How are you feeling?
No really? Are you worried about anything? Anxious? Sad? Angry? Or maybe just have that underlying feeling of being overwhelmed? April flowers are supposed to bring May flowers, but what if your May looks gray, withered, or dark? What if you’re experiencing stress, anxiety, grief, worry, or depression? What if you’re just feeling restless or on edge?
Personally, I suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Most of the time I’m great. Jesus has healed me in so many ways—through beautiful words, truths, and affirmations in the Bible, prayer time with Him, conversations with my counselor, and some practical tools to care for my mental health. But sometimes I still have nightmares. Some days I’m triggered. And my heart beats too fast, my shoulders tense up, and a shot of fear rises inside me.
You? Any emotional baggage or struggles? Healing you’re in the process of or maybe just on the cusp of?
First off. It’s okay.
I mean, it’s not okay, but it is normal. It’s not God’s plan for you and me to feel off kilter. He longs for redemption, restoration, and wholeness for all of us. But we live in a broken world, so sometimes we feel shaky or sad or overwhelmed. Sometimes we feel downright miserable or frightened. And all of that is normal considering what we’ve experienced or been through.
Secondly, there are ways to make it better.
Jesus cares about our emotional health. So very much. He created us and loves us. He understands us and wants better for us. His love story to us is written all throughout Scripture.
For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only son (John 3:16).
Even before he made the world, God LOVED us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes (Ephesians 1:4 NLT).
“I have always LOVED you,” says the Lord (Malachi 1:2).
“Greater LOVE has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Filled with LOVE and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him (Luke 15:20 NLT).
Jesus loved us and chose us before He even created the world! He has always loved us. He died for us—which Jesus says is the greatest kind of love there is. Jesus is filled with love and compassion for us—always running towards us. If this is how much Jesus loves us, how much we matter to Him, shouldn’t we take care of our precious selves?
You and I might not be able to choose if we have OCD, PTSD, suffer from anxiety, depression, or any other mental health struggle, but we do have a choice on how we care for ourselves. We can go about our days, trying to stuff, numb, or avoid our feelings, because it’s painful to dig into those emotions, because finding and developing good relationships takes time and effort, because when we feel overwhelmed it takes intentionality to pause and give thanks or take a few deep breaths or remove ourselves from a situation. We can ignore our mental health.
Or we can tap into healing and wholeness. Jesus adores us and thinks we’re worth it.
I’ve committed to proactively care for my mental health, so I can better step into the goodness and abundance Jesus offers. I set aside time to pray and read my Bible. I try to keep my eyes and heart open to what God might be telling me during these moments. Moving my body and getting outside are good for my mental health, so I hit the trails near my home regularly for a walk or a jog. I worry about “burdening others,” but I recognize the people who love me aren’t bothered when I share with them. So, I choose to tell my closest people about things that trigger me, even when my instinct says not to. I’m sure you have different things that bring you peace and calm your body, mind, and soul. How can you creatively find ways to incorporate these practices into your routine?
I don’t always get my self-care rhythms right. And some days or situations are still challenging. But I am consciously trying to care for my well-being. And God meets me in my intentionality. He leads me to more peace and healing every single time. He’ll meet you and guide you to peace and healing, too.
So what will you choose? To keep settling for, ignoring, or pushing through your unhealthy emotions OR to talk to Jesus about how you feel and allow Him to guide you toward healing?
There are so many simple ways you could start taking care of yourself today. You could:
- take a bath with a deliciously fragrant bath bomb
- go for a walk with a friend
- light a calming scented candle
- schedule an appointment with a counselor
- listen to music that brings you joy
- journal your thoughts with your favorite pen
Jesus loves you so much. He cares about every part of you. His love for you is wildly extravagant. Will you join me in taking steps towards caring for your well-being?
BIO: Laura L. Smith is an author, speaker, and podcaster. She’s written fifteen books including, Holy Care for the Whole Self, Brave Woman, Mighty God and The Urgency of Slowing Down. Smith lives in the charming college town of Oxford, Ohio with her husband and the youngest of their four young adult kids. There you’ll find her running the wooded trails, strolling the local farmer’s market, or sipping a mocha at her favorite local coffee shop. Find her at www.laurasmithauthor.com and @laurasmithauthor on Instagram.
14 Responses
THANK YOU Laura for this TIMELY topic! For too many years I put other’s needs before ME! I was a professional people-pleaser! This all came to a screeching halt Easter Sunday 2025 when I ended up in the hospital because of an extremely high heart rate (over 200 beats per minute)! For a long time, I had been praying about my internal struggles! I am SO GRATEFUL the LORD saw and heard me! He IS THE ONE WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING about me and LOVES ME UNCONDITIONALLY! THANK YOU JESUS! I was in the hospital for six days! This was THE wake-up call my HEAVENLY FATHER allowed so I could SEE and UNDERSTAND that I was carrying things ONLY HE CAN HANDLE! For the first time in my life I was forced to BE STILL and ABIDE IN HIS LOVE! I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL🤲🏽🤲🏽🤲🏽❤️!
Yes! I’m so grateful for our Lord who knows us and loves us unconditionally. Grateful you got the medical attention you needed. Praying Psalm 139 over you.
I enjoyed reading your article. My husband is in the last stage of alzheimers. There’s so much more to this journey I’m on that I’m a bit overwhelmed. I pray and spend time with God. Thank you for sharing. I have ptsd also. I was in an abusive relationship and I still have triggers. I haven’t told anyone.
Betty,
Thank you for sharing here. This is the first step to shining light in the darkness. I pray you get some help for your PTSD. Jesus longs for you to be healed, to know how loved and lovable you are. I do have an entire book Holy Care for the Whole Self on how we can biblically take care of our mental health. Praying the love and peace of Jesus over you.
It is so refreshing to hear other Christian women openly talk about how they manage the challenges of anxiety and PTSD. You are so right in encouraging all to be convicted about committing to practices of self care ! The more we respect and value ourselves with self care, the easier it becomes to let God order our steps and love us through our mental health challenges! Thankyou for your honesty and transparency! I appreciate you!
Thank you, Lisa! We need to share! So many Christian women are struggling with mental health issues because the world is a broken place. But Jesus longs to restore us! And He invites us into that restoration. If you want to read more on this I do have a book published by Our Daily Bread titled Holy Care for the Whole Self that is all about how we can biblically care for our mental health.
Blessings!
We all have things to worry us, and I try to let go let God. But sometimes it’s hard to do that.
God Bless Angie Toelle
Helen, of course it’s hard sometimes. But thankfully, Jesus knows our every thought. When I feel this way I often read Psalm 139 to remind myself how well He knows and loves us–that He even knows all of our anxious thoughts. Praying peace for you.
This was an excellent article and I thoroughly enjoyed in.
Thank you, Tamara! Blessings to you!
Thank you very much for posting this article. I struggle with feelings of selfishness when I attempt to take care of myself. I must know that taking care of myself is as important as taking care of others.
Yes Doris! Your body is God’s temple. He created you in His image–of course He wants you to take care of His priceless creation. When we care for ourselves we are better equipped to care for others and do the kingdom work Jesus invites us into.
Blessings!
This message today has so much to do with various moments I feel when the workload of that particular time slows down. I tend to experience some anxiety because my mind tends to race. At one particular time when my mental health challenges began, it started around the month of May ‘1992. I had experienced three deaths around that time when was extremely challenging for me. My grandmother and mom passed in the year of 1987. My marriage came to a striking halt because my ex-husband wanted to take a bite out of our marriage to encounter other possibilities. He wasn’t certain anymore as to if he wanted to remain married with me, therefore, he found it necessary to express his feelings while me and the girls were visiting relatives in South Carolina.
At this particular challenge in my life, I had already experienced two deaths, mom and grandmother. However, my ex-husband added another challenge onto my already experienced encounter. This message has rest assured me of how Great God has been to me once I began my newest status of being a single mom raising two daughters. I’m thankful I knew how to take timeout and journal some of those incredible eventful moments which became a stepping stone in my life.
There were times when I didn’t know who/where to turn to, because all I knew I was now beginning to enter into a new role in my life. My marriage lasted for approximately, three years or so, and then the greatest challenge of all happened. I had lost my grandmother and mother. Therefore, I had to standstill and grow into my newly encountered status, “Single Mom.”
As I began this newest phase in Gloria’s life, God has truly been in my life, as I grew into not only the Single Mom phase. Today, those challenges have helped me to get through some health challenges, once I was diagnosed with having had learned about Graves’ Disease, which happens to deal with my thyroids. In the meantime, as I look back over my life, I can honestly say, God has really kept Gloria, even when I felt like He had given up on me.
Gloria, thank you so much for sharing. I’m so sorry you had to endure such grief. But I am so grateful for how the Lord has walked with you. He promises to never leave or forsake us. Psalm 139 is such a beautiful reminder of how He goes behind and before us, how His loving hand is always on us no matter what happens, what we experience, or where we go. Praying you feel His constant, loving presence with you!