Daily devotion – the best prescription for mental health
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
We live in a world that where people seem to be under constant mental pressure. Mental health has become the prevalent issue today even amongst our very young. What has changed from the past? How come there seems to be more issues in regard to mental pressures?
Our politicians and our academics would tell us of a myriad number of reasons why they believe we have such a problem today in this area.
Before I give the Bible answer on the matter I want to address how we can actively fight against mental health issues in our own lives.
I recall when working for the Western Australia Police Force one Friday evening travelling home from being on duty that day. It had been a very busy week with a great number of disturbing events that I had attended. An overload in one sense but in reality very much of the world we now live in. I had the police radio on as was the normal situation, and it was about 6:00pm and things were ‘going off’ as they would say in regard to incidents requiring urgent police attendance. Over the radio came call after call, …fighting had broken out here, violence in another area, traffic accident in this location, domestic dispute in another, drunkenness causing public disturbance, burglary and robbery…!
Listening to the radio at that moment it just seemed in my mind that complete anarchy had broken out everywhere and our world was in complete chaos. I turned the radio off!
I began to think about getting home and seeing Helen, of catching up with the grandkids and looking forward to being in Church on Sunday.
I remembered what Paul said in Philippians and I reset my thinking compass to that which God could speak to me about and I could actually enjoy thinking on. Things that readjusted the tension that had been building up in my mind and I completely changed the course of my thinking.
It’s the old adage about what we feed our minds with affects how we think and much more. Too many of us are glued and focused constantly to drama, trauma, catastrophes and woes. We morph into chicken little who lived a life of constant panic thinking the sky was going to fall.
This is why the reading of God’s Word daily and fellowship with His Church is so important to our mental well-being. God’s Word resets our mental hard drive and injects into our minds truth along with God’s grace and love. But if you neglect to do this your mind will be like a vacuum sucking in only the dust and dirt of a fallen world. Nothing good comes from this!
Change your mental diet and begin to eat God’s precious Word and you will find the very best medicine for your mental health.
Finally, why is our world increasing in mental health issues? It’s still the same single reason along with every other problem we struggle with today. Sin, is the cause and the reason for our increased issues and that we are each day walking further and further away from God. The Bible teaches us that there will be repercussions if we do this. Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
The more we sow to our flesh the more we will reap the fallout to our lives.
Today, set up a journal, bring some discipline into your life as to spending definite and regimented time in His Word. Filter what you are thinking on and taking in. The verse in Philippians is a mental health prescription to restore your mind to be a place of praiseworthy and excellent things!
This is the best medicine for a healthy mind from the greatest Physician.