Tag: afflictions

Limits of Mental Illness

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Mental illness is so limited,

It cannot cripple love, 

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode our faith.

It will never destroy peace.

It cannot.

It will never kill friendship, 

It cannot suppress memories. 

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot steal eternal life.

It cannot conquer eternal life.

It cannot conquer your spirit.

Amen.

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P.S. I have received some criticism over the contents of this post. The argument is that mental illness is very destructive, and that I’m misleading others by suggesting it isn’t. My thinking at this time is that if we dwell on the past and how it affects the present moment. I believe some of us have a mental illness. But I also believe more strongly so that Christ redeems us completely. “Because he lives,” goes the old hymn, “I can face tomorrow.”

In the “heat of the moment” our situation can seem overwhelming. Our illness can be completely devastating. And yet the Holy Spirit is yet to fully redeem us, we still must view this coming event as something triumphant and total.

This life is not the end. What a relief it will be to completely shake off all our darkness!

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4

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Not Knowing Why

Joni Eeareckson Tada

I think one of the hardest parts of suffering is not knowing why.  

Especially when you’ve prayed for relief, you’ve waited, and nothing seems to change. 

And sometimes it goes on for years. 

It’s easy to speak about God’s purposes in suffering when you’re not the one going through it. It’s another thing entirely when you’re exhausted, hurting, and struggling to make it through another day. 

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17.  “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (ESV) 

Paul wasn’t at all minimizing suffering. This was a man who had been beaten, persecuted, and brought to the point of despairing of life itself.  But he understood something we can so easily lose sight of. 

Our suffering isn’t simply something we endure until we get to heaven.  God is always accomplishing something through it, even when we cannot see what that is. 

I thank God for the real life testimonies of the saints who have gone before us, and those who are faithfully enduring suffering even now. 

There is something so encouraging about seeing how God has sustained His people through unimaginable sorrow and used their suffering for good, not only in their own lives, but to strengthen the faith of others. That is such a beautiful confirmation of this truth. 

Circumstances do not always change. Pain is not always removed. But God remains faithful. 

Will you trust Him even when He doesn’t give the relief you’ve been praying for? We don’t have to pretend suffering doesn’t hurt. We don’t have to understand everything God is doing. 

But we do have to believe what He has told us. 

Not one moment of suffering in the life of a believer is meaningless. The same God who did not waste the suffering of His own Son will not waste the suffering of those who belong to Him. 

And one day, the afflictions that seem so heavy now will be outweighed by an eternal glory beyond anything we can comprehend. 

Until then, we walk by faith, not by sight.

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The Pruning Knife

“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

John 15:2, NLT

In order to become fruitful we must accept the knife. 

It takes a sharp eye and a sharper knife to do the Father’s work of cutting.  He slices to the quick, and all that is not useful falls to the ground.  The vine will produce grapes, and every bit of “grape-energy” will be used productively. Fruitlessness will be cursed, and sterility is condemned.  It takes a decisive heart, as well as a wise hand to prune God’s very own vineyard.

Fruitless believers may become fruitful ones.

Understand, the vine dresser does not attack the vine.  He is not malicious or vengeful.  All that He does is for the good of the vine.  He is motivated to produce fruit.  That is what He thinks about; you could say that He is preoccupied with that singular end.

Pruning and fruit are concepts that we vacillate over, some days we understand and other days we blow it off.  After over 30 years, I’ve probably heard every “John 15 sermon” there is.  And most of the time I turn down my spiritual hearing aid. That is tragic, and shows my heart has become hardened.

I need to come on board with this particular imagery. 

For years I have asked God to “show me His ways”.  I’d like to believe that this understanding of pruning has changed me.  I would like to think that I have attained a clearer view of wisdom.  This pruning business is all well and good.  But being sanctified by the knife is decidedly unattractive and uncomfortable.

You must be pruned; pieces of your life are earmarked to be lopped off.  (I always wonder if the trees that are spray painted are curious over the why and the when they are to be cut?)  In regards to being fruitful we must accept the knife.  If we want to be holy and conform to the image of Christ we will be cut.

There is simply no other way.

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God’s Fire is Waiting for You

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“Some Christians are called to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering. Such Christians are a spectacle of grace to the church, like flaming bushes unconsumed, and cause us to ask, like Moses: ‘Why is this bush not burned up?’

The strength and stability of these believers can be explained only by the miracle of God’s sustaining grace. The God who sustains Christians in unceasing pain is the same God — with the same grace — who sustains me in my smaller sufferings. We marvel at God’s persevering grace and grow in our confidence in Him as He governs our lives.”

— John Newton, 1725-1807, Author of “Amazing Grace”

God has said that He protects and sustains every born again believer. His personal honor is at stake. Knowing this, we can overcome religious fear and anxiety which can be crippling. We must constantly look in the Word and combine the promises with saving faith. 

Each believer must have an experience with God. Very often this will mean we will be barefoot and standing before our own burning bush. It’s in this holy place we see His love and grace, toward us and toward other people. What He reveals will change the trajectory of our life.

Do you really want to be changed? Your own “bush” is waiting for you. God is waiting as well. 

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.”

Exodus 3:2, NASB

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