The Healing Room: Making Space for Mental Wellness

Job’s story reveals that troublesome seasons don’t wait until a time when we have fully resolved every challenge and difficulty that may have threatened our mental and emotional health (Job 1). Often, when life surges its next round of discomfort, is when we are already dealing with an issue or just experiencing a breakthrough of sorts.

While we may have great expectations for perfect, though unrealistic, conditions, that is not the way our lives unfold. As believers, we must realize that we go through the same types of challenges as the rest of humanity. Furthermore, we have an enemy who opposes us. The truth remains, however, that God has equipped us for every good work, despite what we face.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. – Philippians 2:13, NIV

Life and its transitions can be demanding, requiring more of our mental stamina and emotional resilience than we think possible. However, our Father, Shepherd, and Guide orders and orchestrates our steps.

Though conditions seem awkward and excruciatingly uncomfortable, He has equipped us, having provided all that we need. His abundant gifts, talents, skills, and resources usher us through the passage of our present circumstances to a reality that we haven’t seen, heard, or perceived (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Sorrow, suffering, and glory

We cannot negate that we experience afflictions. Life will continue to happen while we are actively seeking counseling. It seems unfair, but God is aware of something greater that we sometimes fail to see.

As often as we are buffeted by suffering and trial, we are also being strengthened beyond what appears. When we continually turn to Christ in our suffering, we are gloriously made more like the One who was acquainted with sorrow and grief (Isaiah 53:3-4).

We learn how to get up again with the Holy Spirit when we’ve been stricken (Proverbs 24:16). We may only see our weakness initially, but Jesus says this is where His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9).

With Him, we develop toughness and resilience that champions us in the fight for our minds, enabling us to stand against the wiles of a defeated enemy (Ephesians 6:11). Here, we learn how to pray, think, and live from an elevated place, one that is sealed and settled in the authority of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

Hope that heals

Part of receiving the fullness of what God intends is believing that He’s God and able to do what He has promised (Hebrews 11:6). As Father and Creator, He has imagined a future and hope for us.

What God sees outpaces the dimensions of pain inflicted by trauma or the experience that precipitated our need for counseling (Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 2:10). It takes faith to believe that He can heal our pain. It takes hope to anticipate and look forward to the full manifestation.

He wants our entire lives to prosper and be healthy, including our soul condition (3 John 1:2). Hope, defined as confident expectation, has to be nurtured by our actions to partner with God. We cannot find a balance between taking care of our mental and emotional health by managing the challenges and life transitions in our strength.

We need the Source of all Life and all that He’s furnished for our lives and godliness. The following practical strategies can help us carve space to establish and make room for healing counsel in our lives.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. – 2 Peter 1:3, NIV

Make space

Counseling fosters an atmosphere where we can safely process pain and difficulty. As humans, we often want to escape the first sign of discomfort. When we have been wrestling with hard trials over long periods, we need support when we get weary and consider quitting.

Challenge is neither the result of God’s displeasure nor our failure. While God isn’t punishing us through the tests we endure, He uses them to form what He knows is in us. Knowing that Jesus endured suffering, is a comfort to us in our tribulation. He also overcame, equipping us with the power of His Blood and essential resources to vanquish every enemy that contends against our mental wholeness.

Going through difficulty doesn’t mean that we’ve been demoted. God disciplines, teaches, and trains the sons and daughters He loves (Hebrews 12:7-8). He develops us through trials to form our character, conforming us to the image of Christ.

It’s through suffering, including our mental and emotional wellness challenges, that we learn to follow our Father, even as Jesus did. He endured extreme duress, sweating blood, from the stress of the world’s sin on His person. In this way, He empathizes with us in our grief and sorrow.

He knows what it’s like to be us, as He came to earth to die and redeem humanity from sin. It was an imbalanced exchange, but Jesus’ sole objective was to please the Father. This was the joy that consoled Him as He was beaten to an unrecognizable state, then impaled on a torturous cross (Hebrews 12:2). He took on shame, poverty, and affliction to free and restore, making us righteous through His offering (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It may be difficult for us to fathom the kind of pressure Jesus faced. In our way, we also experience what feels impossible. It is in those moments where we need to surrender the suffering we’d rather avoid.

However, when we welcome the Lord to provide grace for us in seemingly impossible situations, we cultivate a heart that is inclined to reach for Him. He prepares and fortifies us mentally and emotionally to endure hardness, despite the temptation to walk away.

Make a connection

Prayer is not so much about informing God as it gives sons and daughters an avenue to offer worship and thanks to a kind Father. Communication reminds us of our dependence on Him alone. He longs to counsel our hearts with wisdom. With God, there is no taboo topic or off-limits subject. He wants us to bring it all and bring it often.

We can ask the Holy Spirit to meet us in our despair and help us to respond with a joyful yes, even when our souls want to shout a firm no. Intimacy is formed as we share more of ourselves, our genuine thoughts, and our feelings. When we come with expectant hearts, He responds to us in compassion. He reveals His Heart as we grow in our relationship. He will make some of our unknowns clear through His Word and the providence of circumstance.

Make friends

Decide to make friends with your trial. Get acquainted with whom God wants to be to you in the midst of difficulty. Whether it’s Father, Healer, or Wisdom, you can ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to be in your current circumstance. Our Loving Father invites you to approach Him, where you will find grace and obtain mercy. Although He already knows what you need, the power of your voice in prayer changes you and your situation.

On the other hand, remaining silent in your suffering can stifle your voice. When we isolate ourselves, we suffocate and prevent not only God but those He works through, from resuscitating us and bringing us back to a meaningful regard for our lives. It does not mean we have to confide in everyone, but we do need to cultivate trust in the Holy Spirit.

He leads us to the right people for friendship, support, empathy, and accountability. We may also need to seek counsel with a trained professional to work through matters requiring more than family, friends, or faith community members can realistically offer.

Next steps

Successive trials can wear on us, especially when we are trying to navigate a winding path with our mental and emotional well-being. It makes us intensely aware and uncomfortable with our human frailty.

However, it’s often in pain that we are most inclined to turn to Him and receive the strength that is perfected only in our weakness. We weren’t made to do this alone. God has provided resources for us to access through counselors to support us in difficult journeys.

Capitalize on the momentum of your present distress. Why wait until things simmer down? While everything feels out of control is the perfect time to invite the wonderful counsel of Jesus to release peace and stillness in you.

Use this site to locate and schedule time with a counselor to talk about what’s happening now and what is next for your wellness journey. Right here, amid the thrashing waves and the whipping winds, you can find rest.