The Every Day Christian Podcast
The Every Day Christian Podcast
87 | Mental Struggles or Spiritual Warfare?
What if your mental health struggles were not a sign of weak faith but a call to deeper spiritual and practical wisdom? In this episode of the Everyday Christian Podcast, we promise to unravel the often overlooked intersection between faith and mental health. Starting with a deep dive into the roles of physicians in the Bible, we shine a spotlight on Luke, the beloved physician, and Jesus’ acknowledgment of the need for healing both physical and spiritual ailments. This sets the foundation for our in-depth discussion on mental struggles and spiritual warfare—a topic so rich that it may span multiple episodes.
We share personal stories about managing headaches, illustrating how faith and practical solutions like medication and natural remedies can coexist harmoniously. You'll hear firsthand how everyday factors such as weather changes impact our well-being and how trusting God for healing doesn’t exclude utilizing the resources He has provided. This conversation flows naturally into a broader discussion on mental health treatment and spirituality, emphasizing that seeking help from doctors or using natural remedies is part of God’s provision for our overall well-being.
Finally, we tackle the stigma around men's mental health, highlighting the courage it takes to seek help for issues like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Through personal stories and biblical examples, we convey that mental health struggles do not indicate weak faith but are challenges that can be faced with support from the Christian community. We wrap up by offering our resources and support, ensuring confidentiality and compassion, and expressing gratitude to our listeners for their continued support!
I know, we know the great physician. Praise God we do. But who's another doctor in the Bible that you know of that God used? There's a man named Luke and he wrote a book in the Bible called Luke. And he also wrote a book in the Bible that everybody in the Pentecostal movement stands on, which is the book of Acts. And guess what? He was a physician. And Jesus in one of his gospels. I'm just going on here, brother Sean, you got to interrupt me here but Jesus, even in one of his gospels, uses an analogy and an illustration that those who are whole don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. And he was obviously talking about the spiritual, but he is illustrating to the physical. Even he understood and acknowledged that people who are sick need a physician.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the Everyday Christian Podcast, where we apply scriptural principles to everyday.
Speaker 1:Christian lives. I'm Sean Sloggett and I'm John Rich, and today we are going to discuss Christian Lives. I'm Sean Sloggett and I'm John Rich, and today we are going to discuss mental struggles or spiritual warfare. This episode is unique and it's going to be one that we will probably not be able to do an entire podcast on just in this one episode, because there's so much regarding the subject. So there's a chance we may do a series on this or we may do a follow-up episode. We'll just see about that.
Speaker 1:Before we get into the episode, I want to talk to you and tell you about the Everyday Christian Podcast tumblers $25. You get a tumbler that heats for like eight or 10 hours I think they're 12. 12 hours, hot or cold. The man has coffee right now in his thing in his Tumblr and it has ice in it. Still, he's had it for three days ago. No, I'm kidding, I'm really trying to sell these 30 minutes ago. I'm really trying to sell these Tumblrs. But if you would like an Everyday Christian Podcast Tumblr, it is $25, shipping included and it includes the the tumbler lid straw two straws actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a bended straw and then a straight straw and a cleaner. Also, they do have um closable tops on them. Yeah, there you go. So there is actually a lid where you can slide it shut and slide it open as well.
Speaker 1:And that obviously, the proceeds there go to support our podcast, support our show. So if you are a fan of the show, if you like listening to us I know there's some of you out there, maybe two or three, hopefully more than that but if you do like listening to our show and you want to support us, please purchase one of the tumblers $25 and it would go to a great cause and great use. The other thing I wanted to mention I've mentioned this probably two or three times now is our virtual youth group, or virtual youth class. We've already done our first episode a few weeks back about which version of the Bible you should read. We are going to be doing another class here. You'll probably get this as we're doing this class, so I won't ruin it for you. But if you would like to join the virtual class, we're going to be talking about stuff like modesty.
Speaker 1:We already did the version of the Bible to read, Stuff like what does it mean to touch not thine anointed Things of the Bible that people have questions on, Youth teens. If you know someone that's questioning the Bible or wants to learn more about the Bible, please join that class. It's a Zoom meeting. You don't have to talk on there if you don't want to. It's simply Brother Sean and myself teaching a lesson or a subject. But if you would like to join that, please message us. You can email us at the everydaydaychristians at gmailcom. I'll put that on the bottom, and you can also message us on Facebook or Instagram, Brother Sean.
Speaker 2:We do ask that you pray for us on both of those this podcast and doing that as well. We're not complaining in the least bit. It does take a little bit of time to do a lot of these things and preparation for it, yes, and we have kind of gotten off track with our podcast because of that. Yeah, we are trying to get that straightened back out, hopefully, where we can alternate them or do something to fix them. But if you guys will please continue to pray for us or start praying for us, if you're not, that we can help people, because that's what this podcast and those classes are about is helping people. That's what we want to do.
Speaker 2:We're not here to hurt anybody, to offend anybody. We've talked about this before. We talked about it just a little while ago. Actually. There are people who are going to look for reasons to get hurt, look for reasons to get offended, and when it comes to that, forgive me for being so blunt, but we don't care. We don't want to intentionally hurt or offend those that we can't help or that are looking for help. If you're looking to be offended, please move on, but pray for us that we can in the things that we do. That it will actually help people.
Speaker 1:The good thing about Brother Sean and I is we enjoy criticism and we enjoy listening to others tell us some issue that they have with us. I know that sounds crazy, I'll take that back. Sometimes I don't enjoy it, but I'd much rather have that than you know you tell others about how you got your feelings hurt. So if you ever do in one of these episodes, like you likely will in this episode, please message us, reach out to us, talk to us. We want to know your thoughts and feelings behind the subject and see if we can find common ground or see if we can make up the difference or even owe someone an apology, because I've done that before. Anyway, I wanted to start this podcast with a few questions to get the ball rolling, and here are the questions that I have for those listening, those joining in.
Speaker 1:As a Christian, have you ever dealt with depression, anxiety or fear? Have you ever had long-term issues with any of those things? As a Christian, have you ever been told that you need to pray more about it or that you are not close enough to God and that is why you're facing those things? As a Christian, have you ever been told that you need to pray through because of different mental struggles. Have those things ever been brushed off by family members or friends, churchgoers, ministers, leaders, as spiritual attacks of the devil? Are brushed off? As you are just going through a season right now, are you prayed through and prayed up but still dealing with those struggles? Does it seem like God isn't answering your prayer? You know, in this episode we can talk about you know, brother Sean different mental trials that everyone faces, whether they're spiritual or whether they are mental. Of course we know everyone, christian or not, faces depression, they face anxiety, they face fears and some of them faced different PTSD. Because we are all human, we have all faced different adversities at different times, some more than others, but we are all imperfect humans. And the reason I say that is because oftentimes, as Christians, when one of our brothers or sisters are struggling in many ways, not just mentally but especially mentally, we like to paint a magic wand or brush over the situation and say to ourselves they need prayer, or they need Holy Ghost deliverance, or they need to read and study the Bible more, or they need to listen to the voice of God more. We automatically attribute any mental struggle with spiritual warfare.
Speaker 1:And I hate to sound arrogant or mean. You know, we we started off this podcast I don't know who've ever started off the podcast talking about not trying to hurt people. So some of this may sound arrogant, mean and I'm not trying to insult anyone, because I've also had that mindset and gave instruction for those who are struggling to just simply pray through. But in all reality, it is a silly thought process and mentality to have and I want you to look at the reason why. Before I give you that reason, I need you to know that there's nothing wrong with praying for your mental health, there is nothing wrong with seeking God, but there is also nothing wrong with seeking help outside of the spiritual realm. We want to say things like God gave us doctors or God created science, but we don't believe that there are modern and physical answers or help to what we face mentally. Again, that's a weak thought process. If you're listening to this and you've had that mentality, you need to understand that there's so much more to it and the Bible shows, actually, that there's so much more to it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to pass it to Brother Sean here in a moment, but I want to ask just a couple more questions and then we'll shift here. But have you ever experienced a headache of any kind? The reason I say any kind, brother Sean, is because there's like 13 or 14 different types of headaches. There's tension headaches, there's migraine headaches, there's allergy headaches, there's caffeine headaches, there's hypertension headaches. Now, some of you pray that God will heal that headache, some of you pray that God heals it and then you take some sort of medication, but most of you, if you're honest with yourself and with everyone else, go right to the medication or an alternative to help that headache.
Speaker 1:And I've got to be honest with everybody here and I I don't care if I get labeled as a non-spiritual person, but the first thing that I do when I have a bad headache, a migraine you want to know what that is, brother Sean I tell my wife please leave. I got it. Yes, yes, yes, no, no, no, no, morgan, no, absolutely, absolutely not, no. But I tell her I'm like, she's like how are you doing? I got a bad headache. And the first thing she asked is this isn't spiritual and I'm sorry if this offends you is did you take any medication? Did you take some Tylenol? Did you take some? They call it goody powder. The answer usually is no, because I hate taking medication.
Speaker 1:But when she asked that I go to the medicine cabinet and I take medicine, most of you do that. Most of you want to pretend like you're spiritual and like God is your first resource. But I would be willing and venture to say that a lot of you the first thing you think to do is grab that medicine bottle out of your purse, grab that medicine bottle out of your cabinet, and I want to portray and let you know that there's nothing wrong with that either. Most of you do that, but most of you would say, if I did that, I'm not trusting in God for healing. God heals when we are down to nothing or have no other options.
Speaker 1:Not that God can't heal before that, but most of the time we exhaust all of our resources first. So if you were honest and you'd say I have a migraine, therefore I will take migraine medication such as Tylenol, or you'd say I have a caffeine headache, so I'll drink something with caffeine in it, now I'm going to pass to Brother Sean with this question. Brother Sean, can two things be true? Can God instantly take away my headache? Answer that. And there's another one yes.
Speaker 1:I can, and then I'll pass it over to you with the second one. Does God want?
Speaker 2:us to use the resources, even natural ones, to take away my headache Absolutely as well. My wife suffers from sinus headaches a lot Because we I mean my household like most households we deal with allergies. Whenever allergy season comes along and she has, I'm going to I don't remember essential oils, whatever those, whatever that witchcraft stuff is. She has some of that stuff, and not that my wife. Jonathan just dropped his phone.
Speaker 1:Sorry about that yo.
Speaker 2:Not that my wife isn't spiritual or that she doesn't rely on God for a lot of those things, but she knows when that sinus headache is starting to come on. She said I'm all congested, I'm swell, you know whatever it is. And you're right. She goes and finds whatever potion it is that needs mixed together. Yes, amen, I don't understand it all. I mean, I use it occasionally but I'm not completely possessed yet. But you know she'll get crucified by both of our wives bro.
Speaker 2:But she'll go get whatever it is and use it to help her, and you can check in how you feel it feels better. That is a very good resource. Yeah, and I haven't done the research in it, so supposedly it's all natural. I don't know that for a fact, but that's what I've heard Our wives do, though. That's what they say.
Speaker 2:That's what they say is that it's all natural, but she's going to use those things that will help her and to benefit her. You know, and it's, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be mad at her if she wouldn't prayed about it, right, you know, I wouldn't be upset, I wouldn't be disappointed. But she knows what is going to help and there is a natural supplement that is going to help. So she goes and uses that. You know, I, if I have a headache, a lot of times it's because I've been working most of the day and I haven't had much caffeine. Yeah, I usually try not to drink much caffeine and then I'll have a Coke or whatever. In the evening Doesn't always go that way. I'm not a sweet tea drinker, so if I don't drink a Coke or pop whatever you guys call it soda pop I don't get much caffeine. Well, when I get home and I have a headache that's her first question to me I've got a killer headache. Do you drink any caffeine? Have you had any caffeine today? No, I haven't, she's Okay. I mean, crack open a Pepsi and Crack one open and drink it. Have you had any caffeine today? No, I haven't, she's okay. I mean, crack open a Pepsi and Crack one open and drink it.
Speaker 2:That's a, that's a whole nother topic. Getting addicted to that kind of stuff, yeah, but there are, you know, there are things that are very beneficial to us and on the kind of the mental, spiritual side of it, you know, the is it always a spiritual battle? I thought of something earlier, when Brother Jonathan was talking. I thought of the weather. It's something that's completely natural. We all deal with rain, we all deal with sunshine. Most of us get snow. We all deal with sunshine, most of us get snow. But I'll tell you this, when it rains, the mood in my house I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1:It's like a sleepy mood for me. I don't know how it is for everybody else.
Speaker 2:It's a real sleepy, somber mood. But for somebody like me who most of my life I've been a very active go getter, go do, yeah, when it's raining and I'm stuck in my house, yeah, I hate it. Depressed is a very strong word, yeah, but I kind of like and I've made comments like to my wife we're like I'm depressed today yeah, I've been stuck at the house for eight hours. Yeah, I've been awake for eight hours, been stuck at the house for eight hours. Yeah, I've been awake for eight hours, been stuck in the house.
Speaker 2:And you know, to her it may not be much because she's there a lot, but my life has kind of shifted for that moment or for that timeframe. You know where I'm normally outside working, or where I'm normally running or playing basketball or whatever it is that I would be doing. I can't do it because it's raining, yeah, so the mental aspect of it shifts. Yeah, there's nothing spiritually wrong, right, when it rains. Right, I didn't wake up and sin first thing as I was rolling out of bed and now I'm being punished for it. It's just a shift in your emotional state. Is what it is, and a lot of times I shouldn't say it. Well, it's a shift in our emotional state and at times we fail to realize that, and that's what this podcast is for is to try and help us with some of that, brother John.
Speaker 1:You know, we kind of going back and forth, because I'll touch upon a little bit of that too, because situationally there's things that happen that do get us down, you know. And obviously when you say I'm depressed, that's an obvious over-exaggeration. Yes, but I'm the same way. It's like, you know, it's rainy, I'm groggy now, I'm tired, you don't have anything to do because you can't go outside, and it's like trying to like, figure things out and be productive, which, by the way, is one of the main what's the word I'm looking for? The main way to combat depression would be find purpose, find things to do, you know. So there is an element there situationally. But then, going back to what you were talking about a moment ago with your wife, wife, you know she knows the right, you know potion mixtures of essential oils to use, to take away that.
Speaker 1:You know, sinus headache, and I think about people like Paul in the Bible, and I'm going to mention him again. Some of you are going to be offended by what I'm about to tell you, but it's in the Bible. So if you get offended, be offended by God, you know. But Paul writes a letter to Timothy and in that letter he tells him what does he tell him, we get it. We don't believe in drinking alcohol, but he tells him a little wine for the stomach sake. In other words, a little wine will help your stomach. A little wine will help give you whatever it is strength. It'll help you overcome sicknesses, help your blood pressure. We're not going to talk about that, I get it. Paul says that in the Bible. He gives us an example of a type of whatever you want to call it medication, alternative, natural thing to help combat a sickness. But we believe this in every other area, except for our mentality. We believe it for body aches. I'm going to talk about sinuses, but let me give you another example and then we'll move on about sinuses.
Speaker 2:But let me give you another example and then we'll move on. But you'll do a bunch of things. If you get up and your truck isn't working but you have to get to work you're going to figure out a situation to make it work. Yeah, it's. Take your wife's car. Or if it's a flat tire, I can pump it up. Yeah, maybe see if I you're going to assess the situation and see what's wrong with it to try to fix it. You're not going to just, oh, my left front driver tire is flat, I need to change, I need to change my oil. No, it's not going to do it.
Speaker 1:Right, well, and God gave you brain and he gave you free will, he gave you the ability to choose most people. Well, most, yeah, but but going along with that, to give you another example, um is is myself, you know. I think about my struggle with weight for the last 13 years, and all of that is attributed to lack of exercise and bad eating habits. That's just what it is. It's plain, and I mean, I used to be a skinny stick.
Speaker 1:Used to be like me is yeah, exactly is the best thing for me to lose weight To be to ask god to take it away from me. Everyone knows that answer. If anybody says yes to that answer, you are a fool. I'm sorry that's harsh. I get it, but wait a second. I'm going through a struggle with my self-image and god should be the one to help me with that, right? No, but that would be Another example of an uneducated mindset. Most of you wouldn't think that way, but it's the same mindset as earlier. The answer to that is eat better, snack less, workout, get more out, get more cardio, get more strength training and have discipline with my body.
Speaker 1:But why is it that we have no issue taking medication for our cold, for our headaches, for our body aches? Why is it we have no issue going to the doctor for sicknesses that we cannot recover from on our own? Why is it that we have no issue with God taking fat from our bodies? Well, here's why. Here's the reason why Because it's all outward and our minds are inward. Okay, that's fine. Why do we go to heart specialists and heart surgeons? Why do we go to the doctors and specialists when we break a bone? That's all on the inside, too. Our minds are the same but they are way more complex. Why is that, you may ask? Because our minds are made up of cells in the most complex and sensitive part of our body, the brain. But for some reason, we're perfectly fine with doctors and pediatricians and specialists and experts when it comes to helping all of our other internal and external organs, except for cells, and except for our brain.
Speaker 1:Anything that has to do with something we don't know enough about or that we don't have a lot of answers for is something spiritual or something that only God can help. Now, brother Sean, I believe the devil can attack us mentally. I believe that. I agree with that. I believe things can come against us that can attack us that are spiritual. I understand that, but most of the time I also believe it is from a different source and different reasoning. Back in the day, like back in, like the 1800s you can look this up, please do. If someone were to fall to the ground with eyes and parts of their bodies twitching, stiff muscles, eye movements and confusion and even foaming at the mouth, priests and believers and Christians would have called that demon possession. But what I just described to you was not a spiritual thing and it was not a demon possession. It's what's called an epileptic seizure. But it was something people didn't know about and because they didn't know about it, they called it spiritual. Not everything that affects our bodies and our minds is spiritual or demonic.
Speaker 1:There are other reasons, such as chemical imbalances we talked about that Past traumas, current worries or even overall health even overall health. We must overcome this crazy idea and mentality that someone who is struggling with their mental health is someone who is far away from God. You want to know people in the Bible who struggled with their mental health. David was close to God and struggled with depression. Elijah was close to God and struggled with fear and depression. Job was close to God and struggled with grief. Jeremiah was close to God and struggled with loneliness, feeling defeated, feeling insecure. Paul was close to God and he struggled with depression in the past, and there are many, many more examples all throughout the Bible, because everyone in the Bible outside of Christ was a hundred percent imperfect and human, just like me and you are. So to say, anything that you're battling mentally means that you're far away from God could not be farther from the truth, brother Sean, you know to say, to say you are not a man or woman of God if you struggle with mental issues is to say that none of the men and women in the Bible were of God, and most of them face mental issues and battles.
Speaker 1:So what is the right thing to do? Who can I talk to? Can I talk to someone outside of just talking to God? Can I take medication for my mental health? Can I do something natural for my mental health? And here are my answers.
Speaker 1:God gave us doctors for our mental health, just like he did for our physical health. So, yes, there are physicians you can go to. Yes, there are medications you can take to help. Yes, there are natural things that you can do, like essential oils. Show me in the Bible anywhere where those things are wrong, in black and white. In fact, god used doctors in the Bible. Who's a doctor famous that you know of? I know we know the great physician Praise God, we do. But who's another doctor in the Bible that you know of that God used?
Speaker 1:There's a man named Luke and he wrote a book in the Bible called Luke, and he also wrote a book in the Bible that everybody in the Pentecostal movement stands on, which is the book of Acts. And guess what he was a physician. And Jesus in one of his gospels I'm just going on here, brother Sean, you got to interrupt me here. And Jesus in one of his gospels. I'm just going on here, brother Sean, you got to interrupt me here. But Jesus, even in one of his gospels, uses an analogy and an illustration that those who are whole don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. And he was obviously talking about the spiritual, but he is illustrating to the physical. Even he understood and acknowledged that people who are sick need a physician. People who are sick mentally, physically, does not mean they're sick spiritually. There are battles in believers' mind that have nothing to do with the devil. They have nothing to do with spiritual warfare and not being close enough to God, brother Sean.
Speaker 2:The devil can use those situations to attack and to try and get a foothold in there. And we're not saying that that's not part of it. You know there are those who have dealt with extreme cases. With extreme cases I shouldn't say there are those who have dealt with some very hard things in their life. I was talking to Brother Jonathan earlier about relationships. To me, the battle of depression that I dealt with some of them doesn't even scratch the surface of what some others have dealt with. And if you have, if you have struggled with some of those things, you know there there's verbal abuse, there's physical abuse, there's mental abuse, there's all these things. The devil can use those to get a foothold. Yeah Right, you know, if you were physically abused, that wasn't spiritual.
Speaker 1:Right, but it can't affect your mental.
Speaker 2:It is going to be very mental, very physically straining on you, right, but it can't affect your mental. It is going to be very mental, very physically straining on you, right. What it is is somebody who was not right. Somebody was doing something very evil, very vile. Now the devil can use that and turn it into a spiritual battle. But you have to get help. Yeah, and I'm not saying if you're listening to this and this is you, I'm not saying that you're not looking for help, but just praying about it Isn't always going to fix the problem. Go find somebody that you can talk to about it. Yeah, go find somebody who can relate on your level. You know there's times where and I'm not speaking out against leadership, but when we don't, I say we like I'm in leadership, when they don't have the answers and I said we, because I've said stuff like this before is just pray about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, god will give you the answers. Yeah, and part of that is because I don't have the answer, part of it's because I don't know how to deal with the situation myself. Right, so if I tell you to pray about it, that gets the weight off of my shoulders, and this is kind of taking a rabbit trail here.
Speaker 1:No, it's not.
Speaker 2:It's right, uh, but find somebody who can help you. Yeah, god can't help you. He wants to help you. But things like that that are that are mind battles that you feel like you can't talk about to anybody, that if you say something you're going to get shunned or you're going to get shut down or kicked out of the church. Whatever the situation is, there are people who want to help you, there are programs, there are psychologists there. I mean there's a whole bunch of different avenues for you to go to to get that help. Yeah, don't let the devil turn it into a spiritual battle.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:That is. That is a mental and a physical battle that you're fighting. Yeah, if you give the devil a foothold, he'll turn it into yeah, yeah, don't let that happen. Don't let it happen, but find help.
Speaker 1:Yes, I got to be honest with you, brother, sean. I faced depression and I faced anxiety and I faced fears and worries and all that stuff and I've been up at night and had a lot of weight on my shoulders at times and you know different things, situational things that have come into play and as a man, I don't want to tell anybody, I don't want to go to anybody, I don't want to depend on anyone because I'm a man. I'm not supposed to be crying and feeling feelings and emotions. I'm not supposed to be doing that. But that doesn't make you any less of a man. To face fear and PTSD and anxiety does not make you any less of a man. In fact, it makes you more of a man, to admit it and to depend on someone or something. You know there's different.
Speaker 1:A couple years back we did an episode about depression and one of the main causes of depression was due to faulty mood, regulations by the brain or genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, eating habits, no-transcript PTSD comes to individuals who witness or experience traumatic events. These things have nothing to do with the devil, demons, dark forces, anything like that. But I know as men we like to bury those things and cover them up and hold on to them until 10 years. Down the road, something happens and we unleash it in some way, form or fashion and I'm telling you there's nothing wrong, there's nothing unhealthy, there's nothing unspiritual, there's nothing ungodly, there's nothing that makes you feminine about reaching out for help and reaching out to someone who can point you, to someone who can help. Maybe pastor doesn't have the answers, but maybe pastor knows someone who does. We don't have the answers. You know we have a pretty good knowledge base here, but if you were to message us and I'll mention it at the end here again but if you messaged us privately, if you emailed us privately, it'd be confidential between you and I, you and brother Sean, and we would get you to people who could help you. We would get you to people who don't just prescribe things to prescribe them, don't just throw out medications to get you hooked onto some drug, but they would do everything in their power to help you mentally.
Speaker 1:So that's my plea in this episode. Really, I'll pass it back to Brother Sean, but my plea in this episode is preachers, ministers, men of God, women of God, believers, stop saying everything is the devil and that everything is spiritual and start looking at things that God gave us. Start looking at reality, and that is there are other things that cause depression, there are other things that cause the anxiety, there are other things that cause the fear. And on the flip side of that, this episode is for you who is struggling. You're scared, you're afraid of what your Christian parents might think, you're afraid of what your Christian friends might think, you're afraid of what everyone and their mother in the church might think. But I'm telling you, I've got your back, brother Sean. I know has your back that if you are struggling with anything in your mind and you desperately need help, you've exhausted all resources. We will be behind you 100%. You will have encouragement from him and from myself, brother Sean him and for myself, brother Sean.
Speaker 2:My father-in-law passed away in September of last year and I was, I think, the third person there. We were trying to perform CPR, you know, work on him, yeah, and that I mean the toll that it put on me, on my family. I mean we still feel it to this day. Just a couple nights ago, my oldest daughter came out crying Because it hit her hard again, and I just remember that week, two weeks, whatever it was. After that, the families all together at the house were making plans for everything, trying to figure everything out Very, you know, very somber it was. I mean it was very depressing because the man, one of the men that we looked up to, was gone. Yeah, because the man, one of the men that we looked up to, was gone.
Speaker 2:And I remember one day it was nothing against my in-laws, my wife, kids or anything, but I just told my wife, I said I've got to go, I just need to leave the house for a little while. And I called one of my best friends. He's in the healthcare world, his wife is too, and she actually lost her brother at a young age and she was the second one to find him. So I called him and I just said, man, I need some help right now. Can I come over to the house? And of course he said, yeah, get over here, what do you need? So I went over there and I sat down on their their couch and I cried and I cried and I cried and I had hundreds of questions how do you deal with this? Yeah, one of the hardest parts in my mind was and to this day I can replay every single moment of that morning, every single moment just about. I can tell you where everybody was standing, I can tell you all what was going on as I was leaned over him. You know, it's the moment. I don't know how to explain it all, but talking to him who's worked multiple patients, and talking to her who lost somebody very close to him, and talking to her who lost somebody very close to him was one of I mean, it was the best day. It was still a horrible day, but it was one of the best days I had had since he had passed, because I got to go talk to somebody who lived what I had just went through I lost my father-in-law, she lost her brother. It was somebody very close to both of us. Yeah, and just sitting on a couch with her, just being able to talk to her for an hour, hour and a half I mean it was a little while there was.
Speaker 2:There was a bunch of people, and I'm not hating on them. There was a bunch of people, and I'm not hating on them. There was a bunch of people that came. Keep your head up, sean. God's got this. He cares for you. We're praying for you and I understand that they all meant well and good, but you can't keep your head up when you're dealing with something like that. There was no spiritual battle going on, right.
Speaker 2:You, if you would have been in service with us for several weeks following that, you'd have seen me and my wife crying in our pews, yeah, and from the outside looking in.
Speaker 2:If you didn't know the situation, you'd have thought, right, they're struggling with something, and we were, but finding somebody who knew how to help with the situation.
Speaker 2:I'm thankful for all the prayers, I'm thankful for everybody that came by and brought us food and did all those things for us, but I am more thankful that I had somebody that I could go find and talk to, right, because that gave me hope. Yeah, I asked her questions like what do you do when, every night, when you lay down to go to sleep, you can't close your eyes because those 30 minutes play over and over, and over, and over and over again? Yeah, I'm sorry, but most of my friends couldn't have answered that question, right, they just said I don't know, but we'll be praying for you, and they mean well and good, yeah. But for you to sit down with her and her say, okay, I did this, right, or I did that. Or she said I went and found somebody and talked to him. It makes a world of difference, right, find somebody and get help. Yeah, it doesn't have to be somebody, it could be something Exercise, just going for walks. There's a whole bunch of different things, but get help.
Speaker 1:Go to those resources. I think that we depend on pastors to do a lot of things and different church leaders to do a lot of things except help us with our mental struggles. And I say that because you know I'll add to that I won't add that much to what Sean said, because I think that he summed it up just right is you have resources, you have people to go to. And now you've got another avenue to turn to as well. You know, and Brother Sean and myself, because you know, we desired for you to get help. We desire for you to not be shamed or ridiculed but to get the help that you need. And, yes, you need to turn to someone, to talk to someone. And the beautiful thing about all of that is you can say, you know, you can be on your spiritual high horse and say well, you need to talk to God. Or you can come down and realize that God gave us people to talk, to talk to, that God gave us individuals, like brother Sean was just talking about, to discuss these things with and to find help in. I love that God provides people. Yeah, I love that God provides somebody physician, psychologist I love that God provides those people and I'm thankful for those people. So go turn to them and I believe that you will get encouragement and you will get help.
Speaker 1:You know, sean, I have a lot of things that I could say and add, but I don't want to do that, I don't want to ruin this or change the tune of this, because I think that this is a good place to end is if you need help, reach out. Like I said, message us on Facebook, on Instagram, email us theeverydaychristians at gmailcom if you are struggling and we can point you. I'm telling you we have resources I mean a lot of resources available that we can send you to and get you help with. So please reach out to us. Brother Sean, was there anything else you wanted to add? All right, well, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do want to throw this in here real quick. I just thought of this. There are resources out there that want to help you, but be careful as well. Yes, I went to my best friends because I knew that they had dealt with those kind of situations, but not every case you need to go to your best friend and talk to them about it, right? Not every case you need to go to certain people and try to get help. Yeah, you know there are. If you can ask somebody for help, make sure it's somebody you can trust and rely on. Yeah, and that you know that if they can't answer it, they can get you to the right people who can help you or the right resources to help you, because there are those out there who will take situations and can make them worse. Unfortunately, that's very real. We've all seen stuff like that happen and that's part of the fear behind trying to find help with resources. But find people that you love, that you can trust, to get help with these resources.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look at the track record, you know. Look at how they've helped others and listen to the stories and you'll find someone. Again, I'm going to throw it at this like the third or fourth time, but if you do need resources or you just need someone to try to help you figure it out, brother Sean and I are great for that. Like I said, it'd be confidential. Some of you we don't know from Adam, so we don't know your situation. Where you go to church, none of that matters. If you need help with a mental struggle, please feel free to reach out to us and we will help you the best way that we can.
Speaker 1:So, in saying that, I just want to end this episode and thank you all for listening. Thank you for joining in, thank you for everyone's support through all this. We'll try to do another episode here in the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure if we'll do it about mental struggles again or we'll change the tune of it, but we will be coming to you in a couple of weeks and, as I said, as we said before, you're listening to the Everyday Christian podcast, where we apply scriptural principles to everyday Christian lives. Thank you, and.
Speaker 2:God bless, god bless you, thank you.
