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I have never heard a sermon on mental illness.
I have never heard a sermon on mental illness.
Good Day.
To say I was the spawn of old-school parents would be an understatement. Both of my parents were born in the teens, (as in 1913 and 1916), married at the courthouse in Rio Vista, California, at noon and packing asparagus by 3 pm. The Depression was hard on them; especially my dad who came to California from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, in a wagon, shoeless. Since I was the 'baby' of four, I guess I came along in my folks' fullest years, but still-Mom and Dad were very careful with money. Paid cash for everything, including their homes; Mom made most of my clothes, and there was no money for things like vets, carwashes, dining out, and certainly not psychologists! But 'shrinks' were just for the weak and confused anyway.
My parents were not alone; they simply thought that mental health was absurd, and would never, ever have seen a counselor or taken any of us kids to a therapist. You know, it seems like the church has been slow to acknowledge mental health issues as well. And at this point in my life, I have heard it all -
'if you only had more faith, then you would not be in this low place'...
'if you would take care of unconfessed sin, then you could move on' ...
'your issues are probably hormonal'... what??!
'oh, and everyone gets depressed; you'll snap out of it!'
Which got me thinking -
were there examples of mental illness in the Bible?
From my Sunday School days, it seems like I remember one Old Testament guy sitting down- frustrated, bitter and depressed-hoping a gourd would swallow him up ... sure enough, Jonah!1
And two months ago today2, I stood where another hero of mine exhibited radical faith, on Mt. Carmel. Elijah did not just prophesy/speak forth what God spoke, he acted on what he believed. 'Enough with your prophets of Ba'al... put up or shut up.' With that, he set up a contest for the real God to show his power and might-a contest against false prophets that has been unequalled. The story is recorded in 1 Kings 18.20 - 46, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+18%3A20-46&version=NLT&interface=print, on that day, let's just say, God showed up, and God kinda' showed off!'
a glimpse atop Mt. Carmel today:
But then . . . just like that, Elijah forgot himself, and worse, he forgot what God had just done. It is hard to imagine what happened to the faith-filled man of God, revered Old Testament prophet. How did he fall so far, so quickly, from the powerful man that he was? Elijah was intimidated by a woman;3 the threats Jezebel uttered caused Elijah to forget the miraculous demonstration of God's power which by his faith he had summoned. He ran to hide - or in today's vernacular - he isolated himself completely. Elijah did not want to go on living; in our terms, Elijah had suicidal tendencies. From what I know today, Elijah would have been 5150'd; he wanted to die, and then he just went to sleep, both clear signs that are part and parcel of deep depression.
Elijah was undone by mental anguish ... yet how many 'people of the cloth' decry mental problems? Hmmm. Doesn't matter --
The truth is -
it does not matter what people say ...
It does not matter what your old-school parents say ...
Scripture records accounts of those who were mentally/emotionally
undone ...
records stories of those incapable of dealing with real-life
experiences, who wanted out ...
emotionally or mentally incapable of dealing with life.
That's because the Bible keeps it real, tells the straight-up facts
of folks' real conditions and behaviors.
Why? Why does scripture include so many flawed people and experiences? I mean, really the Bible could make situations, not to mention people, look so much better, so why not? Because the Bible is filled with real people ~ loved, inspired, radicalized, empowered by the God of the Universe and their authentic experiences with him, yet they were not perfect... not even Elijah.
And still--when I was standing atop Mt. Carmel, I thought of the great display of God's power on that mountain, as Elijah had called it forth, and it moved me. Because I thought back about my own little life and the times I have been blessed to see the hand of God move ... on my behalf and others', and remembered God's answers to humble prayers.
So picture this ... in the left hand is your very real trying circumstance that causes you to wonder, causes you to even fear what the future might hold ~
But in your right hand, you hold the very real memories of how God came through. Look back, reflect, remember . . . God is able,
what's more, God is faithful!
It doesn't matter who preaches a sermon on what, you know that you serve a God who loves you, and loves your dear ones even more than you.
Christine
PastorWoman.com
1 - Jonah 4.1-9
2 - November 10, 2016 - Israel
3 - Jezebel, 1 Kings 19.1-10 - intimidated by a woman - only the Bible would have recorded such a scandalous thing. The powerful man, Elijah, intimidated by a woman? Bah!
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