When it comes to mental illness, there are certain things we all need to know. Today we have a special guest, Amy Simpson who eloquently shares with us a little bit of her story and what we must be sure to understand.

I first heard Amy speak at a conference years ago. She intrigued me by her passion for advocating for families with mental illness. Through her book, Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission I found the courage, guidance, and steps to co-create and lead a faith-based education/skills/support group for families that have a loved one with mental health difficulties. I have also had the privilege of benefiting from her coaching.

Please welcome my friend Amy Simpson who writes over at AmySimpson.com where she helps purposeful people make the most of their gifts and opportunities.

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Here’s Something

We All Need to Know about Mental Illness

Guest Post Amy Simpson

When I was 14, mental illness redefined my family and reshaped our understanding of the world. My mother had shown symptoms of schizophrenia since young adulthood, but no one had understood them as indications of illness. For about a year, they had been growing more disruptive. Then one day when no one came to pick me up after track practice, her illness became undeniable. She had been overwhelmed by the blurring distinction between reality and delusion, and she could no longer tell the difference.

She would learn to tell the difference again, thanks to hospitalization and to medication, which brought her home but left her feeling like a zombie. And her return was temporary for the next 25 years; she would be in and out of hospitals, homeless shelters, jail, and prison. And the illness that put her there would claim more than one victim it stole my father’s confidence, my family’s happiness, our sense of footing.

In exchange, it left grief and shame.

And when we went to church, we found no respite from the shame we needn’t have felt but which pressed down on us like a monster’s thumb. There were so many things we needed to hear and didn’t not because our church meant to hurt us or because its people were cruel. Like so many, they didn’t know what to say or do, so they stayed silent. They didn’t want to embarrass us, so they mostly ignored our trouble.

Five years ago, I released a book, Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission.

I wrote it to help Christians better understand families like mine who are far more common than we felt when I was young. I wrote it to help the church fulfill its mission in relationship to people affected by mental illness. And it starts with simply talking about mental illness with a more informed perspective and in light of Christian truth.

If you are affected by mental illness’s your own or that of someone you love you know that when the church is silent on the subject, that silence can cause a variety of injuries. Perhaps among the cruelest is the implication that people with mental illness have no purpose in the church or God’s kingdom.

So here’s one thing I want everyone to know: God always has a purpose for everyone.

Our world tends to marginalize people who suffer from mental illness, disabilities, and other conditions. Mental illness may alter the course of a person’s life, and managing it may come with limitations, but it doesn’t mean that person’s life is no good anymore. Psalm 139 is a beautiful reminder of our value to God, and his attention to the details of our lives.

Verse 16 celebrates,

You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

Psalm 139:16

God is not surprised by your suffering, and he wants to use you!

God also wants to redeem your suffering. Sometimes this means he’ll use that suffering to make you more like the person he wants you to be. Sometimes it means your suffering will become a way for you to show his love and grace to someone else. Maybe both. You may never realize how God uses what you have been through, but he will especially as you welcome his work in you.

Second Corinthians 4:7-11 tells us our suffering bodies (and your brain is a part of your body) are valuable to God’s work.

 

Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Our bodies are fragile and unadorned, but for Christians, they carry the presence of God’s Spirit in this world,  like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.

Mental illness doesn’t change the fact that we are called to represent him in these bodies. And good news for those of us who want to see God’s power work through us: As Christ told the apostle Paul –

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 

So take heart and find hope in knowing mental illness does not make you marginal to God’s plans. He is in the business of redemption, and regardless of how people may see you, he sees you for who are and loves you more than you can imagine.

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Amy Simpson is an author, speaker, and leadership coach who helps people get clear on their calling and fully engage in life with guiding purpose. She is the award-winning author of Blessed Are the Unsatisfied: Finding Spiritual Freedom in an Imperfect World, Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission, and Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry (all InterVarsity Press). Amy lives with her family in Illinois.

You can find her at AmySimpson.com, and on Twitter, @aresimpson.

 

 

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