Daily Salvation
By Mike Rule

I’m sitting in a restaurant having a cup of coffee and I cannot help but hear a group of women discussing their children, who have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and are also bipolar (a depression disorder). I do not want to eavesdrop, but they are talking loud enough that I cannot help but hear. It makes me so sad to hear the approach people take with these issues - very sad. Medication and special education classes are the only answers we seem to know. I don’t know exactly where these people stand with the Lord, but I know they at least have some kind of church association – I heard them talking about it. How does our Gospel apply to people dealing with these issues?

On the surface it appears that special counseling is needed, but the real answer is Jesus. If we had a simple understanding of people, emotions, and more importantly if we truly knew Jesus, we would have answers for people in these difficult situations. I’m not saying everyone needs to have counselor training – in fact, just the opposite. But too few believers are experiencing a salvation that overflows into every area of life. We have a heaven in the future salvation, but the daily salvation from the internal hell we often live in escapes us. As a result, our attitude towards life become “Life stinks, and then you die.” Yes, a few probably do need some specialized training in dealing with specific disorders and needs, but psychology is really not necessary. The deceptions and lies that we have swallowed are so profound: anything to keep us from seeing Jesus.

Verses for Reflection

And His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought to Him all those being badly ill suffering various diseases and torments, and those who had been possessed with demons, and those who had been moonstruck, and paralytics. And He healed them. (Mat 4:24)

And Jesus went out and saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion toward them. And He healed their sick. (Mat 14:14)

But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his native-place, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He could do no work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick ones, He healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. (Mar 6:4-6a)