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-- © GodSpeak International 2007 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org> --
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: John Bullard <theace52@msn.com>
Editor: Teresa Seputis

A Layman's Approach to Divine Healing

John Bullard

Lesson 4
Overcoming Emotional Problems

Sometimes we may think that the Bible only talks about our physical illnesses and not our emotional ones. But in reality the Bible has much to say about our emotional state of mind and how to prevent or recover from emotional problems.

The Bible teaches that what we think about and what we focus our minds on can influence our emotions. This doesn't discount the fact that some people have medical problems which causes their minds to overreact to situations. However, the ways we think about things can affect and influence our emotions. This is an important point because God teaches us that we have control over our thoughts.

This means that many of the emotional problems for which people seek help can be dealt with by changing their thought patterns. For example, take depression. King Solomon told us it comes from anxiety (Proverbs 12:25). Jesus encourages us not to be anxious - Matthew 6:25-34 Anxiety is a useless way of thinking.

We need to imbed into our spirits that God will take care of us and that worrying will not change the outcome. Paul tells us how to overcome anxiety - Philippians 4:4-8. (Recall that Paul wrote these words while in prison. If one had a cause for concern, it would be Paul, but he encourages Christians to let go of anxiety.)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

We are told to rejoice in the Lord, always, which means all the time. It means in good times and bad times; in sad times and glad times; when we feel like it and when we don't feel like it; when everything is going right and when everything is going wrong. And if saying it once wasn't enough, he says, "Again I say rejoice."

Paul reminds us to be gentle to all men. We tend to think that back in Paul's time it was easy to be gentle but it was just as difficult to be gentle then as it does now. When someone is rude to you, we are commanded to be gentle in return. Why? We are to be gentle because the Lord is at hand.

Then he continues with be anxious for nothing. That is easy to say, but tough to live. We are told not to be anxious when everything looks its worst. I am going to share a difficult story from my life to illustrate how hard it can be to "not be anxious" when a loved one is sick. Note that this story contains details of a partial healing--not all of God's healings are complete/total healings. But even a partial healing can be a huge miracle.

Years ago, when my daughter was 22 months old, she contracted spinal meningitis. I came home from work one day and she was crying but couldn't tell us what was wrong. But we noticed that her neck was very stiff. So we rushed her to the hospital and they gave us the news. We had no idea what spinal meningitis was and we thought that the doctors would give her some medicine or a shot and we'd go home. She was admitted and she stayed three long weeks in the hospital.

Her temperature ran high and the fluid around her brain swelled and as we held our baby every day and prayed for her, we thought we'd lose her. We were anxious for any good news; we were anxious for her to get well; we were anxious to see her healed but it didn't happen. Yes, she survived and did come home with us after her stay, but she couldn't walk, couldn't sit, and couldn't hear. After months of learning how to walk and sit, she was able to get around but she never regained her hearing. The doctors hoped that her hearing loss would be temporary but after five years, we had to accept it and teach her sign language.

Sign Language is a beautiful, expressive way to communicate. Hands become the vehicles to say words, and the emotions are expressed by the face and the way the hands move between words. When we had to discipline her, she learned that she could block us out by just closing her eyes. It's been over 20 years but I still have not given up the hope that one day she will be healed.

So what do you focus on when things go wrong? That's where verse 8 comes in: "Whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

Let's look at the components to understand what this verse is really communicating:

Noble - this refers to someone with noble rank or birth; possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties.

Just - another word for righteous; someone who is faithful to the original

Pure - don't allow your thoughts to be corrupted by sin; 1 John 3:3 - we purify ourselves; Wisdom is first pure - James 3:17, Titus 1:15 - The purity of our thoughts affect our outlook.

Lovely - thoughts that are acceptable, agreeable, and pleasing...these are thoughts which promote brotherly love - II Peter 1:2-8

Good report - thoughts that are well spoken of, that have a good reputation.

Excellence - virtuous, morally superior.

Praiseworthy - commendable thoughts; our praise should come from meditating on God and all He has done for us - Romans 2:29.

We are told to meditate on these things. Meditate means to focus our thoughts on or reflect on or ponder over something. As we take the time to think and roll things over in our mind, we don't think about how bad things are but on good things and you'd be amazed on the affect it will have on your emotions and the circumstances around you.

Too often we get stuck in a self-defeating cycle of thoughts that we label as "depression." The way out of depression is to change our views and thoughts. Psalms 94:19 - When anxieties are great, God brings comfort and joy to our souls. By choosing to rejoice, notice how the apostles dealt with their beating in Acts 5:40-41. "And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten [them], they commanded [them] not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go; they, indeed, then, departed from the presence of the Sanhedrim, rejoicing that for his name they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor."

The apostles rejoiced for having the opportunity to be counted worthy to suffer. Sometimes during this time of plenty, we have gotten too comfortable, too soft and we don't know what it means to suffer.

In 1 Peter 5:6-7, God tells us to cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for us. What a comforting thought: the God of the universe, the one who created everything we see, feel, and touch both visible and invisible. God knows us and He cares for us. We're not a number; we're not a statistic, we are on His mind and He sees and cares. If we could capture this truth and bury deep within our spirit, it would bring comfort during those times when we need to know that someone cares...and they will come.

In our next lesson, we're going to talk about what demons can do to affect your health. Sometimes without knowing it, we can be affected by unseen forces that can bring physical and emotional health problems.


-- © GodSpeak International 2007 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <godspeak@godspeak.org> --

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