Tag: mental health

IF YOU DON’T THINK IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR 

Dale Pollard

Scripture never pretends that sadness or despair are imaginary. Instead, it addresses the moments when the heart feels worn down, lonely, or overwhelmed. In fact, it’s a pretty common theme in the Bible. Here are just three verses/sections in particular that show how the Bible approaches sorrow—not with denial, but with honesty. Most importantly, it provides us with unmatched hope. 

Psalm 42:11 — “Why are you cast down, O my soul?”

The psalmist questions his own despair in a public way: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God.” This verse hits hard in a personal way because it shows someone talking to his own heart. Sadness should be acknowledged, not tucked away or buried as if to fool ourselves and others that it doesn’t exist. Maybe some need the reminder that with God, depression doesn’t get the final word. The psalmist reminds himself that feelings can lie, and that hope must sometimes be chosen before it is felt.

1 Kings 19:4–8 — Elijah’s exhaustion, not condemnation

After a great spiritual victory, Elijah collapses into despair and asks to die. God’s response is not a lecture—but rest, food, and care. Before addressing Elijah’s fears, God tends to his physical and emotional exhaustion. This passage reminds us that depression is sometimes tied to fatigue, fear, or isolation. God meets people where they are, not where they think they should be. 

Matthew 11:28 — “Come to Me… and I will give you rest”

Jesus is talking directly to the worn-down and tuckered out crowd: 

“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

Notice how Jesus doesn’t demand strength first? He invites the weary as they are. This verse sort of reframes how some may think of healing—not self-repair, but coming to Someone who carries what we can’t.

Together, these verses show a consistent truth— sadness is not a spiritual failure. 

The Bible gives permission to be honest, rest easy, and place our hope somewhere stronger than on the shoulders of our own emotions. Depression may darken the moment, but Scripture (constantly) insists that it does not define the ending.

Three Things That Will Rebuild Healthy Communication

Internet technology in all its forms has become such a helpful aid in so many instances. But as with every blessing, Satan stands ready to use it to undermine relationships, destroy community and civility, and wield it to wreak havoc on our mental, social, and spiritual health.

Neal Pollard

In 2024, Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and professor at NYU, wrote The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness. While the book is written from a secular, evolutionary world view, it is incredibly insightful and masterfully observant of an extremely troublesome transformation many of us see happening in our world. An entire generation has reached maturity having known and used only smartphones and tablets, consuming the readily available and easily accessible contents of their virtual smorgasbord. This has radically reformed communication at the most basic levels.

Haidt points to four epidemic issues accompanying the mass retreat into the virtual world of a phone-based (versus real life) communication. Online communication is characterized by :

  • Being asynchronous–Not in real-time; Delayed (Building anxiety as one wonders why the other is silent or non-responsive)
  • Lack of embodied signals–Emojis and likes instead of facial expressions and body language (an inadequate substitution)
  • Performative interaction–Posts that perform, project perfection, and are artificial instead of honest, genuine intimacy.
  • Social comparison–Interaction built on comparison which devastates one’s own self-esteem and self-worth

In so many cases, we have lost the ability to communicate and build authentic relationships “here in the real world.” What Haidt suggests for Gen Z will actually help us all, from the oldest living generation down. This technological world, with all its benefits, has assaulted our communication skills.

Practice Face-To-Face Communication. Opt for the face-to-face, or at least the phone call, rather than relying on chats, text messages, and other communication that is not occurring in real time. Think of how much of what God has created us for in this world requires real-time interaction–evangelism, worship, marriage, childrearing, friendship, correction, etc. Biblical passages and principles assume the give and take of people in the same space talking and listening to each other. As the One who made us, He knows how we best operate (Eph. 4:29).

Put Away The Phone. It is simple and seems like eminently common sense, but because our phones are addictive (Haidt and others provide crushingly incontrovertible proof) we lean on them like crutches. Real-time, real connection requires full presence and complete attention to the person in front of us. Conversation and communication can be difficult and requires intentionality, at best, and the massive distraction of our devices fairly cripples our ability to courteously, thoughtfully value the one with whom we’re interacting.

Postpone Online Responses. My wife enacted a policy several years ago to answer social media messages only once per day, early each morning. Her logic is that before the advent of the internet, people had to wait for returned phone calls, snail mail letters, and face-to-face conversation. We’ve become such instant gratification junkies, wanting and needing to stay connected constantly. Ironically, we tend and nurture these virtual communications to the neglect of people we know well in our everyday lives. Do we have to answer those texts (all 50 of them) this very minute? Or can (should) it wait?

Internet technology in all its forms has become such a helpful aid in so many instances. But as with every blessing, Satan stands ready to use it to undermine relationships, destroy community and civility, and wield it to wreak havoc on our mental, social, and spiritual health. Perhaps investing in a bit of old-fashioned, real-life communication skills can help us stem the tide of our massive crisis in connection.