Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200037S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Family Worship. 01:12 We're so glad you're joining us 01:13 from wherever in the world you may be watching 01:16 and thank you for being a part of our 3ABN family. 01:18 You know, we truly believe that you are our family. 01:20 So thank you so much for joining us this evening 01:23 for what's going to be a very interesting topic 01:25 and you won't want to turn the channel 01:27 because you are going to absolutely 01:29 learn something new tonight we hope and we pray. 01:31 But anyway, before we get too in depth about the topic, 01:34 I want to introduce myself 01:36 because many of you probably don't know who I am. 01:38 My name is Ben Lingle, 01:40 and normally I work behind the scenes 01:42 here at 3ABN. 01:44 Normally I'm doing the audio. 01:45 So, I would be in the control room, 01:47 running audio for a program such as Family Worship. 01:50 So, I've been asked to host a young person's version 01:53 of Family Worship, and it's just been a blessing 01:56 so far discussing with my friends 01:57 about some very relevant topics. 01:59 So, we're really excited about this. 02:01 And once again, we're glad you're joining us. 02:03 So, before we get into the topic, 02:05 I'm gonna introduce the family here tonight. 02:08 And to my right, I have Daria. 02:11 And, Daria, thank you so much for joining us this evening. 02:13 Of course. 02:15 And I think you're gonna have a lot of good insight, 02:16 but why don't you tell the audience 02:17 a little bit about yourself? 02:19 Sure. So, my name is Daria Hibbler. 02:21 I just recently graduated from Southern University 02:25 with Bachelor's in Intercultural Communication. 02:27 So, I love to travel. 02:29 I love to learn languages, health, fitness. 02:32 That's my thing. So, I'm excited to be here. 02:34 You know, I don't want to put you on the spot, 02:36 but you speak three languages. 02:38 Is that what it is? Yes. 02:39 What's the languages you speak? 02:41 I speak French, Spanish and a little bit of English. 02:43 Yes, I am, yeah. 02:45 Me too, yeah, I'm still learning English. 02:46 That's awesome. 02:47 Well, thank you, Daria, for being here. 02:49 And then to Daria's right, we have Farrah. 02:52 And, Farrah, you're multi-talented as well. 02:54 So why don't you tell the audience about yourself? 02:58 My is Farrah Barry. 03:02 And I like a little bit of everything, 03:05 but I like, I do music 03:09 and I like working out as like an outlet, so... 03:13 Yeah, exercise and health and all that. 03:15 Yeah, it's really important. 03:16 And you're a very talented pianist, multi... 03:18 Actually, multi-instrumentalist, 03:20 you're very talented in many different instruments. 03:22 And, of course, many people 03:24 you may have seen Farrah play on 3ABN multiple times, 03:26 maybe on a parent network, 03:28 which is what you're watching on right now, 03:30 or maybe on the Praise Him Network. 03:32 But she's very talented musically. 03:34 So, thank you, Farrah, being here. 03:36 And, Danielle, 03:37 we've got Danielle here on the end. 03:39 And, Danielle, why don't you tell us 03:40 a little bit about yourself? 03:41 My name is Danielle Babb, and I actually grew up here. 03:44 I worked here at 3ABN for a while and, 03:49 but currently I'm actually deaning 03:52 as a taskforce dean 03:53 at Great Lakes Adventist Academy, 03:55 which is the academy that I graduated from. 03:56 So, I'm super excited about that. 03:58 Get to work with a bunch of great, wonderful girls. 04:01 Yeah. That's awesome. 04:02 I'm so glad that, you know, 04:04 you get that opportunity to minister to people your age. 04:08 I think that's something that's incredibly important, 04:10 you know, so anyway. 04:11 All right guys, well, 04:12 we've got a big topic ahead of us. 04:14 Ooh, yes. 04:15 There is a lot of things about this topic 04:17 that for many people, it's little bit unknown. 04:20 It's a little bit, you know, 04:23 a lot of people aren't sure 04:24 how to deal with some of these things, 04:25 but hopefully we can give some good principled advice 04:28 from Scripture to kind of work our way through some of this. 04:31 And what we're talking about tonight is mental health. 04:34 Mental health is something that affects young people, 04:36 old people, middle-aged people, people around the world, 04:39 people of every race, you know, it's one of those things 04:42 that as humans living in a world of sin, 04:46 we deal with these issues a lot. 04:48 And so, what we want to do tonight, 04:50 as I said, is try to find some biblical advice 04:54 to help sort through some of the weight 04:57 of mental health that we have in our daily lives. 04:59 And so, anyway, 05:01 before we get too deep into the subject, 05:03 why don't we go ahead and invite the Holy Spirit here 05:05 to inhabit this place and inhabit the conversation? 05:08 So, Danielle, will you pray for us? 05:09 Absolutely. 05:11 Father in heaven, Lord, I thank You so much that 05:14 we are able to be here to discuss this topic. 05:18 And, Lord, I just ask that 05:19 You would prepare our hearts and our minds for this message, 05:24 help us to apply the different things that 05:26 we learn to our lives 05:27 and how to be there for those around us 05:30 who are facing these things as well. 05:32 Lord, we ask for Your Holy Spirit 05:34 that You would guide 05:36 our conversation and our thoughts. 05:38 May it always uplift You. 05:40 This we pray in Jesus' name. 05:42 Amen. Amen. 05:43 Amen. All right. 05:45 So, let's kind of open this conversation 05:47 with a little bit of background. 05:49 When we're talking about mental health, mental illness, 05:53 maybe mental distress or instability. 05:56 What do we mean by that? 05:58 What are we talking about? 05:59 You guys have any kind of basis. 06:01 Of course, we're not, you know, doctors or anything, 06:04 so this is not a medical program, 06:06 but we have a, I say a basic understanding 06:09 of what those things are because some of us deal 06:10 with those things. 06:11 So, what are you guys saying? 06:13 What do we mean by mental health? 06:14 Yeah. 06:15 Well, I know when I think about mental health, 06:17 I think about like 06:18 maybe how people navigate their emotions 06:20 or how they navigate their thought process 06:23 along the line of that maybe. 06:24 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 06:26 I think definitely that's a big meaning of that. 06:31 I think also when we talk about mental health, 06:32 a lot of things fall under mental health, 06:35 as we just mentioned mental illness, 06:37 mental instability. 06:38 When we talk about mental illness, 06:40 we're talking about maybe disorders like 06:42 depression or anxiety, or maybe trauma, 06:44 you know, orders like disorders like PTSD 06:47 or something along those lines, 06:49 you know, things that affect people 06:51 on a grand scale in the world. 06:53 And so that's what we mean by mental health. 06:56 And so now that we've kind of established 06:58 where we're going with the conversation, 07:00 let's talk about maybe some things in Scripture 07:03 or maybe some people in Scripture 07:06 that may have gone through 07:08 some mental distress or instability 07:10 or things along those lines. 07:13 What's one character, 07:15 maybe central figure in Scripture 07:17 that one of you think may have gone through 07:19 some of these mental distresses in their life? 07:23 David. David, that's a good... 07:24 Yeah, that's a good one. 07:25 In the Psalms, you see a lot of his ups and his downs, 07:27 you know pleading for God 07:30 to deliver him from his enemies. 07:33 You see him praising God. 07:37 And just, there's a lot of that in the Psalms that we find. 07:41 Absolutely. 07:42 You know, when we read the Psalms 07:44 and, you know, we see David going through 07:46 various emotions, you know, some people 07:48 could look at that and say, man, 07:50 he may have had some form of mental illness. 07:52 Like of course we don't know and we don't wanna, you know, 07:55 assume too many things about that. 07:57 But I mean, there could have been 07:58 something going on there with him, you know. 08:00 And so, I think one of the examples 08:03 we see in the Psalms is in Psalm 64, 08:06 and this is something we can see David, 08:08 he's pleading with the Lord in a way, 08:11 but then there's a kind of a resolve 08:13 and a reconciliation at the end of this. 08:15 And let's go to Psalm 64 08:17 and let's see what David has to say to God here. 08:21 Daria, can you read like 08:23 the first three verses of Psalm 64? 08:24 Yeah. 08:26 So, it says, "Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation, 08:30 preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 08:33 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, 08:35 from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity 08:38 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, 08:40 and bend their bows to shoot their arrows bitter words." 08:44 Mm-hmm. 08:46 So, as we can see here, 08:48 clearly there's something big going on, right? 08:51 Secret counsel of the wicked. 08:54 Insurrection, my version says workers of iniquity 08:58 who with their tongues like a sword, 09:00 and bend their bows to shoot their arrows 09:02 even bitter words. 09:03 So not only is there in David's mind, 09:06 maybe something physical, 09:08 but there's something verbal going on, right? 09:10 The words they're like arrows, bitter words, right? 09:14 So, David's clearly going through 09:15 something here, some form of stress, 09:17 maybe emotional stress, 09:19 maybe he's going through an experience 09:21 where he's trying to figure out, 09:24 you know, if he's loved, 09:26 if he's needed, maybe he's a little paranoid, 09:29 maybe there's various things going on here. 09:32 And then, Danielle, can you read 4-6? 09:35 Sure. 09:36 "That they may shoot in secret at the blameless, 09:39 suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. 09:43 They encourage themselves in an evil matter, 09:46 they talk of laying snares secretly, 09:48 they say, 'Who will see them?' 09:50 They devise iniquities: 09:52 'We have perfected a shrewd scheme.' 09:55 Both the inward thought 09:56 and the heart of man are deep.'" 09:58 Hmm. Wow. 10:00 That's, I mean, 10:01 that's a heavy verse right there. 10:03 The thought of every one of them mine says, 10:06 and the heart is deep. 10:09 So clearly you can see 10:10 there's something going on here, 10:12 encourage themselves in evil matters. 10:14 I mean, think about that. 10:16 Like if you had, 10:17 let's say you had friends, right? 10:18 Let's say you had a friend, multiple friends, 10:20 maybe family members 10:22 who were devising something against you. 10:25 Okay. 10:26 And they encourage themselves in things 10:29 that would be against you, right? 10:31 They not only spoke words of discouragement, 10:34 but they also were maybe planning 10:36 something physically bad to happen to you. 10:38 I mean, that would be a lot of stress to be under. 10:40 There would be a lot of situations 10:42 where, I mean, I would be like David, 10:44 I'd be pleading to God like, Lord, 10:45 I don't know what to do about this. 10:47 I mean, he's scared, 10:48 he even says in the first verse that he says, 10:50 "Preserve my life from fear of the enemy." 10:53 He's scared. I think that's stressful. 10:55 Yeah. 10:57 He's asking for God to remove that fear 10:59 because he may realize 11:01 this is something he has to go through. 11:03 This may be a test. 11:04 This may be a trial in his life 11:05 that he's trying to work through. 11:08 And then as we can see in 7-10, look at this, 11:11 this is kind of a, 11:12 in many ways a reconciliation for him 11:15 or kind of a declaration to the Lord. 11:17 It says, "But God shall shoot at them 11:19 with an arrow." 11:20 Okay. 11:22 Suddenly, shall they be wounded, 11:23 so they shall make their own tongue 11:24 to fall upon themselves. 11:26 All that see them shall flee away. 11:28 And all men shall fear 11:30 and shall declare the work of God, 11:32 for they shall wisely consider of His doing. 11:34 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord 11:36 and shall trust in Him, 11:38 and all the upright in heart shall glory." 11:41 So, David just went from this idea that 11:45 these people are out to get him to, 11:47 oh, man, but I got a strong God on my side. 11:49 Right? 11:51 He's saying, "Look, Lord, 11:52 I get it they have their own arrow 11:54 sort of speak of discouragement with their bitter words, 11:56 but I know you have your own arrows, right? 12:00 And then it says here, as we saw on 8, 12:02 "Their own tongue shall fall upon themselves." 12:05 You know, so the wicked in many ways, 12:08 once we know that God is on our side, right? 12:11 Whatever trial we're going through, 12:12 situations of stress 12:14 or things that are obviously weighing us down 12:17 or things that we can't stop thinking about, 12:19 we know that God is for us. 12:22 We know that God is going to give us ways 12:25 or provide ways for us to deal with those situations. 12:29 So, I think David's a great example of that. 12:32 Do you guys have any other examples 12:34 from the Psalms or may be Proverbs 12:36 that you want to share 12:37 about maybe a situation David had to sort through? 12:39 Well, you know, 12:40 maybe not necessarily a specific Psalm, 12:44 but the Bible does talk about like when Saul 12:48 or when David was running from Saul. 12:52 He had a lot of, I'm sure fear there. 12:56 And a lot of other things 12:58 I know that pastor's kind of brought up 13:00 the fact of Lord save me from my enemies. 13:03 And so, he went and felt a lot of that. 13:06 Yeah, yeah. 13:07 And I know there was even not only David, 13:09 but even going to Saul even, there were situations, 13:13 you know, where Saul was going through 13:15 tremendous amounts of stress. 13:16 And obviously, maybe he had something going on in his life. 13:19 And I remember it talks about 13:21 David playing his heart for Saul 13:23 to kind of sooth Saul's emotions 13:26 and stresses at the time, you know. 13:28 And I think, you know, God has given us a vast array 13:31 of many things to listen to nature. 13:33 I mean, if you go to the ocean, 13:36 even if you go to the mountains, right? 13:39 You can hear the birds, you know, you can see things, 13:42 you can hear things. 13:43 And God has given us so many things 13:44 to like help us deal with things. 13:46 And I know for many people, 13:47 sometimes certain sounds help them de-stress. 13:51 I know some people, you know, like the rain, 13:53 they like listening to rain, or like I just said the ocean 13:55 or things along that lines. 13:57 I know, Farrah, you were sharing 13:58 before we began this family worship that, you know, 14:01 there are certain sounds that help you relax and all that. 14:04 You want to share a little bit about that? 14:06 Yeah. 14:07 So, I mean, you kinda went over like a lot of things that, 14:11 you know, that helped me relax. 14:12 Like sometimes, well actually 14:16 for a while now a few years, 14:20 a lot of years I've struggled 14:24 with sleeping at night. 14:26 So there just be nights that I would just be lying in bed 14:29 for like sometimes until midnight 14:32 or 1:00 in the morning 14:33 or 2:00 in the morning, it depends. 14:34 And I would just, it would either be, 14:37 my mind would not stop going or there was just nothing 14:40 and I just couldn't fall asleep. 14:41 And so, I eventually found on YouTube 14:45 just stumbled across some videos 14:47 with some sounds that would relax me 14:50 or sometimes some rain 14:52 or just any sort of stuff like that. 14:55 Different sounds that helped you 14:57 kind of just de-stress a little bit 14:59 and just take your mind off of the things 15:02 that were racing in your mind. 15:03 Yeah. 15:05 So, it started out like helping me with sleep, 15:08 but I realized eventually, like there would be days 15:11 where I was just really stressed out 15:13 and so I'd be like, ah, do I want to sleep like, 15:16 what I want to do to take my mind off? 15:17 And then I was like, 15:18 hey, you know, maybe I'll go to those videos. 15:20 And so, I put on the video and it was, it just relaxed me, 15:23 like it was like my muscles would... 15:27 See tense. Yeah. 15:28 They're like that. Yeah, relax. 15:29 No, I mean, it's really amazing. 15:31 And, you know, there's even outside of like 15:34 just like reading, 15:36 obviously what the Bible tells us 15:37 about music and other things, noises, 15:39 different things like 15:40 there's tremendous amounts of studies 15:42 that prove what the Bible says about that stuff, you know. 15:45 And so, I think that's really something 15:46 that's amazing when it comes to 15:49 even just something as simple 15:50 as a sound can help people kind of unload 15:53 and de-stress, you know, 15:55 I think that's just really amazing. 15:57 So obviously we just went over David, 15:59 we went a little bit over Saul 16:01 and what they kind of went through. 16:03 There's another character in Scripture 16:05 and obviously we're going to be getting to more. 16:07 But I think one of the biggest examples 16:10 of someone who probably had some type 16:14 of mental health problems, 16:17 stresses distresses and instabilities would be Job. 16:21 Yeah. 16:23 Job was like one of the main people that 16:25 I think of when it comes to like people who, 16:28 someone who has gone through a lot of things and like, 16:32 wow, like how did he deal with all that kind of stuff? 16:34 Yeah. Like how did he... 16:36 And you got to think about this, right? 16:37 I know, Danielle, you said you were recently 16:39 reading through Job. 16:40 That's right. 16:42 And it's really something I recommend that 16:43 if you want to know about 16:45 somebody who went through something 16:46 and wasn't okay, look at Job. 16:49 I mean, he is your man, 16:50 but the interesting thing about Job is that, 16:54 you know, Job, 16:55 he lost a lot of his family, right? 16:58 He got very sick. 17:00 He went through a lot of things, 17:02 stressful things, lost a lot of his livestock. 17:06 There was just a lot of things 17:08 and there was this battle, right? 17:10 That great controversy that we talk about, right? 17:12 Between good and evil, you know. 17:14 And yet Job doesn't see that, 17:16 he doesn't see the behind the scenes. 17:17 He only sees what he's facing. And so, I think... 17:21 Which is how a lot of us deal with like our life issues. 17:23 We only see like what's in front of us 17:25 and what we're going through. 17:26 And we don't like, see, 17:28 God's bigger picture up a lot of times. 17:29 Yeah. Yeah. 17:31 Sometimes we can get so entrapped 17:33 in our own perspective that we don't realize that 17:37 whatever we're going through at the time, 17:39 God may be using that to help us grow 17:42 or to help us mold or to help us 17:43 shift to a different direction 17:45 that He wants us to go, you know. 17:47 And so, I think Job, 17:49 one example of kind of something that Job 17:53 went through was not only 17:54 did he lose a lot of his family, 17:57 but also his wife, his friends, 18:00 they were very kind of nasty to Job. 18:03 Kind of unsupportive. 18:04 Yeah. Kind of like, come on, man. 18:07 You know, it's, you're done, like you should just die. 18:10 Pretty much is what they were saying to him. 18:12 Like literally 18:13 that's pretty much what it says. 18:14 Like one example is in Job 2:9. 18:19 Farrah, do you have a Bible? 18:21 You can look up Job 2:9. 18:25 And basically what we see in this scripture is someone, 18:30 obviously you would take a lot of you, 18:35 you would pour yourself into, you know, 18:38 when you have a spouse, 18:40 a lot of times they become your confident, right? 18:42 Like you work together, you're a team together 18:45 and it's something that's, you know, 18:47 a kind of a teamwork that 18:48 you've got to encourage one another 18:50 and try to be on the same page and all that. 18:52 But we see in this example that Job's wife, as Daria just said, 18:58 wasn't very supportive. 19:00 And so, let's look at that. 19:02 Oh, actually, Farrah, 19:04 if you want to go to Job 8, I'll get Job 2:9. 19:07 So here's what Job 2:9 says. 19:09 It says, "Then said his wife unto him, 19:11 him being Job, 19:13 'Does thou still retain thy integrity. 19:16 Curse God and die!'" 19:19 Oh, curse God and die. 19:21 Like thank you for the vote of confidence, 19:23 I don't know like. 19:27 I would have been like stressed out, 19:29 like, because, you know, as we said, 19:31 Job was going through so much. 19:32 The last thing, if I was going through 19:34 what Job went through, right? 19:35 If I was experiencing the amount of stress 19:38 that Job was dealing with, 19:39 the last thing I would want to hear 19:41 from my spouse is curse God and die. 19:43 Yeah. Like that is the last person. 19:46 Like, He's like the main person that has your back, so. 19:49 Yeah. It'd be like... 19:50 What are you gonna do after that? 19:52 What? And look at verse 11 here. 19:55 Is this Chapter 9? This is Chapter 2. 19:58 We're in Job Chapter 2 still. 19:59 I just want to highlight this in Chapter 2 in verse 11, 20:02 it says, "Now when Job's three friends 20:04 heard of all this evil 20:06 that was come upon him, they came everyone 20:08 from his own place. 20:10 Eliphaz the Temanite, 20:12 and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. 20:16 Man, those Bible names are crazy, 20:19 but they had made an appointment together 20:21 to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 20:24 So here it says they had come to comfort him. 20:26 Okay. But notice, Bildad here, right? 20:28 Now go to Chapter 8. 20:31 Notice what happens here in Chapter 8. 20:34 And, Farrah, why don't you 20:36 just read the first three verses? 20:40 Okay. 20:41 "Then answered to Bildad, the Shuhite and said, 20:45 'How long wilt thou speak these things? 20:47 And how long shall the words 20:48 of thy mouth be like a strong wind? 20:51 Does God pervert judgment 20:52 or does the almighty pervert justice?'" 20:56 So, and then it continues in verse 4. 20:58 It says, if thy children have sinned against him 21:00 and he have cast them away for their transgression, 21:03 if that would have seek onto God betimes 21:05 and make this application to the Almighty, 21:08 if that work pure and upright, 21:10 surely now He would awake for thee, 21:12 and make the habitation 21:13 of thy righteousness prosperous." 21:16 So, notice that Bildad. 21:18 As we see blaming him. Yeah. 21:20 So, notice in Chapter 2, 21:22 it said that they had come to encourage Job, right? 21:24 To comfort Job, right? 21:26 But here Bildad, his tune changes. 21:28 And he goes, hey man, he's like, you probably sinned 21:31 against God, like this is your fault. 21:33 You know, your kids died because of you. 21:36 You lost your livestock, you got sick. 21:37 It's all because of your sins. 21:39 Now, if you would just make it right with God, 21:41 everything would be totally fine. 21:45 That's, I mean, that's blunt to put it simply. 21:50 Is that really as Christians who have friends 21:55 or maybe ourselves that are dealing 21:57 with those situations in life, 21:58 the stressful, mentally distressing situation, 22:01 is that really how we should address our friends? 22:05 Absolutely not. 22:07 I think it's important to be, you know, I think, 22:11 I don't remember in which verse, 22:12 but it says like, you know, 22:13 you carry the burdens of your friends, 22:15 you carry the burdens of the people 22:16 who are close to you. 22:18 So, it's important to be that 22:20 like backbone sometimes when they like, 22:22 don't have the strength to stand. 22:24 So, it's just crazy 'cause I'm like, man, 22:26 this guy is like, basically like, 22:27 oh, it's your fault. 22:28 You're not, you know, 22:30 you got to get right with God and then He'll fix it. 22:32 But God doesn't work like that, you know, so Yeah. 22:35 He was like, hey man, I'm here to encourage you, 22:37 but by the way, this is all your fault. 22:39 I was like, wait, what? So, go ahead. 22:42 Actually, something that I as reading through here, 22:47 I've kind of come to see is like, 22:49 in some ways it was the other way around, 22:51 like Job threw all of his distresses 22:55 and the things that he faced, he was praising God. 22:59 He was exalting God, praise after praise. 23:03 He always gave God the glory. 23:05 And like, even though his friends 23:08 were like putting him down and saying, it's your fault. 23:13 But Job was the encourager in here. 23:15 Yeah. 23:16 There was that prayerful attitude 23:19 that Job got, right? 23:20 He held onto that hope, you know, unfortunately, 23:23 a lot of people don't have hope in this world 23:26 because of all of it, you know, all that's going on, 23:28 whether it's mental illness, mental health, whatever, 23:30 there's that hope like I'm never gonna overcome this, 23:33 or I'm never gonna get done with this. 23:35 And though, even though there are situations 23:37 where it may be harder than others, 23:39 like we said, we can look at examples 23:41 like Job, examples like David, 23:43 that despite all the trials they went through, 23:46 at the end of the day they did their best 23:49 to still worship the Lord in that, you know. 23:51 And actually, Danielle, 23:52 if you want to go to Chapter 42, Job 42. 23:56 It's the last chapter of the book. 23:58 We see a good example of this. 24:02 And we'll read the first six verses, 24:05 Job Chapter 42. 24:08 Do you wanna go ahead and read that? 24:09 Okay. 24:10 "Then Job answered the Lord and said, 24:12 'I know that You can do everything, 24:15 and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 24:18 You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel 24:21 without knowledge?' 24:23 Therefore I have uttered that I did not understand, 24:25 things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 24:30 Listen, please, and let me speak, 24:32 You said, 'I will question you and you shall answer Me.'" 24:37 So, we look at that, right? 24:40 So, Job's pleading 24:41 to the Lord in that moment, right? 24:43 And notice the response 24:46 of God in Chapter or verse 10 rather. 24:50 I mean, it says, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job 24:52 when he prayed for his friends. 24:54 Also, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 24:58 Then came there unto him 24:59 all his brother and all the sisters 25:01 and all they had been of his acquaintance before 25:04 and did eat bread with him in his house. 25:06 And they be moaned him 25:08 and comforted him over all the evil 25:09 that the Lord had brought upon them. 25:10 Every man also gave him a piece of money 25:13 in every one in earring of gold. 25:15 So, the Lord blessed the latter end of Job 25:17 more than his beginning, 25:19 for he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels 25:22 and a thousand yoke of oxen and thousands of she asses. 25:26 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 25:30 And he called the name of his first Jemimah 25:33 and the name of the second Keziah 25:37 and the name of the third Keren-Happuch." 25:41 Whatever that even says. 25:43 So, as we can see that 25:47 despite Job's sufferings, right? 25:50 There was this reconciliation with the Lord, right? 25:53 Job was honest with God. 25:56 And he said, look, God, 25:57 I can't deal with this on my own. 26:00 And what we see is that 26:02 when Job came to the Lord in that moment, 26:05 we see that God blessed him for doing that. 26:09 Now we're not saying that, you know, 26:12 it's gonna be rainbows and sunshine. 26:15 You know, if you just pray and everything's gonna be fine, 26:18 because sometimes, like we said, 26:19 we only see it from our perspective. 26:22 We see what's in front of us at the time, 26:24 and we don't always see the full picture, 26:27 but what we can know is that God is our refuge 26:30 if we trust in Him and allow Him to do 26:32 whatever is within His will. 26:34 And we pray that our hearts align with His will 26:36 that truly something amazing 26:39 could happen and God could deliver us 26:41 from whatever that may be through. 26:43 I know a lot of people deal with, 26:45 for instance even myself, I've dealt with situations 26:49 in my life that were obviously stressful. 26:51 I've dealt with maybe what I'll describe 26:53 as intermittent depression, you know, 26:56 there was something that was pressing on my heart. 26:58 And especially as young people today, 27:00 you know, we have a lot of stresses in our lives, 27:02 whether it's school, whether it's friends and peers, 27:06 whether it's responsibility, 27:08 dealing with the things of life that, 27:09 you know, get us down. 27:11 And I know for me that as I worked through that, 27:15 one thing that was so important to me 27:17 was being able to, you know, 27:21 trust in God in that moment and just say, 27:24 Lord, I know that I'm seeing it from my perspective, 27:28 but I'm weak. 27:30 And I don't really, I can't do it on my own, 27:33 so I need You to help me. 27:34 And when I prayed that prayer, 27:36 at least for me that helped me a lot. 27:38 I don't know, is there something that, 27:40 was there a situation in you guys' life 27:41 that maybe you went through 27:43 something with your mental health? 27:44 Well, I was just going to say that 27:45 oftentimes it's not even as easy 27:47 to just like, trust God. 27:49 I have to ask God to help me trust Him sometimes. 27:53 You know what I mean? 27:55 Like it's a constant, 27:56 it's a daily thing waking up in the morning. 27:58 I'm like, okay, God, I don't know 27:59 what You have me in this situation for, 28:02 or why You have me in this situation, 28:04 but I'm going to trust You today. 28:06 And that's like about like, 28:08 give me the strength to trust You today. 28:09 And tomorrow I'll ask You again, 28:11 kind of thing, you know, like consistently doing that 28:14 and like pleading with God until He shows you 28:16 and reveals it to you, so. 28:18 Yeah. 28:19 And claiming promises like 28:21 God has given us countless amount of promises. 28:25 For example, in Psalm 62:8, it says, 28:30 "Trust in Him at all times you people, 28:33 pour out your heart before Him, 28:35 God is a refuge for us." 28:38 He's that constant refuge. 28:41 And I think too, and we're going to get 28:42 to this a little later, but you know, 28:43 God has given us the element of community, right? 28:47 Because we have the spiritual refuge in God, right? 28:50 But God knows that as humans, we are social creatures 28:53 and we need that level of support 28:55 from friends, from family, 28:57 not like Job's friends and family. 28:58 Like they were just like, it's all your fault. 29:00 You did this wrong. You did that wrong. 29:01 This is your fault. 29:03 But in the end, they did come and they did comfort him. 29:04 They came around. 29:06 You know, God gave him that community that he needed when, 29:09 you know, he was going through, so. 29:11 And, you know, something interesting is that, 29:13 it's said, Job prayed for his friends. 29:15 Yeah. 29:16 So, imagine going through something, 29:18 depression or anxiety or something going on, 29:21 and you have people surrounding you 29:23 that are kind of just like, 29:24 well, if you would just, you know, 29:26 change your mind to think on positive things, 29:28 you would just not have any problems in the world, 29:31 you know, imagine, you know, having, seriously, 29:33 I mean, that's something that 29:35 I've been told personally before. 29:37 And so, you know, what's interesting is that 29:41 even in that moment, 29:42 when Job's friends were so hard on him, 29:46 he was still praying for them. 29:47 Wow! Talk about a level. Yeah. 29:50 Talk about a true friend, right? 29:52 Like this guy, like he was going through like 29:55 every problem you could think of in his life. 29:57 And he was still praying for the people 29:58 that were basically insulting him. 30:00 Yeah. 30:01 Like, Lord, show them what You have showed me. 30:04 Wow! Yeah. 30:06 And, you know, I'm sure Job felt, you know, 30:08 even though he was praying for his friends 30:10 and even though he was surrounded 30:11 by his friends, 30:13 I'm sure Job felt lonely at times. 30:15 Oh, absolutely. 30:17 Like even, even in the silence, right? 30:19 Sometimes God gives us silence, you know? 30:22 Not because He's not there, 30:25 but just because sometimes we need that silence 30:29 to kind of think through what's going on. 30:31 And I know, you know, 30:32 as young people in this world today, 30:34 you know, social media, everything. 30:36 What's interesting about 30:38 our generation especially is that 30:41 we are such a socially connected generation digitally 30:44 when you're speaking of, 30:46 but I have never seen in my opinion, 30:50 people who are so socially connected online, 30:53 but they're so lonely on the inside. 30:56 So disconnected with themselves. 30:58 Disconnected, yeah. 30:59 From their emotions, from, you know, from their, 31:02 from the reality of life, you know, 31:03 and I know for you were sharing with us like before, 31:06 like there's been situations in your life 31:08 where you felt lonely and just kind of felt like 31:11 you were the only person on earth 31:13 and no one was there for you. 31:15 You want to kind of share through that 31:17 and we can work through that? 31:18 That specific story? Yeah. 31:23 So, I go through times of my life 31:25 where just ups and downs and it's unpredictable, 31:29 but there was one specific time, 31:34 I guess I felt especially attached. 31:39 I'll just say it to my mom. 31:41 Like it was a specific, I guess there was a time 31:45 that we weren't getting along 31:48 and usually it doesn't bother me, 31:52 but this specific time it did. 31:55 There was really nothing that was different, 31:57 but when it, when I felt it really hit me. 32:01 I felt like the whole world 32:04 was like crumbling or something. 32:06 And because this happened at nighttime, 32:09 I started feeling this way 32:11 and I was in my room on the dark 32:12 and I just remember being in my bed. 32:13 And I just remember just sobbing, 32:16 feeling like I was the only person on earth, 32:19 like I was all alone. 32:21 And it was just, I don't even know 32:24 how to explain it. 32:25 Yeah. No, it's a scary feeling. 32:27 And I know I have many friends 32:29 who, you know, who needless to say, 32:33 aren't in church or aren't Christians 32:35 or whatever. 32:36 And so, when they get lonely and sad, it's really, for me, 32:40 it's hard to see it because, for me, 32:43 I want them to have what I have. 32:45 Now, just because I'm a Christian 32:48 doesn't mean I'm perfect. 32:49 Doesn't mean I got my life figured out. 32:51 It doesn't mean that nothing wrong happens ever, 32:53 but at least for me, 32:55 I have this level of understanding that 32:58 this may be a time in my life that God is dealing with me 33:02 as I like to put it. 33:03 And, you know, I think someone who is also lonely and I, 33:07 you know, and I don't think as Christians, 33:09 we highlight this that much, but Jesus. 33:12 Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 33:14 If you look at Jesus in His life on earth, 33:18 there is a level of... 33:21 Obviously He was with His disciples. 33:24 He had developed a level of community there 33:25 because He had people 33:27 who were kind of his support group. 33:28 They followed Him around, they helped Him do His, 33:32 do the things He wanted to do 33:33 and help fulfill the mission that 33:34 He set out to fulfill. 33:36 But there were many times in Scripture 33:38 where I think Christ could have felt lonely. 33:41 You know, there were many times in Scripture 33:42 where Christ was under 33:43 great stress and distress, you know. 33:45 And so, one of the examples that I think 33:47 we look at the loneliness of Christ starts in Gethsemane 33:53 when Jesus was praying in Gethsemane. 33:56 Remember He wanted His friends there, right? 33:58 They just finished dinner and He's like, guys, 34:00 you know, can you be with Me? Can you come and be with Me? 34:02 Community. That community. 34:03 Yeah. That level of community. 34:05 And so, we find that in Matthew 26:36-42. 34:10 Daria, do you want to get Matthew 26? 34:13 And you can start on verse 36. Sure. 34:16 So, it says, "Then Jesus came 34:18 with them to a place called Gethsemane, 34:20 and said to the disciples, 34:22 'Sit here while I go and pray over there.' 34:24 And He took with Him Peter 34:26 and the two sons of Zebedee, 34:28 and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 34:32 Then He said to them, 34:33 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, 34:36 even to death. 34:37 Stay here and watch with Me.' 34:40 He went a little farther and fell on His face, 34:43 and prayed, saying, 34:44 'O My Father, if it is possible, 34:46 let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, 34:50 not as I will, but as You will.' 34:53 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, 34:57 and said to Peter, 'What! 34:59 Could you not watch with Me one hour? 35:01 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. 35:04 The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.' 35:08 And again, a second time, 35:10 He went away and prayed, saying, 35:11 'O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away 35:14 from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.'" 35:18 Wow. 35:19 So, we can see there, man, 35:21 if you look at that, look, I mean, 35:23 you look at the verse 35:24 where it says where He comes unto Peter, 35:26 and He goes, you can't watch with Me for one hour? 35:30 It's like, you know 35:33 what I'm getting ready to go through. 35:34 You know, I've shared this with you, 35:36 you know, how stressed out I am about this. 35:39 And in that moment, you know, He probably felt really alone. 35:45 You know, all His friends were sleeping 35:47 and His sorrow and his distress, 35:48 your version said distress, and His sorrow and distress, 35:52 there was that level of loneliness. 35:55 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 35:56 And it goes even on to say, 35:58 He went again to pray and He comes back again. 36:01 They were still asleep. 36:04 Sometimes I think, you know, 36:06 when we're going through something in our life, 36:08 whatever it may be like we said, 36:10 whether it's, you know, 36:11 a disorder like depression or anxiety, 36:14 or we're just going through 36:15 an intermittent version of those things. 36:18 Sometimes we can feel like people around us are asleep. 36:21 Right? 36:23 We're sharing our thoughts, 36:24 we're sharing our heart to them. 36:26 But sometimes it feels like sometimes they don't get it, 36:28 you know? 36:30 And some of that may just be 36:31 because they're not going through it themselves 36:33 and they just don't know how to comprehend 36:35 what you're going through or to them 36:36 it just may sound like once again, well, you know, 36:40 maybe you should 36:41 just change your thoughts, you know. 36:43 But what we got to realize 36:45 is that even Jesus, 36:49 He wanted that level and that network around Him 36:54 because He knew that in His moment 36:57 He would need that emotional support, 37:01 social support even from His friends. 37:04 And I think that's something that's really important. 37:07 And another example of this 37:09 we see is when Jesus was on the cross 37:13 and He was dying on the cross and Christ cries out to God 37:18 and He says, "God, why have You forsaken Me?" 37:23 So even not only from His humanly perspective, 37:27 His horizontal perspective, as we would say, 37:30 but even from a vertical perspective, 37:31 Christ had thought God had forsaken Him. 37:35 And so, even though Christ was perfect, 37:37 He didn't sin, right? 37:40 He still went through 37:42 the emotions of that loneliness. 37:45 He's been through what we've been through. 37:46 He's been through what we've been through. 37:48 He's been through heartache. 37:50 He's been through anger. He's been through stress. 37:53 He's been through that loneliness. 37:55 So that's what's so beautiful 37:57 I think about Christ as our greatest example 38:00 is that even though we're going through 38:01 a lot of things in our life, what we can remember is that 38:04 Christ went through those things as well, 38:07 and that we can take hope from His example. 38:11 So, I think that's something that's really important. 38:14 And, so, now that we've kind of discussed 38:17 a little bit about people in Scripture 38:20 who may have went through some form of, 38:22 you know, the mental health 38:24 and all of those things that get us down in life. 38:27 Let's talk about some good biblical principles, 38:30 and we've already mentioned some of them. 38:32 Let's get a little bit more in depth. 38:34 Let's talk about some good biblical principles 38:36 that we can apply to our lives, 38:38 whether we actually go through 38:40 some form of mental health or mental illness or maybe, 38:43 you know, we're trying to help someone 38:45 who's going through one of those situations. 38:47 So, one of the biggest things, 38:49 and I've mentioned it a few times, 38:50 we've mentioned it is community. 38:54 Some people may call it fellowship. 38:56 Some people may call 38:57 it a network of friends or family. 39:00 I like the term community. 39:02 I think it's kind of a modern term. 39:03 You know, I kind of like that. 39:05 Yeah, kind of like relevant, you know, 39:06 but I know when I was at academy, 39:08 I'll share this story briefly. 39:11 There was a time when many of my friends, 39:13 of course, this isn't about me. 39:15 This is all to the glory of God, 39:16 but there was time when many of my friends 39:17 were going through something. 39:19 And, you know, of course, academy and college, 39:23 for that matter, if you stay on campus 39:25 is a totally different shift, right? 39:26 You may have lived 39:28 with your parents all your life, 39:29 and now you're here 39:31 and you feel all alone because mom and dad 39:32 aren't here to, you know, cook food for you or, you know, 39:34 whatever it may be washer, laundry 39:36 or something along those lines, 39:37 or you're dealing with people your age 39:40 and maybe you were homeschooled and you're not sure 39:43 how to socialize with people or whatever. 39:45 And I remember there were various examples 39:49 in my academy experience 39:51 where someone would be going through something. 39:54 And the first thing that 39:55 I would do is I would try to be there for them. 39:57 And I would say, "Come to my room, 39:59 we'll talk about it." 40:00 You know, and I would sit down and they would sit down 40:02 and they would share kind of what they're going through. 40:04 And I would listen, 40:05 I would just be silent and listen. 40:08 And at the end of, you know, 40:09 when they were done and they kind of worked through 40:11 and share what was on their heart, 40:14 I remember getting around to them 40:16 and I said, let's have a prayer. 40:17 And we'd all get in the circle, 40:19 put our arms around each other and we'd have a prayer. 40:21 And, you know, for me, 40:22 that was not only good for them, 40:25 as far as having someone there a network of people 40:27 to listen to them. 40:29 But there was also really good for me. 40:31 I really felt like God was giving me 40:32 the opportunity to work 40:34 in a purpose of sharing with people 40:37 and helping with people and just showing His love. 40:39 Now, as I said, community, 40:43 it started straight from the beginning. 40:46 We can find where it started. 40:47 Let's go to Genesis Chapter 2. 40:51 And you want to go to, Farrah, 40:54 you want to go to Genesis Chapter 40:56 2:15-18. 41:01 Sure. 41:03 All right. 41:04 "And the Lord God took the man 41:06 and put him in the Garden of Eden 41:07 to dress it and to keep it. 41:09 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 41:10 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, 41:13 but of the tree of the knowledge 41:14 of good and evil 41:16 thou shall not eat of it from the day that 41:17 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' 41:22 And the Lord God said, 41:23 'It is not good that the man should be alone. 41:25 I'll make him an helpmeet for him.'" 41:30 Mm-hmm. 41:31 So, right there, 41:33 we see that God said 41:35 it's not good for man to be alone. 41:37 So, from the very beginning. 41:39 Very beginning. 41:40 He sets up a community. 41:42 He sets up a community. 41:43 Not only, and not only 41:45 'cause we already know that, you know, 41:47 God, the Godhead was there for Adam, 41:50 but He gave him another. 41:54 Once again, God knew that 41:55 there not only was that spiritual connection, right? 42:00 The spiritual community, 42:01 when we're talking about Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit, 42:04 but God knew there would be a need 42:05 for human connection, right? 42:08 God, and look at this, look at this, right? 42:10 God had created the earth 42:13 and there were all these beautiful animals, 42:15 these beautiful plants, food, everything, right? 42:19 And even after all that God said, 42:22 "It's not good for man to be alone." 42:25 So, God knew there had to be 42:27 a level of community and connection there. 42:29 Right? I think that's really awesome. 42:31 And I think it's super cool sometimes too 42:33 'cause I know sometimes 42:34 when I'm having like a really bad day, 42:36 God will put people in my life. 42:38 Like He will speak to me through other people 42:40 and it happens all the time. 42:42 Whether I get just a random text message, like, 42:45 "Hey, you know, you're awesome. 42:46 You know, you're intelligent. 42:47 You know, you're a good friend." 42:49 Like, I think it's so cool that God uses other people, 42:51 you know, through every aspect of our lives 42:54 to give us encouragement, so. 42:55 Yeah. 42:57 And working, like I said earlier, 42:58 working in that purpose, right? 42:59 God may be calling on you. 43:01 You know, God may be calling on you 43:02 to speak into someone's life right now. 43:04 You know, the Bible talks about there is, 43:06 there's power in the tongue, so to speak, right? 43:08 You know, power of life and death. 43:10 I think it's in Proverbs Chapter 12 43:12 or something along those lines that 43:14 God wants us to be an encouragement to people 43:18 in some form in some shape 43:19 and to be that community that they need. 43:21 Yeah. 43:22 And you're, you know, 43:24 you have to realize that your words 43:25 and your thoughts have power, you know, 43:27 if God can speak the whole world 43:30 into existence with His voice, 43:31 you don't think that we have that same ability 43:33 to have that power to speak life 43:35 into some, another individual. 43:37 And then it goes into like speaking life into yourself. 43:40 I know another one of the biblical references 43:46 that we have, or the biblical, what you call... 43:47 The verses. The verses, yeah. 43:49 Like is knowing your identity in Christ 43:51 and your intrinsic value. 43:53 So, speaking life into other people, 43:55 but then also speaking life into yourself, 43:57 making sure that you have like a positive outlook into your, 44:02 into who you are 44:03 and who you are in Christ, especially. 44:05 Yes, absolutely. I love that. 44:07 So, let's, hit on, I definitely want to get more 44:11 into that knowing your identity, 44:12 because to me that 44:13 is one of the most foundational things 44:16 as a Christian especially, 44:18 if we're suffering through mental health 44:19 or mental illness or something along those lines, 44:22 knowing where our identity and our intrinsic value lies. 44:25 But let's look at a few more verses 44:27 as far as community goes. 44:29 I'm going to look up Hebrews 10:24-25, 44:36 and this is a really good one. 44:38 I think many of you may know it. 44:41 Obviously there's a lot of scriptures 44:43 that are very memorable, 44:46 but Hebrews 10 and it's chapter 44:49 or verse rather 24 and 25. 44:51 Here's what it says. 44:53 It says, "And let us consider one another 44:56 to provoke unto love and to good works, 44:58 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together 45:00 as the manner of some is, 45:02 but exhorting one another and so much the more 45:05 as you see the day approaching." 45:07 So what we see here is that God wants us to, 45:13 it says provoke. 45:14 That's a really interesting word 45:15 'cause normally provoke 45:17 usually has a negative connotation behind it, 45:18 but here it says provoke unto love 45:20 and to good works, 45:21 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. 45:23 So, God encourages us to get together. 45:27 My version says stir up. 45:29 Stir up. Okay. 45:30 I like that. Yeah. I like that. 45:31 God encourages us 45:33 to stir up emotions of love and good works. 45:36 He encourages us to get together 45:38 to bind together as a community. 45:40 Right? 45:41 And I think that's so important 45:43 when we're looking at some of these things. 45:44 I know actually just the other day 45:47 I had a friend who was going through 45:48 something in his life 45:51 and he was trying to sort through it, you know, 45:53 he's in school and you know, 45:55 he's looking for a girlfriend, 46:00 I'll just say it that way. 46:01 And so anyway, he was going through 46:03 some stuff and I remember him 46:07 just explaining to me what was going on 46:09 and I just listened, I didn't interrupt him. 46:11 I didn't do anything. 46:12 I was just there to kind of help him 46:16 sort through that, 46:18 trying to be that community for him. 46:21 And he even shared something with me that was interesting. 46:23 He said something along the lines of, 46:26 I need someone in my life, like I need people in my life. 46:32 And he goes through some counseling and stuff 46:34 and he says, you know, 46:35 my counselor and I were going through this 46:37 and they said, you need someone, 46:40 you have a need for that. 46:42 And so, and I don't think there's any shame in that. 46:43 I think that's such a beautiful thing 46:44 that when God calls on us to be that level of community, 46:48 we can help other sort through their problems 46:51 and be that person for someone. 46:53 And sometimes all that 46:54 the person needs is just a listening ear. 46:57 Absolutely. Yeah. 46:59 And maybe they won't even want to talk. 47:01 Maybe they just want to like, go hang out, go get food. 47:04 And like, not even talk about it, 47:06 but like just being there, like being in their presence 47:09 will help them to feel less lonely. 47:11 Yeah. 47:13 Get their mind off of whatever they're going through. 47:14 Mm-hmm. 47:16 There's that level of in many ways 47:17 of just distraction too. 47:19 Like it helps us stop worrying about what we may be thinking 47:24 about, you know. 47:25 And it helps us redirect our attention 47:28 to something more positive. 47:29 Like I know, Farrah, 47:31 you and I hang out all the time. 47:32 I know there's been many situations 47:33 where I may be going through something 47:35 or you may be going through something 47:36 and sometimes we just need to talk. 47:38 And I think what's really cool about our friendship 47:39 is that we make ourselves available to that, you know. 47:42 And I try to do that, you know, 47:44 with my friends and I know you guys do too. 47:46 You try to make yourself available 47:48 to letting God use you 47:50 in whatever capacity He wants to. 47:53 So, let's move on to another biblical principle. 47:56 I think that's important, 47:57 which is love and encouragement. 47:59 Right? 48:00 We were talking about speaking 48:01 positive things to people, right? 48:03 Speaking, positive things to ourselves. 48:05 Love and encouragement in my opinion 48:07 is the foundation of all Christian relationships. 48:10 It should be anyway, right? 48:12 When we're thinking about who we are as a Christian, 48:14 the first characteristic should be 48:17 that of what Christ gave us, which is love. 48:20 And as a top priority, 48:23 it should be something we take very seriously. 48:25 Absolutely. 48:27 So, there's obviously the chapter 48:29 in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, commonly known 48:32 as the love chapter of the Bible. 48:34 My thought, why don't we just read that? 48:35 That's always a good reminder to go through. 48:39 Danielle, why don't you start 48:40 with the first three or four verses, 48:45 and then we can have maybe Farrah continue and then, 48:47 Daria, you can finish the rest of those. 48:51 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. Okay. 48:54 "Do I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, 48:58 but have not love, 48:59 I have become sounding brass or a clanging symbol? 49:03 And though I have the gift of prophecy 49:06 and understand all mysteries and all knowledge. 49:09 And though I have all faith 49:11 so that I can move mountains, but have not love. 49:15 I am nothing. 49:16 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. 49:19 And though I give my body to be burned, 49:21 but have not love, it profits me nothing. 49:25 Love suffers long and is kind. 49:28 Love does not envy, 49:29 does not parade itself, is not puffed up." 49:33 So there we can see that, 49:35 you know, it's saying right there, 49:37 Paul is saying, 49:39 you can have all these great things. 49:41 You could have the gift of prophecy. 49:42 You could understand everything. 49:44 You could have all knowledge, 49:45 you could remove mountains if you want it to, 49:47 but if you don't have love, it doesn't matter. 49:49 There's no value in any of that, he's saying. 49:52 And then on top of that, 49:53 it talks about obviously love doesn't envy. 49:56 You know, you don't do what Job's friends were doing. 49:59 You know, you don't do what his wife was doing. 50:02 And so, it's something that obviously is something 50:05 we've got to keep in mind that 50:07 love should be the first approach 50:09 to anyone who's suffering with mental illness, 50:12 mental health, a stressful situation, 50:15 mental instability, any of those things. 50:17 We've got to approach it in love. 50:19 Yeah. 50:20 And love is shown in various ways like 50:21 what can I do to help, 50:23 maybe not always talking to them, 50:24 but like, is there something 50:26 that I can do that takes the stress off of you? 50:28 Or like, how can I be of assistance in it 50:30 literally anyway, so you can be okay, you know? 50:33 Yeah. 50:34 Just being there for them, hey, if you're feeling like this, 50:37 you know, you can always come to me, 50:39 we can go for a walk. 50:41 We can make bread, make cookies, 50:44 whatever, you know, 50:45 helps get your mind off of this and, yeah. 50:49 I know, Farrah, you were talking about 50:51 before that, for you something 50:52 that's really important is you need people 50:56 in your life to help encourage you 50:59 and to affirm you when, you know, 51:01 there's something that's really great happening, 51:04 you know, whether it's some big accomplishment 51:06 or maybe you played a piano piece flawlessly 51:09 or something, you need that in your life 51:11 because you want to know that 51:13 people are there for you and want to encourage you. 51:15 Well, I've always been hesitant 51:19 or worried about feeling needy. 51:22 And so, for a long time, I would just kind of, 51:26 well, actually I'll start back. 51:29 Couple of years ago 51:30 and for a few years before that, 51:33 I was in my own little rut. 51:35 And so, every time someone would try to compliment 51:39 or encourage me or whatever, 51:43 I guess in a way I felt like the world was out to get me. 51:46 So, I didn't believe anybody. 51:47 I didn't trust anybody, so. There was a lack of trust. 51:49 So, I actually thought 51:51 as far as someone was complimenting me, 51:53 it was because they wanted something 51:54 and it was never genuine. 51:56 So, there was a time 51:59 when certain people would come into my life 52:02 and they would validate me. 52:04 And there was that same thing happening again 52:06 where I just didn't believe them, 52:08 but certain people, 52:10 these certain people would do it 52:13 and I could feel it. 52:15 I could feel that it was genuine. 52:18 So, there was a little battle in my head, 52:20 but these people did it, 52:23 I guess you could say over a consistent basis, 52:25 maybe not like every day, every morning, you know, 52:27 that sort of thing. 52:28 Yeah. But they showed, yeah. Yeah. 52:29 And so, it wasn't, it wasn't just like, 52:31 it just ended one day because I've had people 52:32 that have tried to encourage me just for the sake of, 52:36 I don't know, maybe, 52:38 I mean, there's a little negative, 52:39 negativity thing, that's like, 52:41 "Oh, maybe they're trying to make me feel better 52:42 so that they feel better about themselves." 52:44 But 'cause some people have come into my life 52:47 that would encourage me and would try to make me happy. 52:50 And they're like cheer up, like I'm here for you. 52:52 And then after a few days 52:54 or a few weeks, or a few months, 52:55 if I didn't cheer up, they'd be like, 52:57 this person's a negative, whatever by, like, 53:01 but I've had some people that have stayed with me. 53:03 And after this validation 53:09 that I started to accept 53:10 and someone special to me 53:14 told me that I need to, 53:17 well, they told me do this thing, 53:19 compliment yourself, compliment yourself 53:21 when you look in the mirror. 53:23 And you know, I'm like, if I don't believe this, 53:25 this is not going to work, 53:27 like what difference is it going to make? 53:29 But I was just like, you know what, 53:30 I'm just going to do it 53:31 so I can prove this person wrong, 53:33 like I show you that this doesn't work. 53:35 And after a few days, 53:37 I think I already started to believe it. 53:40 I started to see a different person 53:43 in the mirror. 53:44 It wasn't like I physically changed, 53:45 but it was that my perception of myself 53:47 was gradually like "evolving in a way." 53:50 I love that. 53:51 And I think, you know, that's a great segue for you. 53:53 You did a great segue there 53:54 because that goes straight into knowing our identity 53:57 and knowing that we have intrinsic value, right? 54:00 Knowing that even though we may not always see ourselves 54:04 as talented or beautiful 54:06 or handsome or we don't think we're smart or whatever, that, 54:10 despite what we think 54:12 there is an intrinsic value that God has, 54:16 you know, given us, you know, He believes we're valuable. 54:21 I think one thing obviously that 54:23 we need to look at for me is Psalm 139:14. 54:27 Yes. I love this verse. 54:29 And I mean, everybody's heard it. 54:33 So, I mean, it's not going to be something 54:34 that's unusual to hear, 54:36 but this verse especially 54:37 is so beautifully and simply put, 54:40 I don't think we could ignore it. 54:42 So, it's Psalm 139:10. 54:45 And, Danielle, do you have that? 54:47 Verse 10? Yeah. 54:49 Wait, is it, did I say verse 10? 54:50 Verse 14. Sorry. Okay. 54:52 "I'll praise you, for I am fearfully 54:55 and wonderfully made. 54:56 Marvelous are your works 54:58 and that my soul knows very well." 55:02 Wow. I love that. 55:06 God says, you know, 55:09 despite what you think about yourself, 55:11 I know what I think about you and you're fearfully, 55:13 wonderfully made. 55:14 I think it's, is it Jeremiah 55:16 where it says that he knew us 55:17 before we were even born? 55:18 Yeah. 55:20 It even talks about that a little bit in this passage. 55:22 Why don't you keep reading on? 55:24 Yeah, let's look at that. Okay. 55:26 Verse 15, "My frame was not hidden from you 55:29 when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought 55:32 in the lowest parts of the earth. 55:34 Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. 55:38 And in your book, they all were written, 55:40 the days fashioned for me, 55:42 when, as yet there were none of them. 55:44 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! 55:47 How great is the sum of them! 55:50 If I should count them, 55:52 they would be more number than the sand. 55:54 When I wake, I am still with you." 55:57 Wow. That's so awesome. 55:58 That's amazing. 56:00 It was like looking at ourselves 56:01 through God's eyes 56:02 is a totally different like perspective. 56:05 And it just like gives you so much like love 56:07 and like for yourself, like that's like, 56:10 you know, you hear that phrase Godfidence, 56:12 like you get confidence in God. 56:15 It was just, it was so powerful. 56:16 I love that. 56:17 And you know, 56:19 when we're talking about self-love, 56:20 we're not talking about a hardy love, 56:21 like a prideful love, we're talking about a love 56:23 that we acknowledge that 56:25 we are intrinsically valuable to God. 56:27 Absolutely. 56:29 And once we know our intrinsic value in God, 56:32 then we can begin to trust Him 56:33 and trust that He will bring us through our trials 56:36 and bring us through our heartache and distress 56:38 and whatever we're going through. 56:40 I love that. 56:41 There's actually a great scripture 56:42 about that, Daria, in Proverbs 3:5-6. 56:45 You want to read that for us? Sure. 56:46 And it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart 56:50 and lean not on your own understanding, 56:52 in all your ways acknowledge Him 56:55 and He shall direct your path." 56:57 Such a great way to put a bow on the program. 56:59 Thank you guys so much for being here this evening. 57:01 I thought it was a very good discussion, 57:04 very productive. 57:05 And thank you so much for joining us. 57:06 We know that life can be stressful. 57:08 We know there's a lot of situations 57:10 in life where we don't know what to do, 57:12 but we hope that you've learned something. 57:14 And maybe if you apply some of these principles 57:17 we talked about, maybe that will help you 57:20 get through whatever you're going through today. 57:21 We want to encourage you 57:23 to reach out to our pastoral department 57:24 if there's something going on in your life 57:25 that you need help sort through. 57:27 And also, if there's other mental illness problems, 57:30 there are hotlines you can call as well. 57:32 So until next time, friends, keep moving forward in Jesus. |
Revised 2021-01-15