead, it’s more about when you do “feel” anxious; you don’t have to follow its thinking; instead, let it be a transforming prayerful mindset and action to reframe and shift it into grace and hope (secure cognitive perception and flexibility). Recognizing our human experience with God can lead to perceiving more grace and life … “The God of Peace who surpasses our understanding will GUARD our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Even if there are mistakes, or maybe you're not doing anything wrong, and something is still not quite right, God cares and understands the pain right where you are!

Validating your pain is human. Validating your experience is where grace starts to help guide you … because God is there.

From a neurophysiological view, this type of self-comfort or received comfort activates the brain and body to reduce overall physical stress. The nervous system deregulates to a calmer state of being. It places the brain and body into a state of safety, primed for healthy change. The validation brings comfort … with a whole-health response. Grace works itself within and without.

4. The “meaningful” context of scriptural integration for the mental health journey.

If you want to incorporate the Scriptures, try focusing on scriptures or principles that reinforce His love and comfort ... that will always lead to safety! Whatever the mental pain or anguish, we all need to be supported when we’re safe and secure (i.e., psychological studies call this “secure divine attachment”).

God never questions your inherent worth and value, no matter the mental health challenge. He reinforces your value and worth.

God Himself never questions your belonging in God - you never lack or lose it. Our mental pain will make us question (remember our brain blood flow and old narratives above), but God responds to it all with His deep love that says, “

You’re enough; you will always be my delight … my constant rejoicing for you” (See Isaiah 62:4-5).

This is hard to hear in the depth of despair, but you don’t need to feel it - keep yourself exposed to this reframed lens - over time, it rewires your brain’s mindsets to new mental states … and the physical response will follow over time.

5. The “meaningful” context when there are mistakes (i.e., sin).

The Biblical Scriptures reveal many stories of men and women who failed God but a God who responds with grace, love, and mercy.

Like King David. His life had a lot of pain and moral failures and was messy. However, the Scriptures still say that “he fulfilled the purposes of God in his generation …” (Acts 13:36). Despite David’s moral faults, David was always willing to turn back to God’s mercy and redemptive grace (the term “repentance” in Hebrew is “shuva” or “teshuva” which means, to return to your rest, your true home, your true identity - God-divine-covenant rest; Psalm 51). God never abandoned David nor His covenant promise to/through Him.

Mercy is always God’s nature toward us.

After three years with Jesus, the Apostle Peter still failed and used violence to defend Jesus, severely wounding and cutting the ear off a soldier who came to take Jesus. Jesus reproved Peter, saying that was wrong, and remedied the situation by healing the soldier’s ear … notice how Jesus responds to His enemies (John 18:10-11).

Afterward, still, Peter was overwhelmed with fear and denied even knowing Jesus (Luke 22:54-62). But Jesus, who said, “Whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33), didn’t deny Peter. Why? You have to go deeper in context and audience in Matthew 10 to see what’s going on there, where He responded differently and uniquely to Peter. It’s good to ask questions and explore because we can’t box Jesus in, even using His words. So, after all of Peter’s failures, Jesus and Peter both reaffirmed their love-union-connectedness to continue with the purposes of God (John 21:15-16).

Here’s what’s even more amazing about Jesus with Peter’s failure: Jesus knew Peter would fail before all of this happened. Still, Jesus said, “I have prayed for you …” (Luke 22:32). Praying that his faith and his confidence would remain, and then, after he strengthened from his failure, Peter would go on to empower others.

Let that sink in a bit! How is Jesus praying for you (your mistakes), your mental health journey, and your life (see Hebrews 7:25)? This means that Jesus never stops believing in you … no matter what!

6. The context of God’s love and mercy is actionable, never distant.

Lastly, look at Psalm 102:19; you will see a loving God who desires to rescue and set free those who are doomed to death, not punish them. This shifts the focus away from the wrath we deserve to a loving God who sees we're worth everything to Him ... even offering up His own life (Jesus) for us!

This scripture shows a God who is in pain over our pain and wants to do something about it … depression, anxiety, or mental health challenges are not punitive. It motivates Him to be with us more than we know. In theology, this God who suffers or doesn’t suffer with us is discussed as “Divine impassibility or passibility.”

There’s a new “meaningful” narrative to discover.

Keep exploring these principles; this is the constant theme throughout our work and curriculums.

God doesn't see sinners who deserve wrath; God sees His suffering children who need a Loving Savior...and He fulfilled His love for us.

I encourage you to start a journey with a new meaningful narrative filled with absolute and unquestioned belonging, love, and mercy … when ready, you can discard those “self or society marginalizing” narratives.

Joe Padilla | The Grace Alliance

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