I restarted a devotional publication called Power For Today, and yesterday’s entry really touched me. It was talking about the time the Israelites were marching around Jericho, and what they were to take possession of and leave for destruction when the walls came down. The devotional author ably took an excellent hermeneutic from that passage in Joshua.

There are things in our own lives that we should embrace and destroy. I know first hand that the hate and anger Satan uses to my destruction are things I must allow God to destroy. I’ve been holding on to them for too long, and this life is not the Godfather. My memory is long like Don Corleone’s memory, but love keeps no record of wrongs. This must cease in my life. I don’t know how to “forget” the bad things that have happened, but I know that my Father can extinguish the flaming arrows of destruction that penetrate my psyche. Working with a co-worker yesterday I was dropping the f-bomb in anger at the unfairness we shared with each other, and I confessed to him I want to stop using profanity. It only serves to create more hate. I start counseling again on Monday, and I’m so glad I do because I never should have quit in the first place. I thought I was able to “control” the angry outbursts. Not. I’m sure I’m not the only one with clinical depression that fights this kind of anger management. When you are with someone with this kind of cross I recommend you do more listening than talking. They will invite you to give feedback when they’re ready for it. Do not force it on them. Nothing can be won by force what can only be won by submission. Duly note that our all powerful God does not force His ways on anyone. There are consequences to our actions, and the system He has set up in the world continues to be rejected by many including myself. I strive as a Christian to represent Christ, but I fail every day. We aren’t going to dot every i or cross every t like the Pharisees thought a human being could do, but we rely minute by minute on the grace that teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Sometimes that just means ignoring someone who angers us.

Mental illness is a terrible cross to bear. It’s also not a simple cross to bare. Be patient with those you know who battle depression, PTSD and all other mental illnesses. Sometimes showing up to be with him or her with no words spoken can be a balm. Our gracious and loving Father will instruct all of us to jettison the heavy weight on both sides to set us all free from this Satanic evil. And to those of us who fight mental illness this is a two-way street. Be active in your healing. Don’t let the pain mask the action you need to take in coping and healing from these heinous illnesses. Listen to your intuition. Read Proverbs and Psalms, don’t miss your counseling sessions, and get plenty of sleep. Listen to music like King Saul did. I don’t know what Saul battled, but I dare say he too battled a mental illness, and when David played the harp for him Saul calmed down. The music they play at my daughter’s soccer games really chills me out. Music can be really powerful.

Injustice has always been a part of our existence. Unfairness continues in our schools, and mean girls abound. Bullies become adults, and too often they don’t repent. They get more money, become more entitled, and they hold “weaker” human beings under their finger. God sees you when you are sinned against. He loves you and the Karma, we know as the Holy Spirit, He created is interceding for us with groans that words cannot express.

Not every knee bows at the mention of His Name, but one day it will.