Combined Efforts - The Battle in Your Mind

THERE IS A VIOLENT BATTLE RAGING AROUND US TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY.  

It is the battle for your mind, and that battle is intense. It is vicious. It is never-ending, and it is unfair because Satan never plays fair. In this battle, God wants to equip us to fight, and help us to walk in His victory.

God has Victory for the Battle in Your Mind

In the area of mental health, people often see worldly efforts, like seeing a therapist or taking prescribed medication, as a non biblical approach. It is commonly said and believed that we wouldn’t be so anxious if we just had more faith. And while faith and trust can make a big difference in our mental health, the Bible does not teach against receiving more help.

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV

This passage of scripture has been a pillar of this series, “The Battle in Your Mind,” and for good reason. It describes the power of God over the strongholds and lies that hold us back and keep us trapped. Verse 4 says that the weapons we fight with have divine power, and that these are not weapons of the world. Only God’s Word and the Holy Spirit in us can destroy strongholds in our lives, and at the same time, there are other things that can help us as we fight. 

All Healing is God’s Healing

Candace Mahaffey, who is a Christian and a licensed professional counselor, has found that the combined efforts of faith and medical treatment are the most effective approach to helping someone dealing with mental health struggles. She says, “A mental health diagnosis [Dx] is helpful in my own opinion to understand what we are dealing with (identifying symptoms) so that we can appropriately work on a (individualized) treatment plan.” 

“Warfare is not on the flesh, demolition of strongholds (v3-4) identifies where we may see the clinical symptoms of mental health concerns (thoughts), but if we approach with a combination of faith and medical we can fight the “unseen” enemy while medically stabilizing symptoms,” said Candace Mahaffey looking at 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. 

Looking at 2 Corinthians 10:5, Candace made a connection to an evidence based practice utilized by mental health professionals called CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). She says, “Taking every thought captive (v5) is a perfect example of CBT…CBT is an approach of examining specific thought patterns, identifying the distortion (lie) and challenging it.” 

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 NIV

This passage from James is one that I have found to be helpful in reconciling faith and medicine. Everything that is good comes from God, and so we can trust that God is at work in all good things. The healing of any health issue, including mental health, is a good thing. So whether it is by miracle or by medicine, God is the true source of the healing. The combined efforts of practiced faith and prescribed medicine invites God’s goodness of healing into our situations.