As a personal testimony I suffered for seven years with a panic disorder. No rush hour travel, no subways at all and full blown panic marked every day of my life for seven years. Years later when I came to the Lord He called me to preach and I resisted so hard because public speaking and anxiety are not a good mix. At least from a carnal perspective. From a Godly perspective however, I had to learn through renewed anxiety what God was trying to teach me. Not only by facing my irrational fears but to draw me even closer to Him. I will not lie. When I have to speak I am still anxious. But it was through this process that I had to learn how to rely even more upon the Holy Spirit in order to get through. Now, not everyone is the same and not every case is similar. But God is:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. -- Hebrews 13: 8 (NIV)
God doesn't want us suffering from lethal side effects. He doesn't want us developing secondary dependencies to hide primary problems. Throughout the Bible there are several instances where sorcery is spoken against by God in very strong terms. Because of modern day Harry Potter nonsense we attribute sorcery to witchcraft but God spoke separately against witchcraft as well. When you see the word "sorcery" the actual root word in Greek is " Pharmakeia" -- where we get the modern English word -- pharmaceuticals. The sorcerers which the Bible speaks against were the ones that created potions or medications. Meditate on that one for awhile.
The key verses continue to assure us that God sees our broken hearts (depression) and when our spirits are literally crushed (anxiety -- not in sound mind). God is close to the brokenhearted beloved! He isn't far away! But we don't always feel that way do we? David said that because he always kept God before him, at his right hand, he would never be shaken. But we wake up and speak life into our feelings instead of out faith far too often and it is a pattern that can lead to an unsound mind. God however always provides the answers:
We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. -- 2Corinthians 10: 3-5 (NLT)
But herein lies the problem. We are waging war as humans do. The church is now reflexively using human reasoning and false arguments from the world when it comes to matters such as these. When you turn to the world for the explanation it is no wonder that the next step is you turn to them for the solution. "Mental illness" in the life of a believer does prevent them from knowing God more because their faith is failing. Anxiety and depression are rogue thoughts rebelling against the promises of God beloved! On a spiritual level of course. We feel broken hearted but no longer believe that the Lord is close. We feel anxious and crushed in our Spirit but fail to believe that God will indeed rescue us. Those rogue thoughts have to be taken captive and made obedient to Christ. To be made obedient to our faith!
Beloved, these matters are not easy. I watched someone close to me struggle with anxiety and pharmacotherapy for years until she took her own life. I am also a certified secular counselor trained in dealing with psychological disabilities. I understand the medical model completely. I understand that it is the best the world has to offer. But as a Minister of the Gospel and a believer set free by Jesus Christ I know there is better way. There is another level we seemingly dismiss and that is spiritual. I know the arguments against Christian solutions. I know the carnal arguments because I have heard them for years, even from so-called church professionals. But I have searched the Bible from cover to cover and cannot find the verse that says perfect Prozac casts out all fear.
We need a serious paradigm shift in Christianity regarding how we view these matters. I understand that people in the world will read something like this and scream. To them this is recommending not following the conventional wisdom of science and the medical model. I understand because the things of God are utter foolishness to them. They do not believe that there is a God that wants to heal where they only want to treat. They do not believe that there is a God that wants to eradicate what they want to teach people to cope with. They do not believe in God, His Promises, or His Word. I understand that. But as believers in Jesus Christ, shouldn't we?
Reverend Anthony Wade -- April 12, 2013
