Episode Overview

Podcast: WHOA That's Good Podcast
Host: Sadie Robertson Huff
Guest: Craig Groeschel (Founding and Senior Pastor of Life.Church; author of "You Heal Your Hurting Mind")
Episode Title: I Was Smiling ... But I Was Not Okay
Release Date: March 11, 2026

This episode delves into the often-taboo conversation of mental health, anxiety, depression, and burnout in the church—why these issues remain stigmatized and how both Sadie Robertson Huff and Craig Groeschel have personally navigated them. The episode draws on insights from Groeschel’s new book and shares authentic experiences of leading and struggling, with the goal of encouraging openness, seeking help, and healing in community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Breaking the Stigma: Mental Health in the Church

• Generational Change:
  Craig describes how, growing up, mental health “wasn’t even a phrase” and was highly stigmatized, especially in faith circles. Many were taught that faith alone should fix all struggles, leading to shame for those still battling mental health problems.

  "The church should be the safest place to talk about mental health issues and our struggles and our vulnerabilities and our weaknesses." – Craig (03:58)

• Progress Is Happening:
  Both agree there is improvement, but there’s a need for more honest, vulnerable conversations in faith communities.

2. Sadie’s Real-Time Vulnerability: Anxiety in Leadership

• Recent Experience at Passion Conference:
  Sadie shares about having severe anxiety just two nights before addressing 50,000 students, emphasizing the ongoing, not just past, nature of her struggles (04:43).

  "It’s okay if you struggle like that and you have anxiety, like, it's okay. It doesn’t disqualify you from showing up, and you’re showing up, and spirit of the Lord is going to get you through it." – Sadie (06:52).

• Impact of Leader’s Vulnerability:
  She describes how Louie Giglio’s transparency about his own struggles with anxiety gave her comfort and permission to show up authentically.

3. Craig’s Journey: Functioning While Not Okay

• Burnout After Years of Ministry:
  After 25+ years of ministry, the "grind started to wear" on Craig. Admitting "I'm not doing well" was extremely hard and understated, masking the severity of his battles (08:38).
• Seeking Help:
  Eventually, he sought counseling, realizing that asking for help is wisdom, not weakness.

  "Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of wisdom." – Craig (13:17)

4. The Importance of Community

• Healing Together:
  Both emphasize the biblical and practical importance of community in healing.

  "We always heal best in community. God designed us to need each other." – Craig (14:45)

  • Confessing to God brings forgiveness; confessing to others brings healing (15:09).
• Letting Others In:
  Sadie recounts how even making a phone call for prayer support was difficult, but transformative—a process mirrored in Craig’s story.

5. Practical Tools & Resetting the Mind

• Cognitive Reframing Using Scripture:
  Craig details taking his self-defeating thoughts captive, writing them down, and replacing them with biblical truth (21:07–24:26).
  • Example: Repeating 2 Timothy 1:7 to retrain the brain, not just quoting but truly believing scripture.
  • Quote:

    "Whenever you think a thought, it's easier to think that thought again. You're literally creating neural pathways in your brain...The Bible would call it renewing your mind." – Craig (23:05)

• Naming Emotions:
  Saying feelings aloud gives you and God “power over it.”
• Processing Fears:
  Walk through the worst-case scenario, always coming back to the unchanging goodness of God.

6. Identity Beyond Diagnosis

• You Are Not Your Anxiety:
  Both stress that anxiety, depression, or any diagnosis does not define you.

  “You're not your diagnosis. That is not who you are. That's temporary.” – Craig (32:45)

• Journey Over Moment:
  Healing is described as a journey—a process of surrender and learning, not an instant event.

7. Integration of Spiritual and Practical Wisdom

• Role of Doctors and Practical Techniques:
  • Examples: Using physical cues (like warm water for anxiety, deep breathing) to manage anxiety attacks.
  • Knowing when physical needs (sleep, nutrition, outdoor activity, hobbies) are as crucial as spiritual practices.
• Marriage and Rhythms of Rest:
  • Walking together outside as a key piece of marriage and mental health advice.

  • “One of the best things for your mental health is walking; but better is walking outside, but better is walking outside with somebody.” – Craig (41:07)

  • Rest is Preparation:
    Take rest before the work, not just as recovery after.

8. Burnout & Sustainable Leadership

• Knowing When to Pause:
  • Most leaders wait too long to take a break. Better to rest preventatively.
  • Not all rest is created equal: know what truly replenishes you—could be predictability or novelty, nature or activity.
  • “We're just going to help you run hard, healthy.” – Craig (49:48)

9. Honesty as Strength

• Key Takeaway:

  "You're only as strong as you are honest." – Craig (54:10)

  • Healing requires courage to be vulnerable, honest, and to seek support—spiritually and practically.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Vulnerability in Leadership:

  “It surprises me because I think we're always surprised when a leader admits that they have anxiety, but it shouldn't, because we're all human.” — Sadie (07:16)

• On Healing in Community:

  “You rarely ever heal alone. We generally heal in community.” — Craig (13:41)

• On Taking Thoughts Captive:

  “What I started to do is every single time I'd have a thought contrary to the truth of God, I would capture that thought … and replace it with what the truth of the word of God says.” — Craig (22:10)

• On Identity & Diagnoses:

  “You are not your diagnosis. That is not who you are. ... We are not absolute beings. ... Healing is a journey. It's rarely a moment.” — Craig (32:45–34:13)

• On the Value of Rest & Recovery:

  “What I learned to do is not … take a break after the work, but actually to take a rest before the work.” — Craig (46:32)

Important Timestamps

• 03:28–04:43: Why the church struggles to talk about mental health
• 04:43–07:59: Sadie’s real-time experience of anxiety at Passion Conference
• 07:59–11:35: Craig shares his long-term struggle with burnout and starting therapy
• 13:17: “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of wisdom.”
• 14:45: Community as a non-negotiable part of healing
• 21:07–24:26: Practical approach to taking thoughts captive and renewing the mind
• 28:06–32:09: How to address valid fears and build resilience through God’s faithfulness
• 32:43–34:36: Not letting mental health struggles become your identity
• 39:10–41:07: The integration of biblical and practical (medical/physical) tools for anxiety
• 41:39–43:00: The “walk together” marriage and mental health advice
• 44:53–51:46: Recognizing, recovering from, and preventing burnout as a high-achiever
• 54:10: “You're only as strong as you are honest.”

Episode Highlights

• The Power of Honest, Ongoing Vulnerability — Neither Craig nor Sadie share from a place of “having arrived.” Both detail their current and past struggles, modeling ongoing growth.
• Blending Faith and Practicality — The episode underscores that spiritual maturation is not at odds with medical help, self-care, or practical strategies.
• Actionable Advice — Replace negative thoughts with scripture, invite your circle into your struggles, create rhythms of replenishing rest, don’t wait for burnout to force you to stop.
• Final Encouragement — Whether you’re leading thousands or caring for your family, struggling is not a sign of inadequacy—it’s a call to wholeness and community.

For listeners wrestling with anxiety, burnout, or wondering if healing is possible, this episode is a compassionate, hope-filled conversation that invites you to be honest—with God, with others, and with yourself. You don't have to walk alone, and you are not your struggle. Healing is a journey, and community is essential to the process.