Good Morning Friends,
The Bible has several examples of mental illness and treatments too. We have a king eating grass and being humbled in the process so that he might be used by God after a time in the book of Daniel. The therapy being time. We have the stories of king Saul and his depression, and the treatment of music therapy provided by David. We have Paul encouraging us to think with new minds which is essentially cognitive retraining. The thing is that Mental Illness is a serious problem in the world and like leprosy in today’s text there is a stigma associated with it that makes things even worse. So, in today’s text we have a physician, Luke, writing about the Great Physician. Here leprosy is a symbol for sin but is also a real disease. So, know that the symptom of not feeling as in the case of leprosy can be life-threatening both physically and spiritually. Here stress born out of the fear and anxiety of the disease like sin is a killer. So, I am taking the lectionary passages for this Sunday to address this important subject today and suggest you take some time over the next week to digest the subject in anticipation of your own improved spiritual and mental health even as the recovery from hurricane Ian continues. The text combined with our Southwest Florida storm reality prompts this question on the subject if Mental Health: So, How Does Believing in God’s Faithfulness Make Us Well?
Scripture: So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.
2 Kings 5:14-17 (NRSV)
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:8-13 (NRSV)
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
Message: Once again I have asked a question, and I have no hope of answering completely but perhaps I will have faith that God can make up the difference, if I share what I do know with love and the message somehow in a spiritual way touches you. That will at least give me a sense of personal significance that this effort in the writing is not a waste.
What I do know is that having a vital religious faith can contribute to preventing and in conquering mental illness. The act of putting these devotionals together is an act of helping my own mental health. The thing is that the expression of our faith in a religious community has a role to play in our personal growth to wellness. Certainly, religion does not cure all mental illnesses, but its importance should not be overlooked. And one of the issues is our desensitization to touch. Friends, not having the sensation of touch is a very serious physical problem for people with leprosy, but it is also a serious spiritual problem as well for those with addictions as well those overwhelmed with anxiety and feeling but feeling the wrong things. People get out of touch and sometimes end up choosing to not feel by self-medicating. This is perhaps one of the most challenging of sins, but not having faith to believe in a cure is perhaps worse. Yes, leprosy was once thought the worst of all human diseases that separates sufferers from society. But honestly it is not the only one today. And the problem in part is because all those ailments that alienate can make one numb. And that goes for our sins as well. And mental illness can certainly be like that too. The beauty is that faith helps us to go the extra mile in addressing the problem. Faith helps us to do great works as a moral response to the life we have been given. Faith saves us from a life of mediocrity. Faith is essentially the incarnate knowledge and affirmation that our experience of God will be revealed when we trust in and wait for the Holy Spirit to help us to obey Jesus’ transformative way. It is faith that guides us to act in a moral way that glorifies the Father of our Lord’s hope that we might have life in abundance in relationship with him through the gift of believing. This heals us. The foundation is God’s faithfulness.
And So, believing that Jesus takes away our sin is at the foundation of a life that can be lived with mental health as well as spiritual health. Therefor the answer to today’s question goes beyond the power of positive thinking, though it may well be related. The answer hinges on the reality that we all need to be forgiven to be healthy and we need to believe in the power of this forgiveness. For believing in forgiveness is a healing that is beyond reasoning but at the same time the sanest act we can exhibit as humans. For here we share in the process of salvation through love that heals in the power of the Holy Spirit because it at the same time glorifies God. So, know that Jesus gave to his disciples in the Gospel of Luke the power and authority to cure diseases and to heal the sick. And sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not. Regardless we can be grafted into the corporate experience of worship which results in peace of mind, freedom of action and true strength that is the foundation of our healing relationship with God. This is how a vital Christian faith provides us a sense of personal significance, personal security, and a sense of spiritual power. This is how believing in God’s faithfulness heals us individually and corporately.
Pray we expect a miracle. Pray we embrace with thanksgiving the powerful presence of prayer in it healing properties. Pray we realize that God is faithful to the Gospel in practical and spiritual ways. Pray for the faith of Jesus to grow in us both comforting and convicting us that we can be healed. Pray we affirm God with a healthy apprehension that we are not in control, but trust that God has our best interests at heart. Pray therefor we too have compassion for those in need.
Pray we clearly hear God’s directions through the teachings of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pray we have the faith of Jesus in us to heal us. Pray we learn to obey the law of love. Pray we discern God’s will with the purpose of glorifying God as the focus of our actions. Pray we have a faith that imparts to us that indeed we have been wonderfully made by God. Pray those with mental illness in our society conquer their problems believing in the words of Jesus that their faith has made them well. Pray we believe in the therapy of touch. Pray we believe in the therapy of faith. Pray we believe in the therapy of love.
Blessings,
Daily Devotionals 