As I come up on the one year anniversary of When My Mind Winds Up – my second book turns one on Valentine’s Day; and, as I simultaneously co-teach a discipleship class on Jennie Allen’s book, Get Out of Your Head, I’ve realized that I keep walking the anxious or depressed person through the often hard but so necessary steps to freedom, now realizing that I need to address the rest of you for a hot minute as well.
To my brothers and sisters that do not struggle with mind spirals and anxiety, be ready when we’re brave enough to come to you because healing takes community. Yes, we know we have the mind of Christ but sometimes we need your help to get us there. The bible says it takes community. Don’t see us as weak when we’re strong enough to humble ourselves. Don’t think us annoying when we ask for prayer or a perspective on truth. Steward what you know of Christ to serve us, so we’re healthy enough to serve you.
Healing Takes Community
Healing Takes Community. We are not meant to live life alone. Paul tells us we’re all members of one body and that if one of us is hurt or sick, the rest of us ought to feel it and do what’s needed to get that part back into working order so we, as a complete unified unit, can be the beautiful bride of Christ.
The problem of the anxious is that we know we need you, but anxiety is a beast with powerful truth -lookalike lies convincing us that if we go to you, you’ll judge us or cast us away. What’s worse, is because even though you may be healthy in regards to anxiety, you may be unhealthy in other ways and therefore, you actually do cast us aside or make us feel worse off than before.
Please remember to consider others better than yourself – help that anxious brother or sister in their time of need because each step towards health that they take, can and surely will come back to you when you need the gifts God placed inside of them.
Don’t Think us Annoying and Weak
This rides off the coattails of the last point. Please know that anxiety is pain and pain is selfish. Think about it – cut yourself with a knife when slicing an apple and see if you can think of anything else – you can’t! Sometimes it takes an incredible amount of humility in our fight with anxiety to finally reach out. It is a complete gut punch to our pride to admit to you that our minds are fragile and our emotions volatile. We know it’s not Christ’s perfect plan for us and we don’t want to be seen as un-Christlike to be this way. We’re afraid of being found out, so it takes incredible, humble strength to show you this side of us.
Therefore, please, please don’t treat us with contempt or annoyance when we prostrate ourselves before you. Dramatic? Maybe; but, anxiety often is quite dramatic. Guess what steals the Academy Award or Emmy away from anxiety? Often, it’s the help of a humble and healthy friend who takes our hand.
Steward Your Gift
I love stewardship. I wrote about it recently here. Stewardship for a Christian isn’t just about spending money and time wisely or using your gifts and talents. It’s about using ALL you’re blessed with in life to show others who Christ is. This includes what you’ve learned about Him.
Me writing As My Mind Unwinds and When My Mind Winds Up was me stewarding what little I know to pay it forward to others in an effort to show how Christ has revealed Himself to me thus far so that you may come to know what I know too. I don’t want to be selfish and hold any good news back.
Talents and abilities aren’t the only gifts. Our knowledge is a gift too! Everything in our possession or under our control is a gift to be stewarded for two purposes: glorifying Christ and serving others. Therefore, please steward what you know, the truth you hold onto – to the benefit of your mind spiraling loved ones. We need it. Often, we know the basics of everything you’re going to tell us, but something about the way you say it or the extra you know is enough to kick start the truth that was sitting dormant within us so that we can get right again.
Thank you for hearing my plea for the anxious Christian. I know we can get through all of this together – because God designed us that way.
