Psychology + Christianity = Lots of deep thoughts!

So I just got back from a coffee date with a friend (well a tea date I guess, if you want to be specific :) ). Our conversation floated to the topic of mental health and the methods that God chooses to heal mental illness. This is a pretty complex and important topic to me, seeing as how I'm studying counseling at a Christian institution and I have dealt with some mental health issues in my life, along with the majority of the population at large if we are all honest with ourselves. In one camp are those that see mental illness as a strictly spiritual, maybe even demonic issue. Those in this camp may take the position that if one simply has enough faith in Jesus and prays for healing, perhaps with some scripture thrown in, the depression, bipolar, etc. should magically disappear, and in the occasional case, God does seem to choose to heal someone in an instant. But, what are those who are not healed in that instant supposed to think? That their suffering is all their fault? That if they were just a better person, a better Christian, less of a sinner, than God would love them enough to heal them? Sadly, this is the message that they might be hearing, only adding to their guilt and shame.

While I do not doubt God's ability to heal nor the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross, my education and understanding leads me to think that more often than not, God allows one's healing to be more of a process- more of a journey toward freedom. A person is a complex being, with biological, emotional, relational, and spiritual components, which all interact in intricate ways with one another. To ignore the complexities of humanness often seems to only minimize both the problem and the person. 

And yet, God most certainly always plays a role in our healing, whether we know it or not. I can look back over my life and see how God used different people, different experiences, and certainly many prayers and His Word, to over time bring restoration and healing into some of the broken areas in my life. This is not to say that I am complete and that I am 100% healed and free from the damage that this world causes. And that's OK. Because suffering, struggle, and brokenness are ripe opportunities for growth, for compassion, for community, and for humility. And if we allow it to, suffering can put us in perfect position to run into the arms of the One who knows suffering unlike any other and who loved us enough to die for our freedom- Jesus.

I know that these thoughts are sort of scattered, probably because I don't have it all sorted out in my brain. And I very well may never. Because God is a lot bigger than my understanding, and His creation is a lot more complex than I have the capacity to grasp. All I know is that we should not have to feel ashamed or guilty about our pain, but instead we should strive to create a world in which people can feel safe to run to us, and ultimately to God with their pain. He loves us just where we are at, but He also loves us enough not to leave us there. So, too, should we love people.