6. See a Doctor
Some Christians are weird about medication for anxiety and mental illness.
I find this funny because we don’t treat other parts of our body this way. The same people who argue against anxiety medication are pretty big fans of Novocain at the dentist.
Why the double standard? They simply don’t understand.
Medicine is not a rejection of God’s power. It’s a provision of His grace. Sometimes it’s exactly what we need.
That said, medicine isn’t a cure-all. It can have side effects. It often takes multiple tries to find the right one. But it can help tremendously.
Medicine helped me get over the hump and back to normalcy. I’m not on medication now, but if things got bad again, I wouldn’t hesitate to consider it.
I know many faithful Christians, pastors, and leaders who take medication regularly. If you’ve tried everything else and still find yourself struggling, talk to your doctor.
7. Embrace the Blessing of Brokenness
When I was in the worst of my depression and anxiety, getting out of bed required enormous effort. The sound of my alarm brought dread that made no rational sense but gripped me all the same.
I was painfully aware of my shortcomings as a man, husband, father, and leader.
It was awful.
And it was wonderful.
It created a dependency on God like I’d never experienced before. I held onto Jesus with white knuckles as I prayed my way out of panic attacks. When my wife prayed over me, it wasn’t just something we should probably do—it was something I desperately needed every single day.
Psalm 23 wasn’t just nice words to casually read. It was my life.
This is the blessing of brokenness.
There are some things about God that can only be learned through suffering. Some things He has for us can only be received in the valley.
Sometimes I wonder if this is why God refused to take away Paul’s thorn in the flesh. A broken and dependent Paul was a Paul through whom God could change the world.
He was the kind of Paul who could write and mean these words:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take this suffering away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
If you’re walking through the valley of anxiety right now, there is a way out. I pray you find it.
But in the meantime, don’t miss what God may have for you right where you are.
