Christ in the Abyss: Cultivating Deep Faith Amid Depression and Despair

In her empowering debut, Christian educator Neely promises readers struggling with their mental health that God is “with us through the shadows, no matter how long the night, no matter how deep the abyss.” The author’s struggle with bipolar disorder in high school led to a stay in a psychiatric ward, an endless battery of medications, and pervasive anxieties that her mental suffering stemmed from weak faith. Through the years, she grappled with both her disorder and spiritual disconnection, but gradually found peace in clinging to hope and opening up to others and to Jesus about her challenges. “There’s no part of our human experience that can scandalize God,” she notes, citing how he helped biblical figures deal with emotional struggles, as when he sent “an angel... with water and warm, freshly baked bread” to the prophet Elijah when he begged for death. She intertwines her story with a potent call for reforming a “triumphalist” church culture that frames mental suffering as a marker “of sin and shame,” leaving little room for frank but necessary conversations about mental wellness and faith doubts. Believers wrestling with emotional challenges of their own will feel seen and heard. (June)