More and more I hear of people struggling with various conditions such as schizophrenia, multiple personality disorders, bipolar, anxiety, extreme depression, epilepsy and suicide.
Gifted doctors and counsellors have given all they can and for this we are thankful. After long-term treatment and a variety of medications, people are expected just to live with it.
Families carry the pain of loved ones and find limitations in their lives as well. With hopelessness people look to escape with addictions or even suicide.
My heart is stirred when I encounter those with long-term mental health issues.
Some situations will be their lot in life but there are times when God still has much to offer.
We limit our solutions to medicine and science, denying the spiritual. Some will trust anyone or any idea, just not Jesus Christ.
Jesus, when on earth, brought healing and freedom in an instant as people placed their faith in Him.
I have seen situations where God brought relief not in months and years but in weeks or even hours.
Some of our conditions are the result of what we take into our lives from our world. How much violence, horror or evil do we watch and then wonder why some have increased fears?
God’s preventative counsel says to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, and excellent. Other times, people involve themselves in spiritually related events, which lead to deep spiritual problems. Playing with horoscopes, Ouija boards, fortune telling, tea leaves, palm reading, tarot cards, the occult, séances even hypnotism have brought on direct spiritual problems resulting in conditions labeled otherwise.
The Bible says if we sow into our lives certain things, we will reap destruction. There are real powers of darkness with an agenda to steal from our lives joy and peace, to leave us destroyed even though still alive, or to even take our very lives.
These powers don’t show up with horns, pitch fork and tail, but come as angels of light, crafty to deceive.
Jesus Christ says in the Bible that He has come to give us an abundant life if we will believe by an act of faith.
He has not come to give us fear but lives of power and love with sound minds. Too many live without peace each day. God says he can give us a peace that passes all understanding that guards both our hearts and our minds, in Christ Jesus.
For freedom, we can conquer life’s challenges by coming to Jesus who said, come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. I have been referring to deeper problems that require counsel from someone who believes and knows the Bible in these truths.
The average person in our world cannot access this hope. If you are struggling, Jesus has an answer.
Greg Dalman is senior pastor at Maple Ridge Alliance Church
