When life falls apart, then what?
I was talking at length this evening to a person who is trying to find a nursing home for her elderly mother. Although we have never met, she and her husband are regular customers where my wife works and are wonderful and very caring people. She is a doctor and is a professional counselor.
At the end of our conversation we started talking about someone my wife knows very well who has seen her life spiral out of control, crash and burn the past six months. This person is on the verge of losing her homes, cars and what is left of her money. She has made many horrible decisions because of being too proud to seek out professional help.
At last report this person (who was small to begin with) is down to 80 pounds and is basically starving to death due to anxiety and depression. Although numerous people have tried to reach out to her and help her, she rejects all overtures of aid and still believes she can figure it all out on her own. Meanwhile she is daily inching closer to losing everything of importance in this life.
Anyway, I was talking to the counselor about this person (whom she has heard of and is trying to get her help) and whether there is a risk of suicide. We both came up with the same conclusion that in spite of her behavior, she is probably not at risk for if she was, she would have tried to end things months ago. What that translates into is that deep within this person's heart there is a glimmer of hope still alive. All any of the people involved can do is pray they reach her before that glimmer is gone.
By nature, when things start falling apart in our lives we tend to either run or become very belligerent. We either head for the hills to find a cave where we pray the problems will never find us or we make reckless decisions to do crazy things somehow believing that will make the problems disappear. Whether running away in fear or reacting in pride and arrogant denial; the end result will always be bad.
When things start coming apart at the seams and your whole world starts to crumble, that is the time to take a quick sabbatical. Many times all that is needed is to temporarily get away from the pressurized situation long enough to with a clear mind map out a plan of action with God's help. People in crisis many times claim they need time to think, but most of them never do it. They either worry or get mad or find a way to escape via drugs or booze.
I think we all know by experience that there are some problems that arise in life that are best tackled head on and with decisive action. Upon hearing that you have cancer, the usual course of action many times is aggressive therapy via radiation, surgery and chemo. To not be aggressive in dealing with problem would be to sign one's death certificate.
There are other problems that come up in this life which demand finesse to handle them correctly. We can't always be like a bull in a china closet when it comes to handling a situation. Sometimes we just need to take a slow but sure approach and try not to do anything rash. A teenager who is being torn apart by hormones and peer pressure needs to be treated entirely different than an adult who insists on drowning his problems in alcohol.
The worse way to deal with a problem is to pretend it is not there or blow it off as unimportant. These classic denial tendencies will only make the problem worse. The beginning point of deliverance is honesty. It does no good to anyone to deny the truth. That is what 1 John chapter one teaches us.
Whatever may be buffeting you, please take the first step toward deliverance and spend some quality time alone with God beseeching Him for direction and guidance. God and God alone knows the way through the wilderness and God and God alone knows what the proper course of action is. With God all things are possible. Without God all things are as the wind.
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Author: blessings2you
Location: Warrenton Missouri USA
Gender: Male
Age: 57
Blog Entries: 828 (archive)
Blog Comments: 1357
god called me to serve him when i was 16 years old while on a church work trip in new mexico in 1969. in the 40 years since; i attended bible school/leadership training, been ordained to the christian ministry and worked full time for a non-denominational ministry for nearly ten...
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in 1969 god stepped in and transformed my life as a sixteen year old teenager. after a couple of years of intense emotional ups and downs, i decided i needed a firm foundation in my life that went beyond emotional experiences. it was the decision to become involved with a...
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