You know I am familiar with the Psalms and as simple as it is to pick a verse out of it,
I can see a theme throughout scripture of honesty. The joy of the Lord is not dependant
upon happiness, and those who confuse the two are mistaken. There are numerous
examples of people in scripture who were downcast at times, yet were not outside the
will of God.
The modern heresies of perpetual blessing and bliss are just that. More often than not
the Christian walk of faith demands a price of it’s sojourners. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
rallied against this idea in “The cost of Discipleship†as he confronted the German
Lutheran Church under the Nazi party as it diluted the gospel to exclude work
or hardship, and instead peddled cheap grace to the people, thus rendering the gospel
message useless.
Beyond that in times of distress or severe emotional turmoil, such as a dieing or dead
relative, the basic edicts of counseling are to refrain from trying to argue the persons
feelings. I’ve been in situations in which people question God; His existence, purpose,
or even weather He is simply afflicting them for some reason. The correct response is
to leave them to their musings and attempt to direct their own thoughts to reexamine
their position, not to attempt to confront them.
Last edited by Rev; 06/07/2009 10:50 PM.
