The individual who asked this question uses the word terrified, and it’s an appropriate word. Psychosis and hallucinations and delusions, they really are terrifying because they make us call into question what is real. What is real and who is real? Who do I trust? So all of that, all of a sudden, becomes up in the air, and certainty sort of goes out the window. So it is terrifying. And I think there’s two things that I’d want to think about when we think about how to help, how to bring comfort or hope. These are not going to be able to do it justice, but it’s a sample of what hope and comfort may look like.

Comfort is that God is with you. He knows; he is not far away. And as Psalm 103 says, verse 14, he knows our frame. So the comfort is this: God knows you. Even if you don’t know what is real or who to trust, he knows. And he sees you. And then the second piece, the anchor. So what is my comfort? And then what is my hope? The hope is that he does not change, that even though your world is changing, he does not change. We see that in James. We see it also referenced, that even if we are unfaithful, he is faithful. And then in Psalm 121, we see it in a different form that God is the keeper. He is the keeper who keeps us, even if we’re powerless to keep ourselves. And connected to that, he will not let your foot slip. So even though this is terrifying and it creates an uncertain world, the comfort is that he sees you and he knows you and he knows your frame. And the hope is that he is the anchor and he keeps you, even if you can’t keep yourself.

Todd Stryd
Faculty
Topics:
ANXIETY, PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, SCHIZOPHRENIA