Where Is God When You’re Struggling With Mental Health? A Biblical Perspective & Practice
God is present in mental health struggles as a "Good Shepherd" who empathizes with emotional pain. While depression or anxiety can create a "negative filter" that makes Him feel distant, the Bible reveals through Jesus' own tears (Luke 19:41) that God is not judging your struggle, but is actively "moved with compassion" to provide strength and comfort in your weakness.
For those experiencing mental health pain, God's love often seems more distant than present.
This “distant God” feeling is normal and a part of everyone’s journey when life is difficult — especially those experiencing more distress with mental health challenges. In short, when stress is high and the mood is low, our brains are naturally more in a state of negative affect, which means we interpret our situation, relationships, God, etc., through a negative filter. And that brings up a lot of doubt — because life and faith contradict each other. Doubt is a gift, if you know what to do with it — but that’s a rich topic for another day.
So, for anyone, especially for those experiencing mental health distressing thoughts and emotions, it’s not an unfaithfulness issue on their part or God.
However, the real question is not about God's distance (which is unimaginable to Him), but ...
... How does the Bible define God's love during mental health struggles?
Let's explore through a fresh spiritual lens from our Thrive workbook, Ch. 11, "God" (Spiritual section) … “God is your refuge. Mental health challenges are opportunities to learn how caring and close God is.”
Explore God’s Heart: Read Luke 19:41 & Matthew 9:36
Luke 19:41 (Weymouth New Testament)
"When He came into full view of the city (Jerusalem), He wept aloud over it ..."
Matthew 9:36 (Berean Literal Bible)
"And having seen the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were wearied and cast away, as sheep not having a shepherd."
+ God sees, hears, and cares about our lives. When we hurt, He hurts. In the Old Testament, God’s people face devastation and suffering because they refuse to follow Him. Instead of expressing anger, God weeps with deep compassion. See this unique expression of God in:
Jeremiah 14:17-18
Lamentations 3:48-50
Hosea 11:7-9
+ Jesus’ tears reveal what God cares about. He cares about how the Roman occupation and religious leaders left people mentally, emotionally, and physically helpless and vulnerable, like sheep without a shepherd.
+ Jesus revealed how God constantly relates to and empathizes with us. Jesus is our safe shepherd with inseparable love, strengthening us through our challenging circumstances or conditions (see Romans 8:37-39, John 16:33).
Added perspective (not in the workbook): In ancient gnosticism, Marcionism viewed the God of the Old Testament as wrathful and harsh and the New Testament as loving and kind — thus primarily only using the New Testament and rejecting the Old of its true value. Unfortunately, without good teaching, there are still some who think this way. The Old Testament is rich with God’s faithful love and misunderstanding of his wrath.
We forget that it’s God who hears the cry of the suffering beginning in Genesis (when Cain killed Abel; Genesis 4:10). Then, hears the cry of his people in Egypt to set them free, etc., etc.
Read through the Gospels, and we see Jesus healing the sick, caring for the poor, the hungry, the widow, and setting free so many who were oppressed. He came to care for us like sheep left unattended … and he still does, today!
While mental health may make us feel like we’re failing God and He is looking at our failures (i.e., sin), but what if He was really looking at us with love to help, to unburden us — this is an Old Testament view (look up Psalm 103 and Isaiah 57:15-16).
What other encouraging thoughts, ideas, or questions come to your mind about how this would relate to anyone’s mental health challenge (situational or diagnosis)?
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Explore God’s Design
Security with a good God relieves anxiety. Research shows that when we regularly pray with a secure connection to a loving and caring God, we feel more safety and comfort in times of stress. When experiencing anxiety-related challenges, this secure connection to God also helps improve our mental health (i.e., decrease anxiety-related symptoms). (1)
We are securely connected to a God who doesn’t hold back goodness. Jesus describes himself as the “Good Shepherd” who comes to give abundant life for the good and bad days. No matter our challenges, God delights in and desires us, never holding back from being good to us (Ps. 84:11, James 1:17, John 10:10-11).
A loving and good God perspective improves our mental health. How we view God’s character forms our outlook on our lives and experiences, impacting our whole health (physical, mental, spiritual, and relational). (2) God is present with us in our struggles; when we begin to view challenges as an opportunity for growth, we see the most improvement in our mental health. (3)
What are 1-2 things you find interesting … and why?
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Experience: The S.A.F.E. God Tool (adapted from the workbook)
PART 1: The S.A.F.E. God Tool aims to help you reflect and build meaningful associations. As you reflect on the meaning of the verse(s), it will naturally become easier to memorize them, if you wish to do so.
Scripture
Choose a meaningful Scripture one of the verses you circled in the previous tool (or another meaningful verse), write the reference, and then write out the verse below:
Scripture: ............................................................
Acknowledge
Briefly describe what the verse reveals about God and His desire toward us.
......................................................................................
Find
Pause, take a deep breath, and pray (Ps. 119:18). Reflect on and note any helpful.
+ Stories: Metaphors, analogies, stories, or movies related to the verse.
+ Insights: Specific words, phrases, or imagery that leave you thinking.
+ Cross References: Any other scriptures or verses that come to your mind.
.......................................................................................
Experience
This Scripture helps with (check off all that apply):
[] Comfort or calm
[] Compassion
[] Connectedness, belonging
[] Confidence or courage
[] Safety with God
[] Helpful perspective
[] Assurance of love
[] Validation, feeling seen and heard
Experience with gratitude: Rewrite the scripture reference below and then write a simple gratitude statement or prayer based on the Scripture and your reflections and experience.
Scripture: ............................................................
Gratitude/Prayer:
.......................................................................................
The tool in the Thrive workbook (ch. 11) is more detailed, with a list of encouraging and helpful Scriptures to choose from, a weekly exercise to practice, a reflection on how the Scripture is helping improve the quality of life (mind, heart, relationships, etc), and a pre-post survey to monitor your growth — if not, then explore why and adapt.
. . . .
God is better than we can imagine in every circumstance.
This is not about fixing you; this is learning how faith can be beneficial to work down and work through the stress (symptoms) by simple discovery, exploration, and experiment. This method helps to overcome the part of your brain that makes you feel stuck.
He cares … as one of our Grace Group leaders often says, “God cares how you feel.”
What do you think? Comment below!
Joe Padilla | Grace Alliance
(1) Ellison, et al., “Prayer, Attachment to God, and Symptoms of Anxiety-Related Disorders among U.S. Adults,” 208-33.
(2) Ellens, J. Harold. Radical Grace: How Belief in a Benevolent God Benefits Our Health. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007.
(3) Cornah, Deborah. The Impact of Spirituality on Mental Health: A Review of the Literature. London: Mental Health Foundation, 2006. Web. https://lccn.loc.gov/2006445873.
