A recent survey by American Psychiatry says that nearly half of American households have had someone seek mental health treatment this year! This is just one such survey revealing the struggle and confusion of the human soul. Believing in God but not trusting Him practically is like the above picture.
Another study done in 2007 found that 3 out of 100 people struggle with depression. The same study showed that people being treated for depression tripled in the early 1990s. Overall about 8.7 million people were treated for depression in 2007 compared to 6.5 million in 1997. Today it is estimated that 11% of people world-wide suffer from some form of depression and among adolescents under 18 years of age its closer to 70%. Is it any wonder the suicide rate is up so high with teenagers?
What these studies don’t account for realistically is why, other than that the populations is getting older and life is more stressful. There is a lot of speculation, but not much in way of solid reasons. The truth, from my perspective, is that the culture has so lost it’s anchoring in believing in a supernatural Creator and the scripture, which defines who He is and His intentions for mankind. Today, even people who call themselves Christians, who are suppose to put their trust in the God of the Bible who loves them, are only mentally acknowledging rather than actually trusting Him.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying everyone who struggles with mental health issues has no trust or has abandoned the God of the Bible, but the current climate in our culture has dismantled people’s belief in the God of the Bible so much so, that solid trust often is hard to come by. This directly affect how and why we live the way we do. Even if you are a Christian, you will, in this time period of history, struggle more with issues of faith and trust because the world tells you that God is not important, if He even exists at all. From kindergarten through college, students are told to trust science to figure out life, and the results are disastrous. Families are more shattered. Parenting is less effective as a whole, in spite of so many books being written on the subject. Is there any wonder that people are turning to professional counseling for answers to their confusion and depression? People use to go to confession to unburden their souls. Now we go to counselors.
To be clear, life is more stressful, life is more complicated than ever before, but the complexity of life is just one part of the problem. It is part of the problem, but not the biggest issue. From my perspective, as a Christian, we have a problem with trust. Both who to trust and when to trust. It often begins with God and filters down to all of our relationships and interaction with people.
If we are to take the scripture’s explanation of how and why man was created, then we have so missed the boat on what our problem is. Man was created to have fellowship and relationship with our Creator, but since the beginning, we refuse to acknowledge God’s exisitance, let alone His right to be part of our lives, except under dire need. A 100 years ago and further back, when people put their hope and trust in God, they not only were happier, but they also found it a blessing to sacrifice for others. If you look at the average Christian in America today, as to what they claim on their taxes towards charitable giving, the truth about the problem of trust becomes very apparent.
My point here is, God wants to be our guide in life daily rather than just when we are in a major conflict in life. Unfortunately, we try to muster up trust when we are scared of something, but often fail to do so because in our normal daily routines we did not really trust God. We mostly just talked or sang about trusting him.
Jesus was talking to the disciples one day and talked to them about times when persecution would happen in a big way, and they would be hauled off to court and put on trail. Jesus tells them to trust the Holy Spirit who would be their Counselor and a Guide in life. Here is what Jesus says to them when they are in court:
Lk 12:12 “…. for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
If these guys were not trusting the Holy Spirit when things were going good, they surely weren’t going to trust Him for words to say in a trial. When you were a kid who did you run to when you got hurt? Mom!
You see, I think the average Christian says God loves them and they trust God, but wait till the trial happens. Normally their so-called trust seems to vanish and they feel left out in the cold without God responding to their cry. Trials in life have a way of exposing our strengths and weakness. I once was told, “People are like sponges – you don’t know what’s in them till you squeeze them”. Could it be that we really feel like orphans rather than children of God? Look what Jesus said about sending the Holy Spirit.
Jn 14:16-18
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
[18] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Could it be that we have so many emotional and psychological problems because we really feel like orphans? If we learned to trust the Holy Spirit to lead us daily, we could trust Him better when crisis comes and circumstances wouldn’t convince us that God really didn’t love us. We would know by experience that God does love us even when bad things happen.
Questions:
1) Is your trust in God strong enough to go through a trail and still know the love of your Heavenly Father?
If not, now would be a good time to start reading more about the nature and character of God and then praying until you get a breakthrough.
2) If you find yourself stressed out and possibly depressed, shouldn’t God be the first place you turn?
Find some strong believers that you trust and ask them to help you with the burden of your soul. Seek counseling as well, but always remember, God is the great physician who can heal the deepest pain.
May we seek the Holy Spirit’s voice so that Satan can’t convince of his lies about God.
Pastor Dale
Wise counsel, Dale. We need the Great Counselor in times of stress and at all the other times too.
A friend told me back in the early 80’s, “Life has gotten much less stressful physically for most Americans with all the modern conveniences of the 20th century, but it has gotten much more stressful emotionally/psychologically.” I agree. I think it is even more so in the 21st century. We need the Holy Spirit. I’m glad of His assurance that He will NEVER leave of forsake us.