Refuge for Those Who Suffer

God offers us soundness of mind as we place our trust in Him and allow ourselves to experience His transformative power in our lives.   Isaiah 26 offers these words:

3You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.4Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
Later in the chapter, we read about some keys to experiencing God's perfect peace:8Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You.9With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

When we suffer, we have access to the peace of God.  But, we also realize that there are many, even among Christians, that have a really difficult time experiencing the soundness of mind that He promises. If you're struggling today, recognize that He is the One who is so powerful and offers that sense of peace that passes all understanding.  When we struggle - and we all do from time to time - we can recognize that God is there to bring the peace we seek.  And, we all need those words of encouragement in our difficult times.   So, be sensitive to the needs of those around you - you may be called to provide instruction, direction, or hope for someone who needs to experience a fresh touch of the Lord.

Psalm 46, verses 1 and 2, provide a reminder that our God is near to us and will bring us the help and strength we need as we look to Him:

(1) God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.2

Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 

It's happened again - another gunman taking the lives of multiple people.  And, with an element of the unthinkable, it's taken place at Fort Hood, where less than 5 years ago, a man opened fire and took a number of lives.   This time, the shooter also took his own life.

According to Fox News, Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer at the facility, said at an evening news conference that there was no indication of terrorism, but added "we're not ruling anything out."

Milley said he did not know any motive for the incident, but the shooter, who had served four months in combat in Iraq in 2011, had "behavioral and mental health issues" and was being treated for those.The gunman had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder.

The suspect had arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base in Texas. He was taking medication, and there were reports that he had complained after returning from Iraq about suffering a traumatic brain injury, Milley said. The commander did not elaborate.

An FBI official told Fox News there no initial indication that the gunman was motivated by any religiously-fueled ideology. "But it is still early in the investigation and we are not ruling anything out," the official said.

Late Wednesday, investigators had already started looking into whether the gunman's combat experience caused lingering psychological trauma. Among the possibilities they planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on base triggered the shooting.

As we reflect on this disturbing incident, perhaps it can help us, as the church, as believers in Christ, to develop a sensitivity to the needs of people around us, and to recognize that mental illness is a clear and present danger to society at large.  The statistics are staggering: The Christian Post, in a recent article about the recently-held conference at Saddleback Church called, "The Gathering on Mental Illness and the Church", it cited these statistics: According to the National Institutes of Health, one in four adults - approximately 61.5 million Americans - experiences mental illness in a given year. One in 17 - about 13.6 million - live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder.

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback and his wife, Kay, have been calling for the church to take more action in the area of mental health, in light of the death of their son, Matthew, just one year ago this Saturday.   He took his own life after a long battle with a mental illness.   Pastor Rick wrote in a column for TIME recently that:

Nearly a year later, we are still reeling from his death. We’ve been devastated, yet not destroyed. Mental illness took our son’s life, as it did many of the 38,000 other Americans who took their lives last year, but we refuse to let his death be just another statistic. One way we can honor his life and use our grief is to help others living with a mental illness and also their families who suffer. 

He poses the question, "What do churches have to offer to the mentally ill and their families in light of the multi-layered, complex set of issues that surround mental illness? The answer is – a lot! There are biblical, historical, and practical reasons that churches must be at the table with this issue."  Briefly, those reasons are: "First, from the Gospels, we know that Jesus cared for and ministered to mentally ill people during his ministry on earth. As Christ followers, we are compelled to continue His work today."

He added that, "Second, the church has been caring for the sick, both physically and mentally for 2,000 years longer than any government or agency.  And the final point:  "...studies have shown that when families or individuals experience the chaos caused by mental illness, the first place they typically call in a crisis is not a doctor, a law office, the school, or the police, but rather they call or go see their priest or pastor."  He asks, "Why is that? Because people instinctively know that churches are called by God to be places of refuge, comfort, guidance, and practical help for those who suffer."

His wife, Kay, speaking at the conference said, according to a report on the Gospel Herald website, 

"Mental illnesses are terrible, but God is not helpless among this ruins...He is not helpless among my ruins. He is not helpless among your ruins. And that is our only hope to know that God's love is still working."  The report said that the common theme among the speakers was the conviction that God is greater than all of these circumstances or God was the reason why they were able to endure through the treatments and isolations till full recovery."

And, that really summarizes the point - the injection of the Spirit of God and Biblical truth in a seemingly helpless and desperate situation can bring the potential for recovery.    I think we have to develop a sensitivity to the needs around us.   Warren has decried the stigmatization of mental illness, and the church can provide powerful tools to help those who suffer and those who stand with him.   Our God is an ever-present help in time of trouble, and perhaps the tragedy at Fort Hood and the circumstances that the shooter may have been dealing with can be a reminder of the needs around us, so that we can be givers of hope in Christ.   And, if you are suffering today, recognize that God is able to bring you restoration - turn to Him and seek out the help that you need.