Devotional: Mental Health in a Pandemic: Philippians 4

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7, NASB).

This morning I was reading an article about our mental health as it relates to the pandemic. The article said that during the pandemic the focus was on physical health and the saving of lives. Now that the effects on physical health are decreasing because of among other things people are getting vaccinated, we must begin to focus on the long range effects on our mental health.

The article recited various mental health experts and statistics that show us that depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and post-traumatic stress symptoms have increased significantly since the pandemic began. For example, depression has more than tripled. In the general population 8.5% reported symptoms of clinical depression before the pandemic and has increased to 27.8% during the pandemic. The leading causes have been fear of infection, job loss, extended periods of isolation. As these problem increased there was a decrease in available resources. The article stated that financial stability and availability were factors that helped people to go through the pandemic without an increase in mental health issues.

In the church at Philippi there was a lot of trauma caused by disagreements among the members. It seems that two leaders, Euodia and Syntyche were unable to live together in harmony (Phil 4:2). Paul was deeply concerned about this problem because of these women had been a great help to him in sharing the gospel (v. 3.). Paul does not want their disagreements to cause further problems. He offers counsel on how to prevent them from being anxious. He does not want their anxiety to lead to further problems.

You and I did not cause the pandemic. We had no way of solving the problem of the pandemic. We do have the ability to help ourselves with the mental health problems that come with the pandemic. Paul counsels us saying: “Rejoice in the Lord” (v. 4). This means we have the assurance that we are being protected and provided for by the Lord. We can help the situation by letting our gentle spirit be known to all people. A gentle spirit is one of the qualities that is given to us by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Therefore we have no need to worry. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to the Lord” (4:6, NASB).

God is our best psychiatrist, psychologist, and all other mental health workers. God gives us peace in our minds and in our hearts. We should use mental health workers, but God is our best source for mental health and stability.

Prayer: Jesus, we pray that by Your Spirit we will not be anxious in this pandemic. Amen