Trust is the word that resounds in my heart. While God is capable of divinely healing mental or physical illness, He does not always intervene in that way. Were on a mission to change that. He is everything.I am weak. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need., 3 Signs God Is Saying, I Want You Single for. Really tired. It is through trusting in Him that I can navigate through the choppy waters of life. Variation: Being depressed means you are failing to trust God. There is no shame in needing medication for depression if you are a Christian. Richard Baxter, a 17th century Puritan, wrote a magnificent book entitled The Saints Everlasting Rest, Or a Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints, in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory. 29 2006 Not long ago I received a most poignant letter from a man named "Mr. Weaver," who poured out his heart on a subject that touches all of us at one time or another: the mystery of innocent suffering. Does Porn Use Disqualify You from Christian Dating? Has someone hurt you and you know you need to forgive them? Suffering carries a message of mystery. Every day, we are inundated with news of wars, knife crime, bullying, traffic accidents, deadly diseases and the list goes on and on. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. This Holy Mass is celebrated via online and presided by the Rev. The same wisdom holds true for your mental health. So right now, on earth, prayer is absolutely essential. 1. (Avoid emotionally draining movies and music that will feed your negative thoughts.). It is gossip to talk about others mental health behind their backs. AGW Ministries is meant to be an online blessing to you. God May Be Allowing You to Suffer Emotionally So You Will Be Better Equipped to Help Others in Their Times of Need. God can give you the strength to seek the help you need. utterly depressed and unable to do anything, being alone with your thoughts is probably the most dangerous thing you can do, With the love and support from God and the people around you, you can get through this time. You are in pain; you may wonder where God is. Reality: Depression and other mental illnesses do not disqualify people from leadership or church roles. He lists temporary things such as pleasure, knowledge and wisdom, possessions, success, hard work and so on. Bringing hope and resources to military families worldwide. July 4, 2023 - 238 likes, 6 comments - Evelina Smane (@evelinasmane) on Instagram: "BECAUSE HE OPENED MY EYES *written by @drheidibaker "But where sin increased . We all have a story. It's all free! [From the January/February 2014 issue of Discern .] It is according to the will of God when we suffer; God wills it even when Satan may be the immediate cause of it. But until we see him face to face, this everlasting rest is built upon the foundation of earthly suffering and affliction (Acts 14:22). I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. His last words lay upon me as an inheritance. You can wish you no longer existed but look fine to the people around you. Thats Jeremiahs command and his belief and his message to us. Whatever is tending to tempt you to be angry at people and God, that is (under God's sovereignty) an opportunity of testing to prove and refine your faith, just as much as if you've been hit in the face by a person who hated you because you were a Christian. If I admit my thoughts to someone, theyll think Im crazy. Some people will never fully understand the truth about depression. I never imagined that the Lord would bring so many tears. God can handle your doubts, frustrations, failures and darkest moments because He is astoundingly gracious. Depressive thoughts tend to spiral, and because depression overwhelms your emotions, its easy to believe the lies that your life is hopeless and no one cares about you. It isnt meaningless. Variation: If you feel depressed, its because you have unconfessed sin. How can we celebrate the good we see without succumbing to flattery? In His Heart, I see how in loss, I have gained.How in sadness, He has shown me where true joy is found.How in anxiety, I learned to trust Him more.How in despair, I found hope only in Him.How in pain, He healed my heart. Even if you cannot serve in your normal roles at church or minister in any way, God still loves you. And since Gods presence is what will produce the most pleasure in us (Psalm 16:11), the pain we experience is actually meant to produce more pleasure since the pain is meant to lead us deeper into Christ. Is there a deeper meaning? Here are five Baxter-inspired reasons that God graciously afflicts his saints. As Baxter says, He keeps his most precious cordials for the time of our greatest faintings and dangers. Though it cannot be proven, I have seen it among the saints and experienced it myself: the deeper your affliction, the more desperate your craving and the more satisfying your fellowship with God (Psalm 119:67). For as we share abundantly inChrists sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. He is not angered by your honest words. If youre in the thick of the dark and lonely place that is depression, I wish I could wrap my arms around you and cry with you, because I know how badly you hurt. Feel free to email me with any questions or comments at markballenger@applygodsword.com. The suffering you are experiencing internally is meant to tell you something. I began noticing that I felt exactly like it looked outside gray and miserable. How we seek to journey together with everyone towards a relationship with Jesus. Its a question Pastor John set out to answer from 1 Peter 4:1219, a very important text we all need to understand and return to in times of personal suffering. Experiencing depression can give people compassion or perspective in a way that actually makes them excellent leaders. He allows trials and suffering to occur in our lives for one purpose onlybecause it's . Suffering came in with sin and the fall. Though there is often an environmental and emotional component to depression, the underlying issue is usually biological. Yet God is truly sovereign, wise, and good. Because Ive placed my faith in Jesus and Hes paid for all my sin and brokenness on the cross, He will never walk away from me. I (Elizabeth) remember, during one of my lowest times, having an overwhelming feeling that nothing would ever be good again. So one reason God allows emotional suffering in our lives is because he knows that sometimes there is nothing that will increase our passion to pursue him more than this pain. And my friends don't want to have anything to do with me. I agree to the privacy policy and terms found on our blog here. Am I going crazy? He wept for us. When youve walked with God through something as difficult as depression, it gives you a greater ability to walk with others through difficult times. The hardship often kindles his desire to return to his home. But for the people of God, the apple of his eye (Deuteronomy 32:10; Zechariah 2:8), it refines; it purifies. As he shared his story, I could sense that he was deeply distressed. I wish I had done those things. No one has all the answers. Once your heart is filled and thrilled with God's love, the "who" of salvation will begin to overshadow the "why" of suffering. Affliction is the dark backdrop from which the saints most clearly see and savor the gleaming glory of God which satisfies the heart and warms the soul. Sometimes medications help correct or lessen these issues and so treat depression. When you put your hand on a hot surface, the pain you feel causes you to move your hand which prevents further injury. This is one reason two people may be going through the same or similar situations and one may develop depression while the other does not. Its just as unreasonable to say suffering from depression or any other mental illness is a sin.
Why does God allow sickness? | GotQuestions.org Because chronic stress and trauma can cause physical and chemical changes in the body and brain, they can trigger or worsen depression. Equipping families with practical approaches to parenting and marriage. At that moment, God gave me the assurance that He would still love me and have a purpose for my life. But these are some helpful things to remember if you are a Christian walking through depression or if you know someone who is. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. And Solzhenitsyn wrote. And he does it in and through circumstances. Why? The following is an edited transcript of the audio. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from Gods love. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. Psalms 107:10-22. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go.. Depression helped me understand the value of ministry and of helping people start a relationship with God in a new way. As Job asks, shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10). I mean, maybe he should have said, Count it a little joy, or maybe, Someway, down the line, joy will come from it. But why this massive Count it all joy? As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. Theres only one way that I know of that can be not stupid or not foolish.
If I'm Suffering, Is God Punishing Me? | Theology of Work We don't know the answer." And we may never know until God explains all things to us. He longs for it, dreams of it, and anticipates the moment of arrival. When youre depressed, you are probably not going to have those emotional experiences. Every time a personal tragedy, plague or natural disaster occurs, many have the real and understandable questions: why did God allow this? The sooner you acknowledge the true source of the emotional suffering you are going through and then address that issue with the Lord, the sooner the emotional suffering will go away. Some Christian counselors have the option of a sliding scale for payment based on income. He wants my trust. when I fall, I shall rise. (Jeremiah 20:7, NLT), I have had enough, LORD, he said. My friends mother is a strong Christian who cares deeply for her son, but she bought into the myth that depression is not real.
Five Truths About Christian Suffering | Desiring God If we did not feel pain, we would often just allow our hearts to remain broken and wounded. Show me how to suffer with Your love the way You loved on the cross. For the believer, no tear is wastefully shed, no cry is worthlessly expressed, and no pain is futilely suffered. So that's what AGW is all about! It enables us to comfort others and know how to pray for them. Jorge was born in Portuguese East Africa, now Mozambique, and also lived and served the Church in South Africa. We hope the content we have created on this page will help you find hope and the help you need. The apostle Peter writes. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. Chronic illness, difficult marriages, losing a childdoesn't God want me to be happy? She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lords feet listening to what He said. God will also allow emotional pain when we sin and turn from him so we remember this pain and dont do this again in the future. Trust the giver of your afflictions to woo you closer to himself in the midst of your sufferings (1 Peter 4:19). Whether it be illness, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, family turmoil and strained relationships, tragedies and natural disasters, or generalized anxiety brought on by a society that seems to be trying to consume the world and everything and everyone in it through fear. Mental illness is not something you should be made to feel ashamed of or fear sharing with your church community. Mark 10:45 I hear His gentle voice speak to my soul, "Will you unite your suffering with Mine?" "Yes, my Jesus," I reply. Affliction will come. And we are to count it under the ashes, under the shadow, under the frown joy.
Billy Graham: Why Does God Allow Suffering? I needed God in a way I never had before. We know that from the book of Job; we know it from 2 Corinthians 12:710, where the thorn in the flesh was what? The problem is that being alone with your thoughts is probably the most dangerous thing you can do when youre really depressed. God doesn't enjoy letting us hurt. If there were two. But pain insists upon being attended to. Ill read that text now, 1 Peter 4:1219, and then we will hear from Pastor John. 3. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Helping students know Jesus, grow in their faith and go to the world to tell others. God has a way of delighting the soul when all else is stripped away and the mountaintop sunshine turns into the shadow of the valley of death. He is mighty.I am loved by Him. As odd as it sounds, we have the opportunity to become more like Jesus by suffering. Have someone who attends the same church come by and pick you up on their way to church. Some people may need to step back from certain roles during times of deep depression, but others who struggle with depression are perfectly capable of serving and even leading in ministry activities. The hyperlinks below will take you to sections of this page you might want to find right away. But in my not doing them, God taught me the most valuable lesson of my life: His love for me is solely dependent on His character, grace and goodness. How can we celebrate the good we see without succumbing to flattery? Thats jolting. I remember meeting so many people at their funerals who were stunned and confused.
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