Finding Jesus in the Storm

The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges

By: John Swinton

Narrated by: Trevor Thompson

People living with mental health challenges are not excluded from God’s love or even the fullness of life promised by Jesus. Unfortunately, this hope is often lost amid the well-meaning labels and medical treatments that dominate the world of mental health today. In Finding Jesus in the Storm, John Swinton makes the case for reclaiming that hope by changing the way we talk about mental health and remembering that, above all, people are people, regardless of how unconventionally they experience life. This means accepting the reality and ramifications of suffering while also affirming that there is more to humanity than cells and synapses.

Finding Jesus in the Storm is a call for the church to be an epicenter of compassion for those experiencing depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and related difficulties. Part of this compassion means breaking free of the assumptions that often accompany these diagnoses, allowing for the possibility that people living within unconventional states of mental health might experience God in unique ways that are real and perhaps even revelatory. In each chapter, Swinton gives voice to those experiencing the mental health challenges in question, so listeners can see firsthand what God’s healing looks like in a variety of circumstances. The result is a book about people instead of symptoms, description instead of diagnosis, and lifegiving hope for everyone in the midst of the storm.

©2020 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (P)2024 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

The complexity of making a mental health diagnosis. And using DSM to do so.

This was a lengthy listen and I had difficulty with some of the theologic terminology.I had to often look back after listening and look up certain words being used so I completely understood. So for a reader who was not immersed in Christain Theology, it was a little bit difficult.

Incredible book

Mental health is such a difficult topic. So often, we confuse illnesses like depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, or even dementia with spiritual problems—when in reality, they are physical and medical conditions. However, because we cannot fully separate the body from the spirit, and because our hearts are so closely connected to our minds, the lines between spiritual and physical can become incredibly difficult to discern.

I’m grateful for theologians like this one who offer words and insight on how to help those facing mental struggles. People in these situations need presence, prayer, and a great deal of grace to navigate something that is so heavily stigmatized.

I need help daily to understand—to avoid being judgmental, to extend grace, and to resist the urge to quickly define an experience that is not my own. Maybe that’s the kind of help many others need too.