The Passion of the Christ is a movie that recounts events leading up to the crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is two hours of gruesome, raw footage of how the arrest, trial, flogging, cross-bearing, crucifixion, death and Resurrection of Jesus would’ve looked. As I watched the depiction of our Lord’s suffering, I was reminded of how at any moment during His suffering, Jesus could’ve chosen to walk away from the burden laid on Him because of us.
Yet, He didn’t.
In fact, moments before He was arrested, Jesus told His disciples, “Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will at once give Me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). He chose not to. Instead, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed,” (Isa. 53:5). Peace—one word that seems to be of high value amidst our crisis-filled world.
With Generalized Anxiety Disorder statistics on the rise, continuing to head mental health charts in our nation, here are three practical, biblical and clinically proven steps to experience emotional peace in the chaotic end-of-days we’re living through.
1) Have a relationship with God through Jesus. Anxiety is a tool of the devil that is rooted in fear. Fear can only be cast out in the presence of perfect love. The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). The foundation of emotional peace is peace with the One who made us—God.
Jesus was clear in John 14:6 when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” (MEV). Jesus is the only door by which you and I could ever have a relationship with God as a Father. The reason Jesus chose to suffer the death of a criminal, is so that one day, you and I could have an opportunity to have a relationship with God as a loving Father. And through a relationship with Him, we can exchange discouragement for hope knowing we have a Father who loves us more than we could ever imagine or think. If you’ve never given your life to Jesus or if you’re not sure you have, here’s a simple prayer of salvation: “Jesus, please forgive me for all of my sins. Thank You for Your death on the cross on my behalf. I believe in Your death and Resurrection. I submit to You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”
Order your copy of Kenza Haddock’s new book
“The Three Enemies of Your Mental Health” at Amazon.com today!
2) Walk with God daily. You have an adversary, Satan, who is watching your every move, waiting for an opportunity to entice you to act in a way that is destructive to you (temptation) so he can later on use your actions against you (condemnation). Walking with God daily requires you to rely on the Holy Spirit.
Trying to obey God without the help of the Holy Spirit is like planning to get to work by pushing your car from your house to your place of work. At some point you’ll get exhausted and fall into despair, and that’s why many people end up feeling desperate, exhausted and depressed. Scripture says, to “be filled with the Holy Spirit,” (Eph. 5:18, MEV). This requires feasting on God’s Word each day; asking God to give us hunger and understanding of His Word. As you cling to God and draw near to Him, He becomes your source of everything.
One of the fruits of Spirit is peace; a peace that surpasses understanding (Phil. 4:7), which is a peace that says, “No matter what’s going on in my life, I know my Father is good, and He is sovereign.”
3) Expose your hurts to God. This final step is a tough one, as it requires dealing with unresolved issues, which can at times make us uncomfortable. But see, we’re not left without a Helper (John 14:26). In Jesus, God has given us the Holy Spirit to walk with us through tough situations that we haven’t been able to deal with. Sometimes we may need to reach out to a trusted friend, a pastor or a professional counselor. Whatever the situation is, don’t let unresolved hurt fester because it is the breeding ground upon which Satan builds strongholds in your heart. Your heart is too precious for that. Even if you’re tempted to think it’s too late, thanks be to Jesus it’s never too late.
In a world filled with chaos and confusion, three steps to help you attain and maintain emotional peace are: surrender your life to the prince of peace, develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit, and get in the habit of taking your pain to the throne of grace. In Jesus, you can go confidently to your empathetic Father, talk to Him about your hurts with transparency and trust that He is there with you, listening to you, ready to guide you to breakthrough.
Kenza Haddock, LPCS, BCPC, is a licensed professional counselor supervisor and an accredited clinical trauma specialist. Her new book, The Three Enemies of Your Mental Health, releases this month and is available now for pre-order on amazon.com.
