More Than Coping… The Randomness of it All

This is an article I wrote a month or two ago.

Today at church, we went through chapter 12 of the book of Acts. Herod Agrippa is in power and he decides to kill some in the church. as he saw it pleased the Jews ….. Acts 12:2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

We then read how Herod Agrippa arrested and jailed Peter, intending to kill him after the Passover celebration. He realized it would not look good killing a disciple during this sacred time, so he decided to wait. He took extreme steps to make sure Peter would not escape. He commanded a total of 16 guards to watch over Peter, four at a time, with Peter chained to them. There could be no way he would escape. At least that is what Herod Agrippa thought.

We then read how the church began praying for Peter, whose circumstances seemed impossible in light of the steps Herod took to keep him in captivity. But God had plans for Peter and an Angel of the Lord set him free.

After being miraculously freed, Peter goes to his friends who were praying to let them know he was free. But those who were praying refused to believe Peter was alive. Finally, upon seeing him, they could not deny it. James had been killed and Peter was about to be. If God had not spared James, maybe those who were praying thought the same fate awaited Peter??? But it surely appears as if they weren’t praying with a whole lot of faith, yet God set Peter free.

Peter and James were both disciples of Jesus, two of the twelve. Yet as I looked at this chapter I saw James being killed and Peter being delivered miraculously and going on to do more work for the Lord. So why did James die so soon and Peter get to continue on? We know that Peter eventually was martyred for his faith, but in a sense, it seemed random and didn’t make sense. Why James?? What had he done to die the way he had? Why me? Haven’t we all asked that question when living with a mental illness?

We know that God is perfect so we ultimately can’t question what He does and doesn’t allow. We are to trust in His sovereignty. At least that’s how we should respond to situations in our lives. The truth is we are human and prone to mistakes and there have been and will be situations where we question God. Our questions and complaints don’t surprise Him as He knew of them before we were even born.

This past week has been difficult for my wifes extended family. She is one of thirteen children and they are quite close. The husband of one of her older sisters has been battling sickness since last November. He was in and out of the hospital, as he seemed to be dealing with respiratory issues. The doctors were trying to pinpoint the issue so they could address it.

The family was alerted that David was found to have a spot on his lower left lung that was cancerous. We were told they were happy they found it when they did so they could treat it. A day or so later we are then told his cancer was stage four and had gotten into his bones. The doctors were giving him two months to two years to live. They gave him chemotherapy to help with his pain but surgery was not an option.

He responded well to the chemotherapy and he is home for now. His wife and four children must be reeling from the suddenness of it all. I have heard that David is taking it as well as might be expected. If that was me or my wife, would I be questioning things? I admit I would be as I have this weakness of not only being human but having to know the “WHY” of everything. Please pray for David.
Now back to the book of Acts. If I was part of the group praying for Peter and then saw him miraculously released from prison after James was put to death, I’m sure I would have wondered about the “WHY” of the story. Peter was a man who made many mistakes and spoke in error more than once. And on top of that, He denied our Lord three times! Why should he get to live longer than James? I mean, James was a pretty steady guy compared to Peter. This doesn’t seem quite fair, especially when you view it through the eyes of this life only, and not eternity.

As I have shared before, that type of thinking was my undoing. When I developed Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia I was upset in more ways than one. I was upset simply by the fact of the suffering I was enduring. I was also upset because I didn’t think I deserved what was happening to me. The fruit of that thinking took me down the wrong road.

I saw myself like James. He didn’t deserve to die when and how he did and I certainly didn’t deserve to be afflicted as I was. My “wisdom” was folly and it led to years of futility as I thought it best if I fired God and took on the role of taking care of and protecting myself. I was trusting in my own wisdom instead of obeying Scripture.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Remember those who prayed for the release of Peter? They refused to believe God had answered their prayer. What were they expecting? Maybe that Peter wouldn’t suffer too much as he was being executed? Yet God answered their prayers.

Those of us who have been afflicted with any number of mental issues understand the idea of prayers that don’t seem to get beyond the ceiling. What results many times is that we give up and don’t pray because our situation seems hopeless. We buy into the lie we are failures as believers and that God is simply toying with or ignoring us. We begin to lose hope.

We forget others are praying faithfully for us. We forget how very much God loves us. This is when the enemy of our souls takes full advantage of us. His specialty is getting us when we are down. He would love to see us all slip into despair and hopelessness. These are dark places to be, but God hasn’t forgotten us. He hears. He sees. And He responds to our plight perfectly, even though circumstances scream that He isn’t.

When Moses encountered God in the burning bush God spoke to Moses about the misery the Jews were experiencing.

Exodus 3:7 Then the LORD said, “I have surely SEEN the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have HEARD their cry because of their taskmasters. I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS

By the grace of God, I can look back now and see what had happened in my life more clearly. I wasn’t the victim I made myself out to be. Sadly, for a long period I used my role of the innocent victim to pretty much define myself. And the fruit of that was I developed a heart of anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness. I was not the man I thought I was.

Praise God we can take heart. He is for us and not against us. We are loved more than we can ever imagine. And the Body of Christ would love to rally around us. I say this fully knowing and having personally experienced the line of thinking by some in the church who believe our problems are spiritual, with sin at the root. God has not abandoned us and our lives are not a random set of unfair circumstances.

Remember Job and what he experienced? After he had lost all of his children and having his wife telling him to curse God and die, his friends showed up and simply sat with him. What could you possibly say to a person who had been through the fire as Job had? Sometimes there are no words to be said. Just being there is enough Unfortunately, Job’s friends decided to open their mouths. That still happens today. I believe we can all relate!

 

 

 

 

 

Can we lump all Christians into the same basket when it comes to mental issues? Not at all. Each of us is unique and presents a different set of circumstances. God chooses in His perfect will, to respond to each of us differently.

I do know that we are all in one basket. That is the basket of believers who are sinners, saved by grace who had nothing to offer God but their lives. He loves us more than we will ever know. And to all of us we have this promise from Scripture, among so many others.

John 16:33 I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

As we close I would like to leave you with this portion of Scripture. There is a lot here for all of us. It is not a magic cure, but it is the Word of God. What more can we ask for as we seek to understand the seeming randomness of it all. God bless!

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword

Romans 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am a lay person who tries to share in a way that might bless anyone that might read these words.