The worst part for me in living with Lyme is being alone. I cannot get out and do as much as others, it makes for a horrible social life. If I did not have Christ, loneliness would be the end of me. Loneliness is often followed by depression. There was a time when I didn’t depend on Christ at all, and when I would get lonely the suicidal thoughts would start creeping into my mind. Even though now I rely on Christ for my strength, I still long for fellowship; Some argue that we do not need fellow man if we have Christ, but I don’t think that’s the way God meant it to be.
I know God is going to use my situation to His glory, I have confidence that there is a reason for my suffering. If nothing else, I know He is teaching me a huge lesson on MERCY, and surely He will use that lesson to help another someday. There are two really effective methods God uses to teach mercy: Allowing you to suffer hardships; and experiencing the harsh, deeply painful rejection or neglect from your brothers and sisters in Christ.
One thing that God is showing me through these experiences, is how many other people are suffering… alone! We get stuck in our routines, busy with our daily life… we don’t often stop and think about these things. What if there is one person in your life, whom you are often around, and this person is suffering physicaly, mentally, etc. and they are so lonely and discouraged that they just want to DIE— but you could make a difference, would you take that opportunity? Or are you too busy to bother?
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Mercy: compassionate treatment of those in distress
Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others distress, together with a desire to alleviate it
Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:36
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My purpose in writing this is not to complain about my situation, but use it to challenge you… I am suffering, I am lonely… BUT I know Christ, He is my Lord… so move on, but what about the next suffering person, do they know Christ? Maybe they know Christ, but they are doubting, wondering where the love of God is… they go to church week after week… maybe a few people say hello or shake their hand, but nobody really reaches out or tries to help them.
Yeah, I know you’re not psychic, how are you supposed to know someone is alone and suffering? The depressed are often good at hiding it. BUT if you get even the slightest inkling that this person is suffering… what will you do with that? What if it is quite apparent? What if you can do something?
1 John 3:16-18 (The Message)
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.
I recently heard a lonely, hurting Christian reach out to another, and got a response of “I’d love to get to know you, but I just don’t have the time” Ouch! There have been times I’ve flat out told a friend… I NEED YOU… I am so lonely and hurting, can you spare me just a few minutes of time, please come see me; but the friend was too busy, and could not spare even a moment for a hurting friend. I do not hold it against them, I am happy they can enjoy a full life, even if I cannot. I just wonder if anyone thinks of this, or really truly cares…
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.“
This is difficult for me to talk about, because many look down upon hurting or depressed Christians, saying that if you truly have Christ you cannot suffer from depression, you simply aren’t trusting God enough. If you truly believe that… then you have never suffered from a depressed mind (or won’t admit to it). I’m not talking about ‘oh, life is horrible, I refuse to see it any other way’ depression. I’m talking about being broken. Do you know that feeling? Happiness is often a choice, but sometimes it is completely out of our control! You can’t assume a person is crazy or chooses depression- it is caused by many different things: medical conditions, food allergies, medicine, stress/trauma, or how ’bout an illness that makes daily living extremely difficult?? Hmm? David talked about depression many times in the Psalms… he cried out to God to rescue him from the miry depths! Even Jesus suffered some anxiety; in the garden… He “knelt down and prayed, Father if you are willing, take this cup from me…And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:42 & 44).
I love what Charles Spurgeon says about being merciful to the depressed:
The worst ill in the world is not poverty; the worst of ills is a depressed spirit. At least, I scarcely know anything that can be worse than this, and there are even among the excellent of the earth some who seldom have a bright day in the whole year. December seems to rule the whole twelve months. Because of their heaviness, they are subject to bondage all their lives long. If they march to heaven, it is on crutches as Mr. Ready-to-halt did, and they water the way with tears as Miss Much-afraid did in Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. They are afraid sometimes that they were never converted; at another time, that they have fallen from grace; at another time, that they have sinned the unpardonable sin; at another time, that Christ has left them, and they will never see His face again. They are full of all kinds of troubles; “they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are [often] at their wits end” (Psalm 107:27).
There are many Christian people who always get out of the way of such folks as these, or if they come across them, they say, ‘It is enough to make anybody miserable. Who wants to talk with such people? They ought to be more cheerful; they are giving way to nervousness,” and so on. That may be quite true, but it is always a pity to say it. You might as well tell a man when he has a headache that he is giving way to the headache, or when he has a fever that he is giving way to the fever. The fact is, there is nothing more real than some of those diseases that are traceable to the imagination, for they are real in their pain, though perhaps we could not reason about their causes.
The merciful man is always merciful to these people. He puts up with their whims. He knows very often that they are foolish but he understands that he would be foolish too if he were to tell them so, for it would make them more foolish than they are. He does not consult his own comfort and say, “I want to get comfort from this person”; he desires to confer comfort. He remembers that it is written, “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.” (Isa. 35:3), and he knows that command, “comfort ye my people saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem” (Isa. 40:1-2). He understands that, as his Lord and Master sought after what was wounded, bound up what was broken, healed what was sick, and brought in what was driven away, in the same way all His servants should imitate their Maker by looking with greatest interest after those who are in the saddest plight.
O children of God, if ever you are hardhearted toward any sorrowful person, you are not what you ought to be. You are not like your Master, you are not like yourselves when you are in your right state of mind, for when you are, you are tender and full of pity and compassion. You have learned from the Lord Jesus that the merciful are blessed and that they will obtain mercy. Possibly, when you too become depressed, as you may, you may recollect those jeering words and those unkind expressions that you used concerning others. When we get very big, it may be that the Lord will take us down, and we will be glad for any little mouse holes to hide our heads in. ”
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:36).
I know this is getting long, bear with me!
Of course we are to show the love of Christ to the Lost… but do we have a responsibility to care for fellow believers?
Yes! Remember these words of Christ:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40)
As I recall the many, many times in my life I’ve been passed by and asked, ‘God, why must I feel so alone?!?’, I wonder… how many other people are sitting in church every Sunday morning thinking the same thing. Furthermore… if they are lost and they are in church looking for love and we do not show it to them… doesn’t that alarm you at all? Surely, it must!!
I am not directing this towards any particular church, I am directing to any and ALL bodies of believers. Don’t just think about this in church… think about it in the grocery store, at the mall, on facebook, in your neighborhood…
Are there people in your life who are hurting, whom YOU could show the Love of Christ to?
The needs of a suffering person are numerous… it can be overwhelmeing, so perhaps you shy away from reaching out because you aren’t sure what could be done, or if you have enough time. If you don’t know what depression is like then TRUST ME ON THIS– you have no idea how much the smallest things mean to a hurting soul. Can you stop and chat for a few minutes? Can you spare a hug? Can you call? Can you offer a small bit of help? CAN YOU SMILE?? It could make a persons entire week more cheerful, I’m serious!
God has blessed me with a great friend at church who recently reached out to me & has encouraged me in so many ways. Amongst other things, she has visited, brought me movies to watch, offered me rides from work. She invited me to sit with her at church, and as I sat there with her family Sunday, I didn’t even know what to do with myself! Seems small to you, but I felt so loved by that simple gesture. Today as I was leaving church, another church goer (one of the youth!) smiled and waved at me as I drove by… and even just that put a smile on my face & heart. It might not seem like much… but to a person who is struggling through the mire, a friendly smile can be more valuable than a gift of gold.
That’s a problem as far as work is concerned, so I’ve decided not to do this, UNLESS I win my appeal for SSI. If that happens, I am going to take a few weeks off from work to hit LD in any way possible. Then I can exercise more and sleep all I need 🙂
Life of a Lymie 