Mental Medicine

 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Heb 12:3)

A student endures many years of college because of a mental focus to acquire adequate credentials. A mother endures painful childbearing because it ends in joyful expectations. An athlete endures a rigorous course of discipline because he considers it the cost of victory. Physical exhaustion is temporary and can be overcome with a good night’s sleep or perhaps a week of vacation; however, mental exhaustion is a horse of a different color. It is the result of a misfocus and consequently bad expectations. When people disappoint, plans fail, and Christian living brings painful affliction, we are not only given Jesus’ exhortation but His example to consider. He said unequivocally, hardship in the Christian life is certain. Moreover this sinless and perfect man suffered unduly and unjustly, trotting out the path before us. Endurance is not as much physicality as it is mentality. The Hebrew writer says mental rest and relaxation immediately occurs when we consider Him. What a paradox, one can labor and rest simultaneously if Jesus is on your mind. Whether preventative or cure for spiritual burnout: consider Him! For then your affliction affirms your destiny, your suffering soothes your conscious, and your pain prospers your spirit.

Yuri Solomon - Devotion 100813

From Suspension to Resolve

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations (1Peter 1:6) 

It is human nature to evade avoidable suffering; and rightly so I should say. Yet it remains a fool’s quest to avoid what is inevitable, and folly to not prepare as much as possible.  Jesus insists that suffering is in the pathway of every Christian. However, we often find ourselves in suspension about suffering rather than resolve. Our minds are fixated on immediate deliverance and not so much on God’s will and purpose. Peter later in this chapter said, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end”. In other words, mentally accept where you are, and prepare to endure the journey in such a time. One may ask? And Peter gives four mental resolves about the believer’s suffering:  it’s a temporary situation; it’s a necessary path, it’s tough to endure, and it’s tempting to give up. When one comes to this expectation of those times of Christian hardship, it adds a confidence in the will of God, a view to suffering’s end, an awareness of the challenges, and a strength to persevere. A suspension is to leave hanging, in limbo, unsure, unresolved, but to resolve is to place it firmly on the ground: “This is what I have to do.” After much prayer and anguish Jesus resolved, “Not my will but your will be done”.