Daily Faith with Philip Cameron: Special Guest Author Kenza Haddock
About this episode
Counselor and author Kenza Haddock joins Philip Cameron to address one of the most overlooked struggles of the Christmas season — holiday loneliness and depression. Kenza, founder of Oceanic Counseling in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, opens up about her own remarkable journey from an Islamic household to faith in Jesus Christ, sharing how a vivid dream at age 23 — in which she saw Jesus descending from heaven in a white robe — led her to a peace "that made no sense" after a lifetime of anxiety. The cost was profound: leaving her mother, father, siblings, and everything she had ever known. Drawing from her book Three Enemies of Your Mental Health, Kenza identifies the devil, the flesh, and the world as the root forces behind anxiety, depression, and mood instability. She explains how self-accusation becomes "a huge recipe for depression," warning that believers can become "the devil's mouthpiece to ourselves." Her prescription: feast on Scripture, study God's names and character, and — like David in the Psalms — strengthen yourself in the Lord even when you cannot feel His presence. If you or someone you love is struggling this holiday season, this conversation is essential viewing. Explore Kenza's counseling ministry at oceaniccounseling.com, find her book at kenzahaddock.com/books or mycharismashop.com, and connect on Facebook at facebook.com/kenzahaddock.
Part of our Hope collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“You can only go down so far before you hit bottom, and bottom gives you something to push off from, and you get back up to what God's planned to do. So don't you quit.”
“I had a dream at the age of 23 — unbelievable — that it was the end times. And I saw heaven open in my dream, and I saw a man in a white robe descending from heaven. And that man was Jesus. And I felt this peace as I looked at Jesus. I felt a peace that made no sense to me, because for my entire life, anxiety was my norm.”
“During those lonely times and times of isolation that God sometimes wants to use to draw us close to him, during those times the enemy will try to whisper, 'See, God has left you.' But this is why it's so important that we feast — even if we don't feel like it — that we feast on scripture.”
What's Discussed
Christian counselor and author Kenza Haddock, founder of Oceanic Counseling in Myrtle Beach, SC, discusses holiday loneliness, depression, and mental health from a biblical perspective. She shares her personal testimony of converting from Islam to Christianity after a dream of Jesus at age 23 — a decision that cost her all family relationships. Drawing from her book Three Enemies of Your Mental Health, she identifies the devil, the flesh, and the world as drivers of anxiety, depression, and mood instability. She warns against self-accusation as a primary trigger for holiday depression and urges believers to feast on Scripture, meditate on God's names, and strengthen themselves in the Lord as David did.
- Holiday Loneliness and Grief at Christmas
- Where Was God in My Pain
- Kenza's Conversion from Islam to Christ
- The Enemy's Lies During Isolation
- Feasting on Scripture to Fight Lies
- Three Enemies of Your Mental Health
- Self-Accusation as a Root of Depression
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hey, welcome to Daily Faith. My name is Philip Cameron, and I'm so glad to see you with us today. We have got a very important guest to speak to you. I'm always aware we've got a great big family. I mean, all my kids all work in the same ministry team.
Philip:It's amazing. And my wife loves Christmas, as you can see behind me. There's a Christmas tree. We got Christmas trees everywhere. She seems to, and to my observation, she keeps decorating right up to Christmas Eve. And I keep thinking, all this work to put this up, and then you're gonna start taking it all back down again. She loves it and I'm leaving it alone. But I'm very aware, over the years, especially in our ministry work in Moldova and in Ukraine, Christmas time underlines loneliness.
Philip:If you've got a family and you're all together, it's a great time. But what it does is it brings a contrast to those that don't have a family, or this year's a different year than last year. Maybe you've suffered a divorce or something terrible has happened — you lost a loved one. And at this time of year, that's always the time when this kind of stuff is amplified.
Philip:And I've got a great guest with us today. Kenza Haddock is with me, and I believe that she's got an answer. If you are struggling with this, if you know someone that's struggling with this, why don't you get in contact with them right now and say, watch Daily Faith. It's really simple. Daily Faith TV. You can get us also on YouTube. You can go to youtube.com/dailyfaith, and you can get us on there and they can, wherever they are in the world, they can watch.
Philip:And I believe they're gonna have some hope given to them, because the great thing is he came — Jesus came into this world to mend the broken hearts. And if you are going through a tough time right now, I know tough times, but I know this: that tough times don't last forever. And the Prince of Peace wants to reign in your circumstance. Whatever it is, it's not too big for God. He can calm the storms, he can raise the dead. He's in control of everything.
Philip:And if you'll trust him today, give him your circumstance. This may be the worst time of your life. Well, let me tell you something — I've learned something. You can only go down so far before you hit bottom, and bottom gives you something to push off from, and you get back up to what God's planned to do. So don't you quit.
Philip:And I'm just so delighted. If you can share the broadcast, I'd really appreciate it. If you're hitting share, and if there's a bell on your screen which will remind you and alert you when Daily Faith is on the air, turn on notifications. And if you do, we can be part of a family. We got a family called Daily Faith. We started this about four years ago during the pandemic to help pastors. That's how it started. And it kind of spread its wings. And God is helping us to help a whole bunch of people. And I know that you are gonna be blessed by meeting my guest and a brand new video that literally just came in as I was sitting here from our kids in Moldova. You are gonna love it. I'm delighted you're with us. Welcome to Daily Faith.
Philip:Hello, my friends. Welcome to Daily Faith. My name is Philip Cameron, and I am delighted you are with us. It is snowing in the Smokies. I looked out today and there were great big snowflakes coming down. I don't think it's gonna lie because they're telling us that tomorrow is gonna be in the forties and fifties, so there isn't any accumulation. But my daughter Melody lives about two miles away from the ministry center that we have here. We bought a church, so the sanctuary is where we get all the stuff together to put in the containers to send to our mission work in Eastern Europe, in Moldova, in Ukraine.
Philip:And then this studio where I'm sitting is a new studio, which is in the footprint of the old stage of the old church. So we're really close together, but my daughter lives about a hundred feet higher, up this little hill in this mountain. Mountains — kind of grandiose, I think. But the difference between her and us, snow wise, is crazy. It's not lying here, but it's lying up where she lives. So whatever you are, if it's sunshine or rain or snow, we want to tell you something.
Philip:God loves you with a love that will never let you go, if only you knew how much he cares about you. In our family recently, we've had a wee baby born. Her name is Annabel. She's my son's daughter and my grandbaby. She is just the most delicious. We think, oh, I love her so much. And she lives her life, and she's crawling now and she's into everything. She doesn't understand, but there's eyes watching her all the time, whatever she is — a pair of eyes, someone's watching to make sure.
Philip:And she has no awareness of it. She's just busy in her whole life learning to crawl and learning to stand up. And she's now standing by herself. And you are the same. The eyes of God never leave you. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He says, I've got you in the hollow of my hand. In fact, your name is written on the palm of his hands. He will never, ever forget you. And you and I live sometimes in circumstances that are so desperate and so lonely. Loneliness is a poison to the soul.
Philip:And the devil amplifies it. And he's the accuser of the brethren. And he'll tell you, you'll never be happy again. You'll never know peace again. Whatever it is, let me tell you, he's a liar. Whatever he says, it's the opposite, because he tells lies. He's the father of lies. And I'm here to tell you today that God's hand is upon you, that he'll never leave you nor forsake you, that no weapon formed against you will ever prosper. He loves you with a love that is everlasting. You are not holding onto him. He's holding onto you.
Philip:So we've got a great guest today that I was so excited knowing she was coming. She's been with us once before, and she has a tremendous ministry, a counseling ministry in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And her name is Kenza Haddock. And I can't wait for her to tell you that there's an answer in this season. If you're going through a tough time right now and you're thinking, I should be happy because it's Christmas time, and instead of that I feel lonely — if you've got friends that are going through this circumstance, this is a great show for you today. I can't wait for you to meet my friend. And she's gonna bless you so much.
Philip:35 years ago, I adopted a wee boy lost in an orphanage in Romania. I walked into this place. My dad had literally forced me to go there. I didn't want to go. I had no interest in orphanages and that was not my thing. And he'd seen this thing on the BBC telling of these orphanages in Romania. And he called me, he says, I want you to go with me. I says, I'm not going to, don't even ask me. Well, he nagged me all week long. He was recovering himself from cancer surgery.
Philip:So one day he called me, he says, well, if you won't go with me, I'm gonna go by myself. And if I die on the way, it's your fault. And that was the premise of me getting dragged to this place. Literally, we got to this orphanage on a very cold January day — brutal cold. I'd never felt cold like it. And then we got there and I walked into this room, this orphanage with glass clanging doors with ill-fitted panes of glass that rattled in the doors. And I walked in and the smell of human waste made me gag.
Philip:And I was carrying a box of powdered milk, baby milk. And I dropped the formula on the ground in the box and I ran back outside to the vehicle. I'd driven all the way from Scotland. And my dad came back out and he says, get in there. I said, no, no, no, no, no, no. You wanna see orphans? There you go. I've taken you here. I'm gonna stay out here. You go and leave. Just leave me alone. He says, these folk live like this. You can be like this. I says, dad, if I stay out here, I'm innocent. If I go through those doors, I am guilty.
Philip:I had no idea that inside that orphanage, there was a wee boy waiting for me amongst 200 kids. And I walked into his salon, the room where he was at, and they're all rocking in their cribs because no one ever hugged them. And he looked at me and the Holy Spirit says, that's your son. And I picked him up and I said, I don't know who you are or where you came from and how you got here, but I will not rest until I come back for you.
Philip:And it took me a year. And by the time I got back there, I was back every few weeks to make sure he was okay. And I fixed the toilets and fixed the roof and fixed the beds and changed the whole place and became addicted to caring for orphans. Today we have a work in the country next door called Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. It was once part of Russia. It is in a terrible mess. And in the bottom of all this mess are the orphans. And we have homes there and an amazing place called Vatra Village, right on the largest lake.
Philip:This place was built for rich people and they poisoned that lake with chlorine to kill algae. And they killed all of the projects along the lake as well. And we bought this unfinished village of homes. And today they are packed with young folk. Every girl you see in this video, if caught by a trafficker, will earn the trafficker $300,000 a year. It is crazy. And we are seeing miracles take place every day.
Philip:And just before I sat down here, in fact as I was walking here, my son Andrew — the Andrew from the orphanage — he says, dad, the girls have just sent us a brand new video of them putting up the Christmas trees in all the homes in Vatra Village. And I just had to show it to you. Watch this.
Hi, my name is Ista, and this is my first Christmas here at Vatra Village. My name is Tuam. This is my first Christmas at Vatra Village. Hi, my name is Alexandra. Because of you, I got a chance to celebrate Christmas with such a big family. Hello, my name is Roma. Merry Christmas.
Philip:Thank you. The miracle of Christmas. These kids have never — many have never had a Christmas before. They come to us having never had a birthday before. And they're made part of a family. And God's just performing incredible miracles. They come to us as orphans and we turn them into sons and daughters, and then they become missionaries.
Philip:And our kids are out all year long. In the summertime, in the springtime, they dig each of the homes of Vatra, adopt a village — a poor, impoverished village. And they care for families. They find the widows, the broken families. They dig the widow's gardens and plant vegetables for them to have food all year long. In the wintertime we have a tremendous outreach. It's going on right now, actually. It will go through all the way through next March. And we bring wood — we buy these great big bags of wood.
Philip:It's hard to explain to you, but huge bags of wood — they cost us $65. Every bag you see costs us $65. And what it does is it provides wood for a family for a whole month. For one month, we can put the fear of death away from them, because they do live in the fear of freezing in the villages. There's no electricity, there's no running water, there's no sidewalks, there's no street lamps, there's no blacktop.
Philip:And they live at the brink of extinction all through the wintertime. And our amazing kids go there with these bags of wood and empty them out and stack them for them. And the great thing is, if you're a widow, you can't chop wood — it's too hard. And they come ready to go into the fireplaces. And we are asking folk right now — maybe you are one of those folk that can make a tremendous difference in someone's life right now, a poverty-stricken family. And for a gift of $65, every $65 we get, we will buy one bag of wood and our kids will deliver it with clothes and food and transform a despair-filled family into someone that says, well, we can live another month. We can survive.
Philip:You can help us by giving a gift. Make the check out to The Orphan's Hands, really simple. PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. Your gift — you are being God's hand extended. And I know that if you are in the situation that they're in, you would wish to heaven that someone would take pity on you in their circumstance. You can also go to dailyfaith.tv. There's a landing page there you can give, or you can go and call 833-Daily-Faith and give by your charge card. Someone will talk to you. And together we can change these lives from despair to hope.
Philip:It's an amazing thing — all the joy of giving to those in need that can give nothing back to you. There's no hook in this thing. You're not getting something if you do this, you get this. The only thing you get is the pleasure of God, that he saw you and spoke to your heart and you responded. That is what the gospel is all about.
Philip:And talking about the gospel, I've got a dear friend. She is just an amazing woman. And she has a ministry called Oceanic Counseling in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And she was on before, and I had no idea that a friend was being presented to us. And she has become a friend. Her name is Kenza Haddock. And Kenza, I'm delighted to have you with us on Daily Faith. Thank you for being back with us.
Kenza Haddock:Thank you so much for having me. I loved the video. I was like, oh yes, absolutely. And just, you know, it made me think about just how much we take for granted here, even in the States. And I mean, you can just see their smiles and their laughter, and they're certainly not taking that for granted — that experience of joy that Jesus wants us to experience.
Philip:Oh, no. True. We send five or six containers a year over there. But right now on the way to Moldova is our Christmas container with all their Christmas presents. My wife Chrissy starts from the January sales — she's out almost every day buying Christmas presents for orphans. That's what she does. And she has a whole room above me in this place — I call it Chrissy's Christmas cabin. And she makes up these hundreds and hundreds of partially made Christmas boxes. You've never seen anything like this. And those kids know that on the way in a container ship is their Christmas.
Philip:And my wife Chrissy and my daughter Melody fly over there after our Christmas. Christmas in Moldova is on January the seventh. So they fly over the first couple of days of January, so they have Christmas with all the kids. And these kids have never had a Christmas gift, never had a Christmas in their lives before. And it is the most moving thing to watch a girl open up a box — Chrissy knows their colors, she knows the dress sizes, she knows the style of clothes they like, and she shops for them as a personal shopper for orphans that have been disrespected and abused all their life.
Philip:And they go from that to this just by coming to Vatra Village. It is the most amazing thing. And we are just addicted to it. We just love it. I know right now there are people watching this and they see the Christmas tree behind me, and they've just watched this video and they're living in the most blessed country in the world, but yet they're lonely and they don't know how to handle this loneliness that Christmas brings. It's amazing to most folk — all joy. But to a lot of folk, Christmas is a sad time of year.
Kenza Haddock:Yes. Yes it is. And you know what's interesting — just this past week I was driving and I had my daughter in the back seat. It was her birthday. And I was driving, no lie, on the interstate, and I saw somebody on a wall wanting to jump, and the police were surrounding that person. And that boy could not be any more than 16 years old.
Holiday Loneliness and Grief at Christmas
Kenza Haddock:And if I didn't have my daughter in the backseat, I would've stopped and tried to avert the situation somehow. But of course the police were already there. And the only thing I could think of was, this time of year — to your point earlier — it may be very joyous for some people who are surrounded by family and friends, and it's very joyful for them. For others, they may be going through so much grief. I mean, for all we know, somebody could be going through their first Christmas without a parent, or Christmas without their child, or Christmas without any loved one. And because of that, they just feel a sense of loss and grief. And sometimes that may lead people — the most common question I get is, where was God in all of this?
Kenza Haddock:And just being honest with you, that's the question that my patients would ask me. If God transcends time, if God loves me, where was he in all of this?
Philip:And what's the answer?
Kenza Haddock:And the answer is, listen, he was with you. God transcends time. He was with you. Even if you didn't feel him when you lost your loved one, the loss and the grief didn't catch him off guard. We live in a fallen world. And I understand that that may not bring a sense of comfort. The one thing that I want everyone to remember is, listen, this is not our home. It's not our home. Our home is in heaven.
Where Was God in My Pain
Kenza Haddock:And sometimes I even share part of my story about, you know, my first Christmas after I gave my life to Jesus — I didn't have family to spend Christmas with.
Philip:Tell the folk your background, because they'll find this fascinating.
Kenza's Conversion from Islam to Christ
Kenza Haddock:Yeah. I grew up in an Islamic household, and so I struggled with so much depression and anxiety because of my misunderstanding of the character of God. I believed that God just hated me. I believed in a different God — Allah — but I thought he was the one true God. And I believed he hated me because of all the negative things that were happening in my life. And so I had a dream at the age of 23 — unbelievable — that it was the end times. And I saw heaven open in my dream, and I saw a man in a white robe descending from heaven. And that man was Jesus.
Kenza Haddock:And I felt — to your point earlier, Philip, you mentioned the Prince of Peace — I mean, I felt this peace as I looked at Jesus. I felt a peace that made no sense to me, because for my entire life, anxiety was my norm. And so as I was looking at him, just this sense of peace and comfort overtook me. And then I woke up. But see, I still had to make a decision to give my life to Jesus, which for me as a Muslim at the time meant that I needed to leave.
Kenza Haddock:I mean, the cost was leaving my mother, my father, brother, sisters, cousins — everything I had ever known — and starting my life from scratch. And so while, yes, it was a choice and they didn't die per se, I still went through Christmas and Easter and all of those holidays without my family. And it doesn't help when you look online and look on Facebook or social media and see everyone posting all these happy pictures.
Kenza Haddock:And I had to remind myself that, listen, this is not home. This is not my home. My home is heaven. And so we are not promised to live a problem-free life here on earth. We are promised God's presence with us and we are promised that he loves us. But sometimes God may allow us to go through these things to wean us off of this world, because we have to keep looking toward heaven as home.
Philip:Jesus was in the ship in the storm. They didn't avoid the storm, but Jesus was with them in the storm. He's the lily of the valley. The 23rd Psalm — I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because your rod and your staff are with me. So we're never promised in our world a worry-free, carefree, happy, good, lucky life, because the Bible says man is born to trouble as sparks fly upwards. That's just the nature of life. But the great thing we have is we are promised that he is with us always. I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Philip:And your story is miraculous — that you, I mean, how does a young woman come to the understanding of Jesus through a dream and then has to make this ridiculous decision to say, I'd rather have Jesus than my family? And that just — I can't even imagine that, Kenza, to live through that experience and to find him faithful through those initial dark days.
Kenza Haddock:Oh, he is so faithful. And you know, we do have, as you know, we have an enemy who, during those lonely times and times of isolation that God sometimes wants to use to draw us close to him, during those times the enemy will try to whisper, see, God has left you.
Philip:The accusing of the brethren. That's what he does.
Kenza Haddock:Yes. See, he has left you. See, he is not good. See, you are not worthy to him. He's not coming through on his promises. But this is why it's so important that we feast — even if we don't feel like it — that we feast on scripture. And just get to know God's character. Even if we have to look up God's names and what they mean and how to appropriate that into our lives, so that when the enemy comes and whispers lies, we can remind ourselves and strengthen ourselves.
The Enemy's Lies During Isolation
Kenza Haddock:I mean, that's what it says in the Bible. David strengthened himself in the Lord. We can strengthen ourselves in the Lord and remind ourselves, no, he has not left me. God is not a man that he should lie. He has not left me. He's here with me.
Philip:Fabulous. You wrote a book, which I think is amazing, because I come from the Pentecostal tradition that you go to the altar and everything's fixed at the altar. But the fact of the matter is everything doesn't always get fixed at the altar. And you have these battles of the mind. And the devil's playground — as you're talking about this — the devil's playground is the mind. And if you don't take care of the mind — Jesus said, let this mind be in you. And you have a book entitled Three Enemies of Your Mental Health. Explain to us, because I know that especially right at this time of year, folk need help in this regard. Tell us about the book, because I know folk wanting to get a hold of this book.
Kenza Haddock:Yes. It's about the three enemies, and that is the devil, the flesh, and the world. And what I did with this book is I tied each one of these enemies to one of the top three mental health diagnoses plaguing our nation today. And that's anxiety, depression, and mood fluctuations — when we feel like our moods are just up and down, up and down.
Feasting on Scripture to Fight Lies
Kenza Haddock:And what I've found — and I'll hone in on this in just the last few minutes — is listen, one of the biggest contributors to depression during the holidays is when you are holding over yourself mistakes from the past.
Philip:Oh my goodness. And you're not willing to receive the grace and mercy that the Lord has given. That's me. I'm my biggest accuser.
Three Enemies of Your Mental Health
Kenza Haddock:Yes. Oh my. And that is a huge recipe for depression. And I'll just run through it really quick. Listen, the enemy will exploit that so much. He will hold mistakes against us. He will come and whisper, he'll accuse us of those mistakes. Those mistakes turn into inner turmoil. So we become literally the devil's mouthpiece to ourselves. And we'll start accusing ourselves, we'll start berating ourselves. And when we fall into that, then we appropriate it and we fall into inner turmoil and depression. So be careful of that.
Philip:There's life and death in the power of the tongue. And what happens is, with me, I don't need anyone to tell me how bad I am. I do this all by myself. I tell myself, you haven't done this and you should have done this. And you should be thinner, you should be fitter, you should be all kinds of things. And you go through all these ruminations in your mind and the devil's there saying, yep, that's true, that's you, that's what you're doing. And he amplifies these things to a point that you can't see past them. Am I a good patient so far?
Kenza Haddock:I mean, you're preaching to the choir. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Philip:Well, that's what I want folk watching today to hear. Listen to me. You need someone to mentor you and come alongside you and help get the cart out of the ditch and get you back on the road to mental wellness. And you have a counseling ministry — it's called Oceanic Counseling in Myrtle Beach. It's PO Box 16091. But the website is oceaniccounseling.com. Get in contact with Kenza. She can help you in your life, she can help your kids. She can be a part of the healing and restoration of your family.
Self-Accusation as a Root of Depression
Philip:She's got a book that I think is just amazing — Three Enemies of Your Mental Health. And you can get it by going to kenzahaddock.com/books or on mycharismashop.com. I want you to get this book. If you buy this book today and get it to the person that you are loving and caring through the storm, it may be the answer to unlock the depression and the self-loathing, because that's what the devil gets you most. You can get that book today by going there. Kenza, social media — facebook.com/kenzahaddock. Thank you for being with us today. You're always a delight. Looking forward to seeing you again.
Kenza Haddock:Thank you. God bless. Bye-bye.
For over 25 years, the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They champion the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons. And in the process, orphans become daughters and sons.
They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus. God help the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness. Now no longer orphans, they want to return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. The Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking. Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in The Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and Ukraine. If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-Daily-Faith. You can also give by going online to www.dailyfaith.tv or by writing to Post Office Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
What is Kenza Haddock's background and how did she become a Christian?
Kenza grew up in an Islamic household and struggled with depression and anxiety, believing God hated her. At age 23, she had a dream about the end times in which she saw Jesus descending from heaven in a white robe — and for the first time in her life felt a profound peace. She then made the decision to give her life to Jesus, which meant leaving her mother, father, siblings, and everything she had ever known, and starting her life from scratch.
Why does Kenza say Christmas can be so hard for people mentally?
Kenza says that while Christmas is joyful for people surrounded by family, for others it can be a season of intense grief — for example, someone experiencing their first Christmas without a parent, a child, or another loved one. She even witnessed a teenager on a bridge overpass wanting to jump during the holiday week, which she says illustrates just how desperate that pain can become.
Where was God when I lost someone I love? How does Kenza answer that question?
Kenza says this is the most common question she hears from her patients. Her answer is that God transcends time and was present with them even in their loss — the grief didn't catch him off guard. She acknowledges that may not bring immediate comfort, but reminds people that this world is not our home, and that God sometimes allows painful seasons to wean us off this world and keep our eyes fixed on heaven.
What is Kenza's book 'Three Enemies of Your Mental Health' about?
The book focuses on three enemies — the devil, the flesh, and the world — and ties each one to a top mental health diagnosis: anxiety, depression, and mood fluctuations. Kenza highlights, for example, that one of the biggest drivers of holiday depression is holding past mistakes over yourself, which gives the enemy an opening to accuse and berate you until you spiral into inner turmoil.
What does Kenza recommend when the enemy whispers that God has abandoned you?
Kenza says it's critical to 'feast on scripture' even when you don't feel like it — studying God's names, his character, and his promises so that when the enemy whispers lies, you have something solid to push back with. She points to David as a biblical example, saying that just as David 'strengthened himself in the Lord,' believers can remind themselves: 'God is not a man that he should lie — he has not left me.'
Topics
kenza haddockmental healthholiday depressionself-accusationchristian counselingthree enemies of your mental healthanxiety