MUCH experience of mental illness is a wandering and wavering
mind tumbling over heartbreaking hurdles, listlessly, without purpose and with
resignation, into an awaiting abyss. It bequests
living suicide. A life not worth
living. And only one thing is missing.
Where joy is stripped from our being, through patches of life
that seem easily to overwhelm, we travail in our heart and our mind goes vulnerably
along for the ride.
The absence of joy should trigger our awareness of fear, for
where joy is A.W.O.L., peace and hope fall dreadfully absent too. The alarm bells ring.
All this is arrested when we rise with a mind of faith — a
smart, courageous mind.
The mind set on faith settles the heart suffering in fear. A mind, steadfast and faithful.
***
God knows why we fear.
It’s because our world is broken, our inner experience is flimsy, and
the spiritual dimensions of life variegate.
Layers of our existence require
faith in God.
Faith emanates out of the mind, unified by our decisive will, because
of a heart set on the purposes of God.
Indeed, a mind set on the promises of God settles a heart committed to
God’s purposes. Such a mind backs its
own heart.
Faith begins in the mind.
But fear is produced in the heart as the heart experiences felt realities
it cannot control. The mind reminds our
being that God has promised to be with us, to never leave nor forsake us, and
to give us hope for a future we believe for, and that He is entirely and
abundantly good.
The mind buoys the heart, and yet the mind must first be tested
by what the heart alone can feel.
Decide for God’s goodness in your mind, for God proves faithful
by decisions of faith.
© 2016 Steve Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment