***Before you read please understand this is not intended to serve as a word of division or a political stance, only as my reaction to recent events as they relate to our mental health. I wholeheartedly support people fighting for justice and equality in every arena, and I want to be a part of the solution alongside them. For the purposes of this blog, I am focused more so on supporting mental health and how to find peace amidst chaos. This might be a little off-topic for this blog, but our mental health is often tied to our circumstances. In light of that, this feels pertinent. With that said…
In light of the events happening in America over the past week, horrific acts of violence, abuse, blatant murder, it makes sense to feel overwhelmed. And if I’m honest, I feel powerless and out of control.
My heart aches for my best friend who told me he was afraid to go outside as a child because he had seen his friend killed in a drive by shooting.
My heart aches for the family of George Floyd. Senselessly murdered in broad daylight.
My heart aches for the black community. Those who have been historically disenfranchised in a country that was supposed to be a safe-haven for all.
My heart aches for the high school students I mentor that have to live in this reality every day.
My heart aches for police officers who genuinely want to help, but are now in danger because of the hatred found in other officers.
And my heart aches to hear the cries of a people who are lost and broken, and feel forsaken. Pusha T states the hurt well…
Children of a lesser God when your melanin’s got a tint
My heart aches for those who believe that to be true.
But, I don’t know what to do.
This comes back to a question I wrote about last week, but something that seems even more pertinent even 7 days later…
Where is God in all of this?
Where is God in the murders? Where is God in the riots? Where is God in the tear gas?
The question I am really asking is, “Why are all these things happening that are so blatantly wrong?”
I don’t know. The only solace I have found is that I know the One who does know. John Stott puts it in a way I never could,
In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his.
God’s answer to the suffering is to enter into it with us, in the hope that one day we might realize He never intended for it to be this way. He longs for us to come back to Him.
My aim for this post is not to preach at you. Especially, if you don’t believe in God. But, as one who has been through the depths of mental health suffering, and have climbed out of that hole, I feel compelled to share with the world my experience. And my experience has been that there is a God, and that that God is so madly in love with people that he went to the greatest, furthest extent to prove to us that he loves us. He sent His Son to be mangled, slaughtered, rejected, crushed, despised, and crucified for you. That is the extent He is willing to go to help you. This has been my anchor in a world that is getting tossed in a sea of hatred.
When I find myself overwhelmed, confused, suffering, and in pain, I have chosen to turn my eyes to the tender heart of the One who gave Himself for me. He who did not sit idly by as our world tears itself apart, but rather chose to enter in and give us an eternal solution. I invite you come to Him and do the same.
Come to me, ALL who are WEARY and HEAVY BURDENED, and I will give you REST.
Joy is not tied to circumstances. Joy is one thing the world can’t give and the world can’t take away. So fight for equality. Play your part. Speak up for those who have no voice. And alongside all of that, do not neglect the still small voice that beckons you to come to Him.
Free to be Funk 