Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Physically and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ
“I’m must show myself; things are not going well, to be honest. I’m becoming more and more fragmented. And I can’t seem to hold it together. Essentially, I mentally can’t keep it centered on the things I know are right and appropriate. My mind is in a muddle, and my heart is not far behind.
I can’t go on like this. I have to confess that I’m spinning out of control. There are too many issues that hammer me, without any resolution or finality. I need a “booster shot” of grace. (Perhaps, maybe an I.V. would be better.)
All I want is to escape, and to shake off these ‘parasites’ that sap me of any strength I might generate. Far too many things are draining me of any vitality and hope. Despair and despondency have suddenly shown up at my door, but I treat them as unwelcomed visitors, and hope they will leave me alone. All they want to do is take me apart, and dismantle me, and I seldom advance beyond this. I haven’t invited them.
This simple blog has kept me going. The posts that I write are sincere, and I know for a fact they touch many hearts. I’m astonishingly grateful for this. But they can’t minimize my own issues. I am constantly on the edge, a step one way or another could push into a desperate fall. (Funny, I’m starting to scare myself.)
I have a deep confidence in Jesus. I believe that he loves me in the most intense way possible. I trust in his deliberate and careful love. Resting in his arms is the very best thing I could do. He is the only one who can lead me through my mental illness. Or to give me the grace to move above it.
I do not want to offend or alienate anyone. That simply is not what I am about. But I simply can not try to take Brokenbelievers much further in this ‘frame of mind.’ I will try to post as often as I can– but both my therapist and psychiatrist want me to go into a hospital. I have already been there several times and I do not want to be admitted any time soon.
The next several days should be interesting. I’m definitely committed to avoiding hospitalization. The “professionals” I trust are trying to commit me, but I do intend to make a scrap of it. “I will not go lightly.”
Please try to be patient with me. I want to post, it runs through my veins. But I simply don’ t have the resources that extend into transparency and clarity. Please forgive me. There’s is no way I can make this work without avoiding a “shutdown.” We will see.
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(Lord, have mercy on us.)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
~2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
The Wind
Your love is a violent wind
Sweeping away my pain and sin
Your grace is a babbling brook
Soothing the chaos within my soul
You warm me when all I feel is cold
When my heart is frozen in dread and fear
Your consuming Spirit draws me near
“Hush My child, for you are Mine”
And like a tiny caterpillar
Released from its cocoon
I fly aloft on Your gentle breeze
I am free as a butterfly
“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, 20 so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those who long for vile images and detestable idols, I will repay them fully for their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Ezekiel 11:19-21, NLT
This is one of those complex portions of God’s scripture where several ideas overlap. In our English translation, we read compound sentences and knotty syntax. But the thoughts are God’s, and therefore significant. Without these truths though, I believe that we can quickly slip into a ‘comatose’ condition.
First we must consider who is involved.
God is very decisive by this point. The prophetic ministry was supposed to work, many prophets and teachers have been sent out. But with very limited success. If we pick one out, it would have to be Hosea; his ministry was dramatic– but ultimately fruitless. The only real successful prophet was Jonah– preaching to Ninevah, ironically a pagan people. But God’s own people are living in flagrant sin. They remain untouched. They’ve chosen to remain in their sinful condition.
A solid and clear promise has been given. An interior work has been promised by God, if they can only show a minute sense of life. The nation is on “life support.” The prophets attend to the needs before them. They are very far from the virile and robust nation– they are in the ICU and are showing only scanty signs of life.
This promise is that a special work will be done inside. They will become both tender and responsive again. A new receptivity and awareness will come into being. The ability to obey will ignite within. We call this “revival.” Revivalists throughout history have carried this to every generation.
As I scan over my Christian life of more than 30 years, I simply see my own “cycles” of sin and revival. I wish I could have been more consistent. But I cling to the faithfulness of God. He stays true even when I’m not. He has promised me. I’ll take Him at His word.
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6, NLT
God will do what He can, His efforts are heroic. He fully intends to change us— if we’re only willing.
“A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”
Charles Finney
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Broken Believers 