REFOCUS
Begin with two minutes of silence. Breathe deeply while you focus on the words of Psalm 56:3 –
“When I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
READ
1 Thessalonians 5:23
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
REFLECT
Cry To the Lord
It’s not unusual to hear from one of our patients that they are struggling with believing. Even though in the past they experienced God’s presence, guidance and comfort, now He seems far away. Often, they suffer under a mixture of self-condemnation and anger.
When that happens, it is important to remember that our minds, our bodies and our spirits are linked together. Each impacts the other. Just as sickness can impact our ability to think clearly, our emotional and physical states can impact our ability to believe.
In the gospels, we see many times when the disciples emotional state held them back from belief. Here are just a few examples:
In the Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus address people who were worried about their basic needs being met. Their anxiety blocked them from whole-hearted belief. (Matthew 5 & 6)
When a storm arose, the disciples were afraid even though the Creator of the wind and the sea was with them, asleep in the boat. Their fear blocked their faith. (Mark 4:35-41)
Likewise, when Jesus called Peter to step out onto the water, he was able to walk on it. But once again, he became afraid and lost his focus on Jesus. (Mark 6:45-56)
Another time, the disciples’ memory seems to have been replaced by their physical needs. Even though Jesus had just finished feeding thousands, when THEY were in need, the disciples failed to remember Christ’s past provision. (Matt. 16:5-12).
Finally, even though Jesus had given His disciples authority to cast out demons, they felt inadequate and lacked divine power when faced with a particularly difficult situation (Matt. 17:14-20).
The truth is that while our emotional and physical selves are in distress, it is often very difficult for the deeper things of the spirit to be experienced. A troubled mind or body will block our receptivity to the things of God.
While our first response to not being able to experience the presence of God is often self-condemnation or anger at Him, those reactions are not usually very helpful in moving us forward. Instead, they further stir up the emotional and physical distress that blocks our relationship with Him.
In such times, the kind of belief that is called for is honesty. We should continue to “cry out to the Lord” while we remind ourselves of His promise of grace. We need to extend grace to ourselves as we focus and work on doing those things that will calm the body and mind.
As we become less distressed in our emotions, we often find that our spiritual eyes are opened as well.
It turns out that God’s work in us may well be healing of the body and mind so that we are free to connect with Him more deeply.
RESPOND
Questions to Consider
- What can I do today to calm my body, my mind, and my spirit?
Prayer
Psalm 130 can easily be personalized as a prayer (MSG)
1-2 Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
Listen to my cries for mercy.
3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit
and that’s why you’re worshipped.
5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—
and wait for what he’ll say and do.
My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,
waiting and watching till morning,
waiting and watching till morning.
7-8 O Israel, wait and watch for God—
with God’s arrival comes love,
with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,
buy back Israel from captivity to sin.
Blessings,
Rev. James R. Needham, PhD, MDiv