What does the Bible say about mental health?

And the Spirit, who communicated the gift and who dwells in every child of God, is not a spirit of fear. If, therefore, we give in to our own fears, we are not walking in the Spirit, for He is the Spirit "of power, and love, and of a sound mind." Observe how power and love are connected here: there is no weakness in the Spirit of God, but love is the very energy by which His power is exercised. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). The more positive and full the expanding of the heart in love toward others, the more will the liberty and power of the Spirit be in evidence, with calm courage of faith. And He is the Spirit of a sound mind also, for it is He who brings everything to its proper, sober level; who makes all to take its place in consistent balance with all else. If our minds are otherwise, it is because we do not allow Him His proper control over us. Of course the flesh is still in a believer, and he may be mentally unbalanced, but this stems from the old nature, not from the new. The Spirit is still the Spirit of a sound mind, and in certain areas where the knowledge of Christ is concerned, this will be evident even in a believer who in other respects suffers mental aberrations. It is a great mercy this is so; but a believer should seek in every respect to allow the Spirit of God such liberty and control that it will be manifest in every department of life. This is itself a great preservative of the mind's condition, though one could not suppose it to be a guarantee against physical infirmity and deterioration, which ofttimes affects the brain too, the brain being physical, the mind not so.

When the soul is distressed or cast down, that is not sin in itself. But sin comes in when there is distrust of God.

Thus it should ever be. Nothing is so unworthy of a Christian as a fretful spirit, a gloomy temper, a sour morose-looking face. And not only is it unworthy of a Christian but it is dishonouring to God, and it causes the enemies of truth to speak reproachfully. No doubt, tempers and dispositions vary; and much allowance must be made in cases of weak bodily health. It is not easy to look pleasant when the body is racked with gout, neuralgia, or rheumatism; and, farther, we should be very far indeed from commending anything like levity or the everlasting smile of mere unsubdued nature.

NOTHING happens without the Lord, not even the fall to earth of one sparrow. This gives to God His proper place in all things occurrent and happening; not only is He, in being, before all, but in all that occurs His hand is the most important feature in the case. Satan could not act against Job or Paul without divine permission; and whatever Satan might mean in the one case or the other, God meant blessing, pure blessing, for His servants, and that eternal blessing. I hear you are depressed — it matters little what men call it — to me, as having one infinitesimal of faith, it is "of God" and for the blessing of yourself and husband. That it is, though coming through the body and mind, yet "of God" I doubt not; for that is one way in which He works, in breaking our plans of earthly joy, to make us seek our all in Him. (You know the Olney hymn, "I asked the Lord that I might grow.") The extent to which we are dependent upon circumstances, around and within ourselves, we little know till we get stripped of them, and among them perhaps of the feeling of joy which we mistook for faith. Faith is taking God at His word, saying, "Let God be true, and every man a liar." The effect of this is triumph, often with joy, but when of the purer and deeper kind, without joy, and we have then sometimes to give the lie to our own inward feelings, as much as to the thoughts of others all around us. 1 Peter gives us a case of it, so does 2 Cor. 12.

Now all this is truly lamentable; it ought not to be; and we may rest assured there is some grave defect, something radically wrong. The Christian should always be peaceful and happy; always able to praise God, come what may. His joys do not flow from himself, or from the scene through which he is passing; they flow from the living God, and they are beyond the reach of every earthly influence. He can say, "My God, the spring of all my joys." This is the sweet privilege of the very feeblest child of God. But here is just where we so sadly fail and come short. We take our eyes off God, and fix them on ourselves, or on our circumstances, our grievances, or our difficulties; hence all is darkness and discontent, murmuring and complaining. This is not Christianity at all. It is unbelief — dark, deadly, God-dishonouring, heart-depressing unbelief. "God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Not only are there special trials peculiar to the Christian, but also there are the ordinary trials of life common to mankind. There are the everyday anxieties connected with our homes, our families, our health, our callings, and our circumstances. How are we made superior to these varied cares? It is evident that God would have his children to be free from all worry and anxiety. This, the word clearly tells us, can only be brought about by taking everything to God in prayer. It is not simply the great trials that we are to take to God, but the small worries. The little thing that worries might appear foolish or fanciful to others, nevertheless let us not weary ourselves with reasoning about it in our minds, but by prayer and supplication make it known to God. He knows all about the burden before we go to Him. We cannot tell Him anything that He does not know; but making it known we know that He knows. In result we are relieved from anxiety. It does not follow that we get our request, but we obtain the peace of God to garrison our hearts.

Again, we find Elijah the Tishbite, in a moment of heavy pressure, when a dark cloud was passing over his soul, flinging himself down under a juniper tree, and requesting for himself that he might die. "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." (1 Kings 19:4)s This was the language of Elijah, one of the most highly honoured of the servants of Christ — language evoked, no doubt, by a combination of the most discouraging influences — but still it was the language of Elijah the Tishbite; and let no one blame him until he himself has passed, without a wavering feeling or a faltering word, through like conditions.

Truly we have no warrant for believing that the Lord has secured to His own a present exemption from the physical and mental disabilities common to mankind. Neither have we warrant for believing that the power He exercised in New Testament times over the sick bodies of men is continued to His present witnesses. In those miracles of healing He demonstrated once for all His power as the First Cause, dispensing with all material remedies as intermediaries, accomplishing His purpose with a word or touch. He was pleased to use a plaister of figs for the recovery of Hezekiah, but the king knew that it was Jehovah who had healed him, as he said, "He has both spoken unto me, and himself has done it" (Isa. 38:15). And we, encouraged by the personal activities of Jesus recorded in the holy Gospels, may use our medicinal remedies in the assurance of His equal activity today both in sympathy and in power to heal.

In the next place I admit freely, that when the conscience is powerfully wrought upon, it is quite possible that many physical and nervous sentiments may accompany them, which to the world, and perhaps to doctors, appears the whole matter, while they are really (while I quite admit the possibility of their existence) but the mere indices of deeper and much more important feelings: and it is of these that I desire to speak. It is sad indeed to smother up our feelings towards God which concern our eternal interests, because they produce certain passing painful effects.

And here I will say a word as to - : I feel thankful that you are fallen into the hands of one who recognises as he does the word of God. There is a measure of truth in what he says; it is true that we have to rest on the written word; there he is quite right, but he does not, for I know well the system in which his mind has been taught, recognise the effects and working of the Spirit of God in the soul, as the revelation of God [teaches] and requires that we should; so that though he be quite right in exhorting you to rest on the written record, he could not rightly interpret what passes in your soul, nor make sufficient allowance for the work of the Holy Ghost. Nor could you perhaps distinguish now quite between what was a physical effect and the real inward work. Praying God to give you peace and calm as to this even outward physical part, I will apply myself to that which is of God.

Then there is the sweet comfort: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." All means all--all cares, whatever they are; all burdens, all anxieties we can roll upon Him, with the perfect assurance that He does care. Alas! our anxieties, our heavy feelings, our worry and our hurry, all speak the same language of unbelief. "Lord, dost Thou not care?" Well, it is if we look upon all burdens He permits to be laid upon us, as tokens of His love, by which we may learn His faithfulness afresh. Instead of murmuring then, we should sing and rejoice, being anxious for nothing, knowing He carries us and our burdens and cares as we can never do.