Mental Health Insights in the Bible

How To Contend With The Unknown

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0500

Noah had to wait for some time to wait for the flood then again for the flood to recede. There is so much unknown that happens here and often in the Bible. Today we talk about how the unknown affects anxiety and some hints we see of how the Bible seems to want us to deal with that.

Lessons to Ponder

How does dealing with the unknown affect your mental health?
How does your relationship with God get impacted as unknown elements enter your life?
Are there some unknowns you do better with than others?
Can your prayers and leaning into your relationship with God help with dealing with the unknown?

Thank you for listening to this episode! If you want to reach out and ask questions, make an episode request, or offer encouragement then please reach out to us at mentalhealthinsightsinthebible@gmail.com

We love you very much!

God's Provision Through A Broken World

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode we see how God provides deliverance though one of the most famous de-creation events recorded in the Bible. God provides a way for Noah's family escape the destruction of a wicked people. This is a story of pain, responsibility, and renewal amid destruction and connect well with the struggles we face even now.

Lessons to Ponder

How can you honor the dominion that God has given you over your life right now?
Can you allow yourself to sit in the pain of the loss of these people to the flood and allow yourself to trust that what God did was for a good reason.
We all have pains and hard things we contend with, and can we also acknowledge that God still wants to work through us for the benefit of everyone else.
We exist in the tension of the world (as it is now) not fulfilling everything we need. Despite that, can we continue to remind ourselves of that reality and that God is the only one that can fully provide for us.

We love you very much!

What Does Righteousness and Blameless have to Do with Mental Health?

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 09:00:00 -0500

We continue to explore the story of Noah in Genesis and work to glean some traits from Noah that may be helpful for us to consider for our own mental health.

Lessons to Ponder

Do you feel the pressure of society affecting how you live?
How can we separate ourselves and stand out from those that are doing wrong?
How does violence in the world impact your mental health?
What is a step you can take to being more righteous today?

We love you very much!

Impulsiveness and How it Can Encourage Sin

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 09:00:00 -0500

We are starting to explore the flood and how the part of the world that the bible is focusing on is full of sin and suffering. God decides to do something about it but will create a way of safety for the family of the one righteous person around, Noah.

This story helps us understand how listening to our own impulses and body can pave a way to sin if we are not connected to God's word.

Lessons to Ponder

Why do we have impulses?
What is God trying to cultivate in people to have them "deny their flesh"?
How does sin lead to more sin?
How bad was the sin in the world that God decided the only way to saving the world was to cause this flood? Can you imagine it?

We love you very much!

What Can We Learn From Sin Crouching At Our Door?

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0500

The story of Cain and Abel sets us up to see the tragedy of how jealousy, shame, and guilt can cause us to protect ourselves in harmful ways. Anger, frustration, rage and upset feelings are all protective type of feelings that normally show up instead the vulnerability in our heart.

Cain demonstrates this by striking his brother down and giving into the sin that God warned him about.

Lessons to Ponder

What sin is crouching at our own door today?
Are we really so different from Cain? He reacts out of anger and feeling less than.
God hears Abel's blood cry out from the ground, injustice calls to God.
This is another point in which God gives wisdom that is not used and where a human does what is good in their own eyes.
Can we recognize the ways we protect ourselves in relationships?

We love you very much!

Relationship Ideal vs fallen reality

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode we start to explore relationships and how they are to look before and after the fall. This has an impact on all relationships and will set the foundation for further books of the bible.

Lessons to Ponder

The ideal is in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve are working in unison with God
Complete intimacy and vulnerability is the ideal state
Man and Women are created as one and have roles
First glimpses of lying, blame, shame, and guilt from mankind
Now we protect our vulnerability with divisive tactics. What tactics do you use to protect yourself?
We are designed to connect and apart from God we can connect to sinful things.

We love you very much!

How Does the Fall From Eden Impact Your Mental Health Today?

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Tue, 30 May 2023 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode we start to explore the fall from Eden that occurs in Genesis and the consequences that give us a glimpse into mental health issues that generations to come will struggle with.

Lessons to Ponder

Knowing Good and Bad/Evil without God's wisdom leads to death
God's mercy leads to exile from Eden rather than the full consequence he warned of
curses from the exile from Eden are still present today
Introduction to blaming, shame, guilt, and deceit as tactics that obscure the truth

We love you very much!

Food, Work, and Rest Reflect Who You Are

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode we explore food, work, rest, resource allocation and how all of this is a reflection of our identity. This will filter into our mind looking at the world as a scarce place that does not have enough or a world of abundance. Our specific view on this has a profound impact on how we operate in the world.

Lessons to Ponder

Food, work, and rest are places where we can focus on God (and our own identity as the image of God)
Scarcity experience has a substantial impact on the brain and body
Abundance is a call to give more to others
Work is part of our purpose and a job may not be the full picture of the work you are called to do
Rest is a time for focus on God and an exercise in trust in God's provision
Mindset shift to God is a habit we practice and develop
Disorder from hurt in relationships can make it hard to trust what God has made us to be (and naming and identifying those hurts helps)

Thank you for joining us for this episode! If you want to get in contact with us to ask questions, make episode requests, or share encouragement then please reach out at mentalhealthinsightsinthebible@gmail.com

We love you very much!

Your Dominion May Need Adjustment

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode we continue to explore Genesis and what purpose God made us for. The more we align our purpose with what God has called us to do the more fulfillment we will experience in our life!

Lessons to Ponder

Dominion impacts our mental health. Exert control over some of your environment in responsible ways
Cooperation in our rule over our dominion
Intimacy in the relationship with God is a reflection of what our own relationships should be
Specialness is built into our identity but we often have a hard time allowing ourselves to feel this way
Your life calls for active participation, not passiveness
Mental health issues can rise out of disconnection from what God is calling you to do

Thank you for joining us in this episode! If you want to reach out and ask questions, make an episode request, or share words of encouragement then reach out at mentalhealthinsightsinthebible@gmail.com

We love you very much!

A Relationship Ruptured In Eden

Craig Foust and Matt Tilley — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0500

Thank you for joining us on this journey! We go over Genesis one and start to unpack some of the biblical lessons from before the fall occurs in the biblical narrative. This is one of the most powerful examples of what life as a human would look like before sin and exile from the Garden of Eden occurs.

Lessons to Ponder

We are an image of God
Mental health issues caused by conflict with identity and purpose
We are not meant to go through life alone
The disconnecting damage of guilt and shame
Communication issues at the very start of the biblical story

We hope you enjoyed the session! If you would like to reach out for questions, episode requests, or encouragement then please feel free to email us at mentalhealthinsightsinthebible@gmail.com

We love you very much!