In a recent interview, Christian artist Lecrae shares how he overcame his crippling depression.

Lecrae is a two-time Grammy Award-winning artist, writer, producer, actor, entertainer, and activist. But he says his most important roles are being a dad and a husband.

Growing up, Lecrae shared how he faced a lot of hardships and trauma. “I grew up in an urban environment. My dad was gone by the time I was two years old. I grew up around drugs, gangs. I’ve dealt with physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, abandonment,” he said. “I remember being 10 years old and sleeping with a butcher’s knife under my bed, because I was afraid of what could happen at any moment. It was chaotic. I didn’t recognize that the trauma and the abuse were all shaping me. That led me down a really dark path.”

Lecrae goes on to talk about how all of this led to him being clinically depressed. “It all came to a head around the end of 2018 where I woke up one morning after a night of binge drinking, and I woke up in a clinical depression,” he shared. “The irony of it all is, here I am, featured in major motion pictures, #1 album on Billboard charts, two-time Grammy Award winner, New York Time’s best-selling author, and I am emotionally and mentally at the lowest place in my life.”

But God didn’t leave him there in that dark place. “The first step for me to change was acknowledgement. I had to acknowledge that I had some serious problems,” he explained. “I think acknowledgement is painful, but denial is deadly. Your perspective can all change if you allow yourself the time and energy to go through the process. I always say if you can hope you can heal.”

Lecrae’s money, fame, and success couldn’t mask the darkness that he was feeling, but with God, he was able to acknowledge his problems and work toward healing. Praise the Lord!