Merlin's Mustache

Isaiah 43:5 “Fear not, for I am with you.”

While stranded on a deserted island, Daniel Defoe’s character, Robinson Crusoe, salvaged a Bible from the shipwreck, read it, and was converted. Imagine such seclusion today! He grew into a devout Christian. His life, though missing human companionship, was peaceful and prayerful.

But one day he found a footprint in the sand and realized he wasn’t alone. Knowing the cannibalism of the local tribes, he grew into a fearful man, looking over shoulder with every step. He no longer slept peacefully. He altered his habits. He visualized himself being captured and devoured. “That former confidence in God … now vanished, as if He that had fed me by miracle hitherto could not preserve, by His power, the provision which He made for me by His goodness.”

BOTTOM LINE:

Crusoe had to go back to his Bible, repent of anxiety, and be strengthened again in his faith. He eventually learned the great lesson of faltering Christians. The things we fear most are likely, in the providence of God, to be most used for our good and His glory. Those footprints, in the end, led to his deliverance.

God has planned out our future from eternity past and guaranteed it with His promises; in fact, to the very second of our future home-going! We can trust Him. Actually, we MUST trust Him. There is none other!

David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God   2002  July 14. Indeed, so well titled!

For Further Reflection:

My initial take while reading the above clip reminds me of our ever-present vulnerability to fear, whether we be so fortunate to reside in a Crusoe type paradise, as we may choose to enjoy here locally, where any of our “fear prisons” are currently only of our own imaginations. Jamie Winship (Living Fearless) is teaching me big time that all human conflict originates from fear (false evidence appearing real), and that fear originates from our false view of God, ourselves, and others. And unless we allow God to supernaturally exchange what’s false for what’s real in our psyche, we may never experience the true freedom of our identity in Christ, because we’re dominated by our false self – our fear, guilt and shame.  

Now, contrast that lifestyle (free from fear) with today’s not so subtle media-driven verbal visual emotional onslaught, and even though a few of us may be of an American Anabaptist cultural subset, we too are being swept downstream with the masses, too often inadvertently “swallowing the demonic fear bait” that is subtly and clandestinely generating our self-preservation & self-protection modes in our physical and emotional prisons, and perhaps all the while, it’s being accomplished with our permission; even under our watch!

My concern for Christ-Followers today and beyond is, how will we continue to grow in our faith, if once we’ve seen the disturbing unexplainable “footprints or saucers,” perhaps even taken the fear-bait, and are potentially deceived in the ensuing chaos, even becoming separated from His empowering remedy? It is imperative for those of us seeking the narrow path to continue in His grace and mercy, thereby repenting from our wayward anxiety, so we can again be renewed and strengthened in our faith …

As I said in the July 9 post, we must keep the Gospel message front & center, pure and simple.  Be on guard continually, for those future “unexplained footprints” may prove quite troublesome for shallow-rooted Christians, though ultimately & conclusively, as stated prior, such can be for our good and His glory. Do be forewarned though, that future narratives are being be purposefully designed to confuse Christ-Followers. Indeed, we are always protectively covered, until such time though, that we may ignorantly choose, or be persuaded to open our protective doors and allow the demonic to enter our heart, mind, and soul; and His (our) temple.

Again, Isaiah 43:5 “Fear not, for I am with you.”

He gives all the more grace; therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4: 6 (NRSV)

Three years after Annie Johnson was born on Christmas Eve, 1866, her mother died during childbirth, and her father was suffering from an incurable disease, so Annie and her sister went to live temporarily with the widow of a soldier killed in the Civil War where it is reported neither girl felt loved. It was their father’s wish they be adopted by a nearby Christian family, the Flints, which eventually occurred.

Annie became a school teacher, but she suffered with a severe form of arthritis that left her disabled. Her adoptive parents passed away, and Annie was left an invalid with no income. There was only one thing she could do, and she could barely do that – compose poetry. Annie Johnson Flint became a renowned writer across the Christian world, though her arthritic condition made it increasingly painful to record her compositions and her income was always meager. Yet her needs were met, and her income appeared just as she needed it.

One of her best-loved poems, eventually becoming the hymn titled “He Giveth More Grace,” lovingly chiding us that God gives all the more grace as we need it, as we trust Him with yielded hearts, whatever our unforeseen circumstances.

BOTTOM LINE:

1. He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,

Our God ever yearns His resources to share;

Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;

The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Chorus:

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Thanks to Robert J Morgan for sharing the above clip from his book All To Jesus: A Year of Devotionals – Day 41. 2008

 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.  Proverbs 11:3

Although A.E Samaan has many quotes, I’m intrigued by this one, “Truth is only relative to those who ignore hard evidence.” I’m assuredly not a philosopher, but I presume Randy Alcorn has some history with the authors of today’s devotional’s book-end quotes.   

I am quoting A.E. Samaan himself, who stated “a friend once described me as an investigative historian. I scour the archives for the physical evidence of the untold and inconvenient history of the American and British eugenicists that collaborated with Hitler henchmen. I am also an industrial designer with a special love for musical instrument making and auto design. I utilize CAD-CAM technology to restore and improve on the performance and design of classic BMWs.” Indeed, this is one of the most diverse vitae I’ve ever encountered.

Randy tells of a college ethics professor who passionately taught moral relativism and was outraged when he discovered over half of his class cheated on the final. But weren’t they living by his philosophy? Why not give them extra credit?

Why did he get upset when his students acted out the very ethical system he advocated? Because no matter what he claims to believe, he knows that when they cheated, they violated an objective and absolute standard of truthfulness. What they’d done was absolutely wrong. Which confirmed that what he’d taught them was also absolutely wrong.

Randy ends this unique devotional with the quote from John Owen, “Without absolutes revealed from without, by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about matters, justice and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers.

John was an English Puritan theologian born in 1616, and an internet search will reveal the magnitude of his prolific quotes, and no doubt, the lives of many thus influenced, particularly today. And fellow readers, again I encourage you to prepare your hearts, minds, and souls for an unimaginable challenge in the next weeks across this land. Pray for His mercy and grace to continue to all who can hear, see, and respond to His clarion call.

Understand, this post was birthed totally out of a day whence my plans were usurped by His circumstances. Early this morning I had read this Day 21 in Randy’s Truth: A Bigger View of God’s Word devotional and it’s been churning ever since. I am trusting His Will indeed may be accomplished both here and beyond for our good and His glory.

Actually, my former good neighbor gave me the best quote I encountered all day, and it was along the line of, “We Must Keep the Gospel message Pure and Simple.” Amen! A great admonition indeed, in this trivia driven culture.

The fact that we were designed to be perfect people in a perfect world and then literally lost it all… Because of sin, this does of course, result in our being ill-equipped to deal with the existence of pain, loss, trauma, failure, grief, and other experiences. We know (or think we know) what life ought to be like, and yet, we find it otherwise, in that we are not quite “harnessed up right” to metabolize that coexistence, and thrive. But do not despair, we do have a Savior Who “stands in” ready at this very moment to forgive, empower, restore …

Much of psychology centers around this problem of pain, as we have called it earlier, but more by focusing on its pure existence in our lives and how to metabolize it and deal with it well. Said simply, the pain is not to be there. So, our systems do not know how to deal with it, how to process all of the pain, failure, woundedness, and disappointment that we feel. Much of psychology focuses on how to deal with the pain and help people develop the needed abilities and skills. We do not come into the world able to handle it, and besides that, our abilities to handle it are often broken themselves, through trauma or other destructive events we encounter. So, here we are, in pain and our equipment is failing to process, if we ever were even given it; and to boot, we’re floundering in the deep end of the pool, disconnected from the relationships that could help us build the needed skills to cope, build and thrive as stated prior.

In addition, developmental psychology shows us that early on we have difficulty putting good and bad together. We split them, loving someone when they make us happy, and hating them when they frustrate us. Have you ever known someone who thought you were wonderful until you disappointed them in some way, and then you became in their eyes, the worst person ever? That can happen in a second with some personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder or narcissism. You instantly go from “all good” to “all bad” in their eyes, over even the smallest infraction. Imagine the relational disturbances from such blow-ups. Most people do not walk to the altar at their wedding feeling like they do when they divorce; after the “all good” turned “all bad.”

But far beyond these severe forms of splitting, as psychology shows, we all struggle with metabolizing simply living in an imperfect world. Clinical issues such as depression, anxiety states, addictions, and eating disorders can all be related to not being able to live with the imperfections of ourselves and others, and the wounds and subsequent losses inflicted upon us.

In fact, one of the most popular therapies of our day, cognitive behavioral therapy, is almost totally dedicated to changing the thinking patterns of how people appraise the “negative” in life, trying to help them think about failure or imperfection of negative events in a more regulated, balanced, and integrated way. If you have ever been told “you need to process your grief, face your pain, anger, and loss,” you have received advice related to those early findings. And that is exactly what the Bible says over and over. I was surprised to find all of these effective methods of treatment in the Bible.

Again, therapies related to grief, trauma, overcoming failure, perfectionism, etc., are all oriented to dealing with this same issue: helping the ill-equipped (often decimated) human organism (God’s child) to either fix what’s broken and /or acquire what’s missing, simply to process the problem of pain and all the “bad stuff” that gets in our way when trying to thrive.

BOTTOM LINE:

And, the Bible affirms all this. It speaks frequently about the resolution of grief and mourning, self-critical voices we carry inside (related to Freud’s “superego” at times), criticism and judgement of others and ourselves, the need for forgiveness and reconciliation of broken relationships, and all the tools needed. Many, many clear directives given in the Bible teach the very same interventions that psychology does for how these emotional, cognitive, and relational dynamics are resolved.

One of my favorite moments in scripture is when Solomon says in Ecclesiastes that it is better to process pain than to seek pleasure to avoid it, because as he said, a sad face can make a heart happy (see Ecclesiastes 7:3). Cry it out, and you will be better. Imagine that … thousands of years before Freud showed that getting in touch with pain instead of avoiding it can resolve “complicated bereavement,” hysteria, and other maladies, the Bible had already said it. Turns out the Bible was there before science, but once again, science proved it to be true. Ask the lady on the plane.

NEXT UP:

Both the Bible and psychology affirm that a child appears on their stage of life in a psychologically one-down position, compared to the “big people.”  So, the fourth issue we’ll tackle is the leveling of power that evolves from childhood to adulthood.  

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:

“The founders of every major religion said ‘I’ll show you how to find God,’ whereas Jesus said, ‘I am God who has come to find you.’”   Tim Keller

OK, psychology teaches, once a person learns to be connected in a relationship (from primary caregivers through the rest of life), the next issue to be mastered is freedom from our love object. In other words, when one loves someone and is loved by that person, although remaining in the connection in a deep way, they must be free from that person and free from their control be it : mental, emotional, and physical (even spiritual? God offers free choice. Perhaps the question is timing?)

This issue of personal autonomy and the ability to make choices for oneself is called agency. It follows that we when have agency, we have self-control and a host of other psychological abilities. When we do not feel that sense of personal agency, we suffer. Clinical issues such as depression, anxiety states, panic attacks, eating disorders, some OCD, addictions, and others can often be related to a person’s inability to establish autonomy from the ones they love and have self-directed control of themselves. Said another way: establish boundaries.

Codependency, and the depression and anxiety that comes from this fusion and crossover of boundaries and responsibility, then follow. Being able to separate form one’s family, to “leave and cleave” and become one’s own person, is related to this issue as well, a whole arena of psychology that family systems theory and family therapy emphasize. Virtually all therapeutic systems offer something for this issue in some way, from AA’s Serenity Prayer to assertiveness training in behavioral therapy, and many others. One’s inability to establish personal agency and retain free choice runs throughout the interventions of all sorts of therapies and is documented to certainly be detrimental throughout the literature.

The Bible teaches that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). And it would be impossible to list all of the teachings of the Bible along the line of being free from other’s control, and establishing boundaries and limits to contain the destructiveness of other people upon oneself (see Matthew 18:15-19, for example).

Boundaries and limits on destructive behavior are taught throughout the Bible, and regaining control for oneself is a chief tenant. In the Scriptures, this ability is called self-control (see Galatians 5:23). The Bible rails against the oppression of anyone and always is a champion for helping others regain their freedom. Self-control is heralded, and control of others is condemned.

BOTTOM LINE:

Clinical, relational, and performance issues always involve a growth and regaining one’s freedom, self-definition, autonomy, agency, and the like. Can you even imagine a world where people would always have self-control, able to control / regulate their own emotions, impulses, and behavior; and be able to be separate from the control and dysfunction of others? That is a goal that the Bible and all of psychology emphasize that wholeheartedly. Beyond the alignment of the principle of freedom being important, I saw that all of the therapeutic interventions aimed at helping people regain this freedom and self-control were exactly the same ones that the Scriptures prescribed. I had rarely heard these preached from the pulpit, but when I went back to the Bible, they were all there.

NEXT UP:

The conflict between the coexistence of “good” & “bad.” The fact that we were designed to to be perfect in a perfect world and lost access to it because of sin, results in our being ill equipped to deal with the existence of pain, loss, trauma, failure, grief, etc. We know (or think we know) what life ought to be like, but when we experience it otherwise, we simply are not “harnessed up” to effectively metabolize the coexistence of good & bad in order to thrive. Stay tune.

FOR FURTHER PERSPECTIVE:

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, not spiritual, of the devil. James 3:14-15

Bitterness is what we pay for minimizing our sins against God while maximizing other’s sins against us. Bitterness denies the truth by making sins against us larger than our sins against God.

Martin Lloyd Wright: “Whenever I see myself before Almighty God and realize something of what my blessed Lord has done for me at Calvary, I am ready to forgive anybody for anything. I cannot withhold it. I do not even want to withhold it.”

Most mental health problems that are not biologically rooted come from a handful of human issues that manifest themselves in various clinical, relational, and performance systems. (Said another way, many of these same symptoms can come from the same underlying issue.) And, these human issues are basically what the Bible is about. It names them over and over and, beyond that, gives us the processes that cure them. I have never seen an evidence-based treatment, one that has been proven to work, in which the underlying process involved is not an issue the Bible covers. That is what blew my mind, and it still does.

Next, we will identify four issues that validate this evidence-based treatment, proven to work, involving an underlying process indeed being an issue the Bible speaks to.   

Issue One: Attachment, bonding, and connection versus human emotional isolation, disruptive connection, or lack of connection.

This is the primary, number one problem the Bible says caused everything else. We were designed for connection to God and to others from the beginning. When we broke connection with Him, we lost our source of life, which is an unbroken relationship. Both with God, but also with other humans. Said simply, broken relationship is the problem, and restoring, or revitalizing that connection or linkage, is the answer to that problem.

The psychology of human development, clinical psychology, and performance psychology have borne this out. Developmental delays, brain development, physical development, immune systems as well most everything else can be affected by the absence of or complications and injuries in the attachment process. Beyond developmental delays, psychological illnesses are myriad that can be connected to attachment issues, from clinical problems like depression, anxiety and addictions, to relational dysfunction as well. Emotional isolation of the heart and disconnectedness is a major cause of many mental health problems. The list is endless.

In the Bible, as well; as in psychology, the process for healing connection issues is explained in exactly the same way: a safe “love object” to attach to; overcoming the need-fear dilemma through vulnerable expressions of need and pain, to finding emotional attachment, empathy, love, and understanding from a “safe person” on the other end. The Bible and psychology both give exactly the same tasks, responses, and process involved in healing this “basic fault,” as the great psychologist Michael Balint termed it. Genesis would say it is the “basic fault” as well, and the rest of the Bible affirms it and calls us to healing one another through empathy, kindness, support, containment, responsiveness, compassion, and many other directives.

The result, as the New Testament says, is having hearts “knit together by strong ties of love” ( Colossians 2: 2 NLT ) When a therapy group fosters connectedness and heals the fear, defenses, or resistance to connection, they are using proven therapeutic processes and agreeing with the Bible about the problem and its resolution.

Every deep system of therapy that is proven begins with something called therapeutic alliance, where safety and connection can make way for the healing process that will follow, and that same connection will drive the internalization of love and structure from the outside that will become psychological emotional regulatory systems within the person.

BOTTOM LINE:

Said another way, a lack of good relationships injures us, and good ones heal us…

NEXT UP:

Issue Two: Freedom, separateness, autonomy, boundaries, differentiation, and control. Whew! Another boatload. Stay tune.

In a more practical vein, consider this Eternal Perspective from Randy Alcorn’s Truth: A Bigger View of God’s Word. Harvest House 2017.

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. Psalm 86:11 (ESV)

Psalm 86 tells us that we we must learn the ways of God in order to walk in the ways of God. Jesus said, “Come to me … Take my yoke and learn from me” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Walk in God’s truth, and then you’ll be in position to receive His daily guidance. A. W. Tozer said, “Practice the truth and we may with propiety speak the truth.”

Have the courage to ask Christ to show you what he really wants for your life – not what others want for you, but what He knows is right for you. Listen to His word for the answers, and call upon Him to show you the truth and empower you to live it.

“If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!” Max Lucado