The Sin That Affects Us All

 

As some of you may know already, I have frequent delusions and hallucinations that tell me that I am God and that people are praying to or worshiping me. These delusions and hallucinations are very troubling for two reasons. The first reason they are troubling me is because I am afraid that no one will be able to understand me. This is a real fear I have because I do not want to be looked upon as some sort of freak of nature. The second reason they are troubling me is because I am afraid that one day I will act on these delusions and hallucinations. Currently, I know and understand that they are lies, but what will happen one day when my mental state progressively gets worse? I think about this often as I go throughout my days on this earth because when you have a severe mental illness every moment is like a ticking time bomb. However, as I contemplate this issue more, I have come to a startling revelation. I am no freak of nature. Regardless of the fact of my hallucinations and delusions, everyone has the same ultimate desire, and that desire affected even our First Parents. In this blog, I shall discuss exactly what this phenomenon that plagues us all is. The purpose of this blog is to give people who deal with anything similar to what I deal with some hope in thinking they are normal people. As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, 

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape, that you will be able to endure it" 

There are two primary takeaways we can get from this text. The first one is that any temptation we struggle with is common to all people. This means none of us are freaks. Temptation of any kind is perfectly normal for our human condition. The second one is that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. He knows our frame and He knows what we can handle. In His Sovereignty, He is holding us together even when it does not feel that way. We can trust Him no matter what our feelings or experiences are telling us. The reason I need you to grasp this point is because I understand all too well how it feels to be the only person who experiences auditory hallucinations and delusions telling you that you are God in the flesh. It is tempting to think that no one else in the Christian church has ever dealt with this before and thus, we should keep these things to ourselves. However, that is precisely what we should not do. The devil knows full well that when we keep our temptations quiet, we are fair game to be preyed upon. Anyways, so let us go into what is The Sin That Affects Us All... 

Ye Shall Be As Gods... 

As you may have already guessed by now, any discussion of Original Sin must go all the way back to the beginning. Genesis 1 and 2 lays out how God created the heavens and the earth in six days. It also lays out for us how God created man and woman in His image from the dust of the earth. Things seem to be pretty good so far, right? Well, in the third chapter of Genesis, things take a turn for the worse. In verses 1-7, we read the following exchange, 

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'? and the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die'. But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" 

As you can see from this passage the devil attacked our First Parent's in exactly the same way he attacked us. First, he asks a question to cast doubt upon God's word. When Eve rightfully corrected the devil's misrepresentation of His word, he then played off her legalism by causing her to believe God was holding out on them. Adam and Eve were commissioned to work and tend the Garden and this means they were to rely on God's interpretation of reality. Before the devil came to Eve, they had no other interpretation to rely on. Now, the devil was offering his own interpretation of the facts. It was now up to Eve to decide whose interpretation she would accept and listen to. Would it be her Creator's or the devil's? All of eternity was hanging on a thread. As we can clearly see, Eve chose poorly. She decided that she was not content with knowing reality based on what God says is real. She wanted to decide what was reality for herself. In other words, she wanted to be autonomous from God and be her own God. Tragically, Adam, who was her figurehead, made the same exact choice. Adam and Eve thus became the first atheists, in the sense of being "against God". As a result of our First Parent's decision to rebel against God and His authority, all of us who are born afterward, are faced with the same choice they were faced with: Will we rely on God's interpretation of reality or will we try to be gods ourselves by forging our own realities? Whatever decision we make on this earth concerning that important question will have eternal consequences. 

The truth is, to some extent we all worship ourselves. We all want to be as little gods in this universe. We want to think that we are the masters of our own destiny. This is why paganism seems so attractive to our carnal hearts. Deep down, we all want to be gods. We got this desire from our First Parents and if we do not put it in check it will eat us alive and destroy us. We were never meant to be gods, but we were called to serve the One True God who manifests as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we properly understand the Creator-Creature distinction between God and us, it will help us to properly understand our place in this creation. It is when we do not have a proper understanding of the Creator-Creature distinction between God and us that we tend to blur the lines between the two. 

I hope that this blog better helps you understand two things: 1) It is normal to have delusions and hallucinations that tell you you are God. That was the lie that first affected Adam and Eve. So, you are not a freak of nature. We need more than anything to stay in His word, remain in the fellowship of a local body of believers, and psychiatric medication.  2) We must resist these voices at all costs by reminding ourselves of the Creator-Creature distinction between God and humans. When we truly understand this, then we will understand what our true purpose is in this life and the next. We are not called to be God nor can we ever be God. So, we might as well rejoice in that fact and be content in being creatures in God's hands. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I will look forward to seeing what you all think about what I am saying here. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 


-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website

How To Overcome Seasonal Depression Biblically

 

We are in the time of the year when everything gets much colder. As a result, people's moods tend to change for the negative. Countless studies have proven that when the weather changes, it has tremendous effects on one's mood. This is why it is so very important for us to keep track of how we are feeling, especially during these cold times. How must we deal with these winter blues? Does the Bible offer us any solutions? In this blog, I shall give some very important tips on how to deal with what psychologists have called Seasonal Depression. Before I get into this, however, I would like to establish that I used to be someone who dealt with depression a lot during this time of year. As someone who was taken from his family at such a young age, I know all too well how it feels to be lonely. So, please understand that I fully comprehend how tough this time can be for some people. The advice that I will give in this blog is not only stuff that has helped me, but it is also stuff that I wish someone would have told me when I was younger. It could have saved me from a lot of unnecessary stress and grief. I would like to point out that these are not the only ways that can help you overcome Seasonal Depression. These are just the main things that I'd like to focus on for the sake of this blog. If you can think of anything more, please feel free to comment below. Now, it is time for me to get into this biblical advice. 

Prayer 

This may seem like a trite point to make but prayer is actually the most valuable tool we have in our arsenal. As it says in 1 Peter 5:7, 

"...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" 

The infinitely holy and omnipotent God cares for you. This is incredible news for those of us who are Christians. God is in control of every minute detail that goes on in this creation and He has promised to work out all things for our good (Romans 8:28). No matter what you are going through this season, we can learn to trust Him to heal our hearts. So, do not be afraid to go to Him with your anxieties and/or sadness because our God is big enough and strong enough to carry us through them. 

Community 

This next piece of advice is also vitally important for us to understand because God did not create us to be alone. I understand that when you are depressed, it is very tempting to isolate. However, isolation is never good for anyone. All isolation does is cause us to be even more depressed. As Hebrews 10:25 tells us, 

"...not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day draw near" 

I understand that this text is commonly used as an exhortation for people to not neglect going to church. I agree that going to church is one of the most important things a Christian can do because it strengthens our faith when we worship God together. However, I also believe this text speaks to the fact that we need to be around one another outside of the church walls too. It is not good enough for us to just see each other every Sunday. We need to also be around our family during the week as well. When we are around people who care for us, it really does go a long way in healing our depressed minds. 

Think Positively 

I understand that this piece of advice can be taken with some offense because when someone is depressed it is very difficult for the person to just "think positive". However, Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" 

We are commanded to make an intentional effort to think about positive things. Cognitive psychologists have found that our thoughts dictate our feelings. This means that if our thinking is positive, then our feelings will become more positive. This may not happen right away, but if we change our thinking, eventually our feelings will follow. I know this is the hardest piece of advice to accept all too well because I am always thinking negative thoughts. However, I have noticed that when I do think about everything I am thankful to God for, my feelings become much more positive. I am not saying that our thinking can change our circumstances, as some false teachers would suggest, but I am saying that our thinking can change how we perceive our circumstances. For example, last year I was facing a life-altering surgery and it caused me to worry about it because I thought I would die as a result of it. I was not afraid to die, but I did not want to leave my wife alone. As a result of this kind of thinking, I started "preparing" people for my demise. It did not matter to me that all the evidence pointed to the fact that I would be ok after the surgery because my mind convinced me that I would not be ok. My point in telling you about this is that if I had changed my thinking about my surgery to something more positive, such as thinking about the fact that I'll be able to live without an ostomy bag again, then I would have gone into the surgery room with a more positive outlook. Instead of thinking that I would die, I would have been thinking about what I would do once I awoke and saw that I no longer needed an ostomy bag. Our thinking about any circumstance affects how we feel about the circumstance. 

I hope that this blog helps you better understand how you can overcome Seasonal Depression this year. I know that the winter blues are not any fun to deal with, but with faith in God, we can overcome anything. Thank you very much for being willing to read this blog and please share this with anyone you feel needs to read this. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website