09/30/2026
So, today is the last day of September, which is Mental Health Awareness and Su***de Prevention Month. I wanted to share a very personal experience with you (and the resulting video from my experience).
During this season of life, I have had the opportunity of learning God's grace in a very different way. Up close and personal. I am coming out of one of the darkest and most difficult times ever — mentally, emotionally, and financially, but I am one to be "naked and not afraid" to share if it will help someone else.
While going through this season, I had to fight daily with despair, loneliness, and many other dark and negative thoughts. Not that I wanted to die, but I just felt better asleep. Even with therapy, I struggled with anxiety and overwhelming thoughts. But wait, don't you know God? Aren't you a believer and follower of Christ? Yes! All of that is true, but I'm still human.
One day, a few weeks ago, I began to learn about C-PTSD, and the Lord led me to study Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; and Luke 8:26-39, which consisted of the following compilation:
So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes (which is across the lake from Galilee). When Jesus climbed out of the boat and stepped ashore, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves, and he could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town.
Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him.
I won't go into the full gist of what I learned (as a teacher going down the rabbit hole of information), but the main point is this: I found my peace through the Word of God. I could so relate to some of the things the text shared about this man, but what I held onto was believing that Jesus was coming for me, specifically to deliver me, even coming through a storm, just for me. I am on God's itinerary! His plan is for my healing, and I'm on His mind.
What Was The Man's Condition:
He was homeless and destitute (cut off from community), living among burial tombs and caves.
He was violent, uncontrollable, and often broke the chains that others used to bind him.
He cried out day and night and cut himself with stones (disruptive and self-sabotaging).
His pain caused him to prefer being alone (Uncovered, unprotected, unconnected).
What happened to you is one of the most important questions of your life.
Have you ever felt safer—separated— but you still struggled with your self-inflicted wounds?
How many of us are dealing with mental health issues that have driven us into solitary places?
Do you feel safer when you are alone than when you are with the people that you love?
How many times were you misunderstood when you tried your best to communicate, and the spirits that tortured you would answer for you and interact before you were able to respond for yourself?
How many different methods have you used to inflict wounds on yourself that caused you to be driven away from others?
How often does your trauma speak for you and cause others to label you by your language based on what they hear you say, or what they see through the decisions and actions in your life being caused by your pain?
It is so good to know that even a demonic storm could not keep Jesus away from you. You are on His mind, and your deliverance is in His plans. It is not His will that you be bound by anything but His love. Be healed, in Jesus' Name!
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