What follows is NOT an ordinary, run-of-the-mill blessing. Some would undoubtedly wish for one, and others anticipating what follows, will skip this blog. It happens all the time. But, at distinct times, the Holy Spirit surgically slices through our foggy-ness and illuminates us to ourselves.
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers,
half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice,
oppression, and exploitations of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those
who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
–From a Franciscan Benediction
Blessed with discomfort, anger, tears and foolishness. Too often, we often think our discipleship as a massive undertaking for a personal renovation. And when that does happen, thank God! But we must drive this home, spiritual make-oversare not the point of holy living!
We are directed to engage the world and to hammer away at the lies, in order to free people, under the direct supervision of the Holy Spirit. When we serve, give, love, we will be surprised to find that our own lives will change, almost as an after-thought. Just maybe, that is what God intends? Maybe.
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15 ESV
Jesus declares and reveals something substantial here. He is the “good shepherd.” If we split this statement apart, we get “good.” We also get “shepherd.” And we simply must insist on both. Somehow, deep down, these two ‘particulars’ take on the most definite positions in our lives. We are desperate for anything good; and we know our need for a shepherd. We struggle so hard, and this understanding will carry us a very long way.
This verse tells us– He knows us!
He is fully aware of you in this present moment. This is amazing, to be aware that He engages us on the level were we are now at. Think about, its like He has our ‘x-ray’ in front of Him. He knows and understands us completely and fully.
The remainder of this verse goes on to suggest that we (yes, we) know Him. Now I have a multitude of issues, but when I sift them out, there is a deep awareness of His presence. I completely understand (as much as I’m able) of who He is, and I can’t shake Him. Once touched we’ll never be satisfied with anything else (and Lord knows we will try.)
While visiting this planet, Jesus maintained His connection with the Father. He would take this sense of intimacy with His Father down ‘into the stretch.’ And that pattern of love would take place in our hearts and minds. And now we have finally found our place– with him, with the Father.
The very last part, v. 15, places itself right in the middle of our understanding. He will definitely die for us. He wants to, and is eager to lay down His life to make us His own. It all seems foolish, I know. But He very much wants to bring us into His deep presence.
The idea that we are sheep is factored in. He dies for us. The Shepherd will now face crucifixion in order to claim His sheep. He will go to a painful and ugly death to give us life that is eternal.
Today I especially wanted to share a message the David Wilkerson shared on his blog a few years ago. It is probably one of the better messages I’ve read in quite awhile on the issue of pain and affliction in a believer’s life. I hope this helps!
“Curse the scalpel if you must; but kiss the Surgeon’s hand.”
“Before I was afflicted I went astray: BUT NOW have I kept thy word”
Psalm 119:67
“I believe in healing. I believe in affliction. I believe in “healing afflictions.” Any affliction that keeps me from going astray—that drives me deeper into his Word—is healing. God’s most gracious healing force spiritually and physically can be afflictions.
To suggest that pain and affliction are of the devil is to suggest that David was driven by the devil to seek God’s Word. I have suffered great pain. I have called on God for deliverance and I believe him for complete healing. Yet, while I go on believing, I continue to thank God for the present condition and let it serve to remind me how dependent on him I really am. With David I can say, “It is good for me” (Psalm 119:71).
Pain and affliction are not to be despised as coming from the devil. Such burdens have produced great men of faith and insight.
“Casting ALL your care upon him…”
1 Peter 1:5
Paul spoke of the “cares” of the churches that were thrust upon him (see 2 Corinthians 11:28). Every newborn church was another “care” on his shoulders. Growth, expansion, lengthening of stakes always involve new cares. The man God uses must have broad shoulders. He dare not shrink under the challenge of numerous cares and responsibilities.
Every new step of faith God leads me to take has brought with it numerous new cares and problems. God knows just how many cares he can trust us with. It is not that he seeks to break us—in health or strength; it is only that willing laborers are few and the harvest is so great. Cares are taken from those who refuse them and given as gifts to those who are not afraid of them. Forget the load of cares you carry—can we not cast them all on him?
Every new blessing is related to a family of cares. They cannot be divorced. You cannot learn to live with the blessing until you learn to live with the cares.”
By Mark Earley, Christian Post Guest Columnist, Wed, Aug. 08, 2007
The least of these is my brother
In the 16th century, London’s mentally ill were often kept at Bethlem Royal Hospital. The conditions inside the hospital were notoriously poor. Patients were often chained to the floor and the noise was so great that Bethlem was more likely to drive a man crazy than to cure him. The conditions were so infamous that the nickname locals gave the hospital—Bedlam—has come to mean any scene of great confusion.
Unfortunately five hundred years later, we’re still treating the mentally ill more like prisoners than patients. Fifty years ago, more than 550 thousand people were institutionalized in public mental hospitals. Today, only between 60 and 70 thousand are, despite a two-thirds increase in the country’s population.
Since there’s no evidence that the incidence of mental illness has dropped precipitously, the mentally ill who previously had been institutionalized had to have gone somewhere. While some are being treated successfully in their communities, at homes and groups homes, but for many that “somewhere” is behind bars. This last part shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Five years ago, the Washington Post told the story of “Leon,” a one-time honor student, who had 17 years in and out of jail on various drug-related charges. It was only after several suicide attempts, including drinking a “bleach-and-Ajax cocktail,” that Leon was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Leon’s story was a microcosm of a larger problem: “Prisons and jails are increasingly substituting as mental hospitals.”
As one advocate for the mentally ill told the Post, “a lot of people with mental illness are charged with minor crimes as a way to get them off the streets.” In effect, they are behind bars for “being sick.” Fast forward five years and little, if anything, has changed. A few weeks ago, another piece in the Post discussed the same problem.
Psychiatrist Marcia Kraft Goin told readers something that should shock and outrage them: “The Los Angeles County Jail houses the largest psychiatric population in the country.” As with the earlier Post piece, the conclusion was inescapable: “People with [untreated] mental illnesses often end up with symptoms and behaviors that result in jail time.” You don’t have to be a “bleeding heart” to understand that this is an injustice—any kind of heart will do.
Not only are the mentally ill not getting the help they need, they are as lambs to the slaughter in our crowded and violent prisons. They are being victimized twice over. They’re not the only ones being victimized.
At a time when most state prisons are unlawfully overcrowded, there are better uses for prison beds than as makeshift mental hospitals. As Goin wrote, “treating” mental illness as a criminal justice problem costs “more than treating patients appropriately in their community.”
As part of its ministry to prisoners and their families, Prison Fellowship supports community-based alternatives to incarceration. Not only because it makes “financial sense” but because it’s what Christ would have done. In Matthew 25 he called the ill and the prisoner his “brothers” and he expects us to offer them something more than bedlam.
“There but for the Grace of God go I…”–Bryan
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From BreakPoint®, August 6, 2007, Copyright 2007, Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with the permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. All rights reserved. “BreakPoint®” and “Prison Fellowship Ministries®” are registered trademarks of Prison Fellowship.
