When North Greenville University freshman Estefany Cortez was in middle school, she didn’t think that she struggled with mental health. Yet, she was anxious and thought that this was normal. In high school, she would black out mentally when she was under time limits. Anxiety was still taking a toll, but in these moments, she would remind herself to take deep breaths. She also noticed during these years how important sleep was – she would panic if she wasn’t resting.


In the midst of all of this, she was a youth leader at her church. Since her anxiety affected her when she spoke in front of people, this affected her ministry as well. It was a constant battle of trying to speak out on something that she was passionate about but having to keep herself calm throughout that. She also would have intrusive thoughts, like “What are people going to think?” and “What if I mess up?” while she was dancing during worship. These questions prevented her from wanting to even partake in this aspect of ministry.


Estefany didn’t know how to handle any of these struggles until she started to dive into the Word. She learned to view ministry as something that God called her to do, and that her battles are fought with God instead of on her own. She states, “It’s just a term…the enemy will ALWAYS try to keep you from going into God’s plan in your life.”  The more she leaned into God and His word, the more she saw that her anxiety would go away.

In her own church, she’s been blessed to be able to go through Bible study plans about mental health, such as one titled, “Overcoming Anxiety and Mental Health.” Through struggling with anxiety, she has also been able to see in the youth there that a lot of the students struggled with mental health as well. Since middle and high schoolers are at the age where they are learning to open up but are still hesitant to, her story has been able to help encourage to open up about their own developing story. Though her local Pentecostal church has been a huge advocate about mental health through her influence, she tells us that “Different denominations view it differently.”  As a whole, she says that “It is important to talk about because it hinders our walk with God.” This goes for any ministry, no matter where or what the ministry is like. Estefany advocates for mental health to be talked about because though it may be something that we think is just happening, in reality, “…it dictates our spirit. Our negative thoughts pull us back from walking forward.” She shared a lot about what has given her hope in her situation. For Estefany, worship music helped her out of anxiety, with the song “Insatiable” by Kim Walker reminding her that, “He (Jesus) loves me so much that He took it upon Himself to take away these feelings.” One other thing that helped her was being out in God’s creation, which helped her to feel safe because she knew that it was all God. Lastly, one story in the Bible that helped her in her in her anxiety is the story of David, who soley relied on God.

“In the Bible, it said that David was a man after God’s own heart…How can we allow ourselves to be after God’s own heart if we are stalled in our thoughts that tell us not to run towards God? Our anxiety prevents us from going up the steps because it tells that we can’t make it up there to where God wants us."

“In the Bible, it said that David was a man after God’s own heart…How can we allow ourselves to be after God’s own heart if we are stalled in our thoughts that tell us not to run towards God? Our anxiety prevents us from going up the steps because it tells that we can’t make it up there to where God wants us."

Since knowing this story and since she’s been relying on God more for her strength, she has noticed a big change in her life because, “He’s the one who has control in everything and He’s the only one who can defeat the giants in our lives.” In addition, one Bible verse that has helped her is Matthew 6:25, which states, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” This verse means a lot to her because it reminds her that “With anxiety, hope is the key. Hope and faith are major. Without hope, you can’t find faith. Without faith, you can’t find peace and stillness in Him.” Estefany has been able to learn that when we have hope in God, we have faith that he’ll take away struggles and that it’s about how much we hold His hand throughout those struggles.

She is encouraged by and wants to encourage others with, “Whenever dealing with mental health, don’t let go of God’s hand and hide in a corner, hold His hand even tighter, so you don’t panic and become overwhelmed.” Additionally, she uses driving a car and using a GPS as a parallel to mental health and a Christians’ walk with Christ. Just as when a GPS disconnects and a person panics and loses focus of the road, so also a Christian becomes unaware of their walk with God when they are dealing with mental health. Estefany says, “It’s remembering that he’s the one driving and not us. Sometimes we allow ourselves to deal with mental health because we forget it’s God driving and not us.”

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