Can Anyone See Me?

Worry, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, despair, thoughts of destruction, shame, poor decisions, choices with severe consequences, darkness, no light, no life, trapped, alone, forgotten, torn apart, bound by shackles never to be unlocked, and the list goes on. These are just a few of the dark thoughts people with mental illness experience many times throughout their day as they try to navigate this lonely, uphill battle.

What about their spouse, family member, or friend who is left behind, but wanting to stay beside, trying to organize their own thoughts so they can grasp the magnanimity of this dreary road? What about us? What do we do? How do, how can we help them? Is there hope? Is there freedom? What’s the next step? Where do we go for help? Who do we turn to for support? All questions that flood our minds and stump our hearts. We want to rescue them. We want to fix it, make it better. We want to stop this influx of pain and grief that they experience frequently, but how?

“Jesus, stop this suffering, intervene right now!,” we cry out over, and over, and over again, but the answers, the interventions never seem to come. We continue to drag one foot in front of the other, mindlessly scanning the internet for the next best thing to solve it ALL. Yet, we are disappointed once again. We walk away and say goodbye, exhausted at the end of another very long day without relief, void of respite, yet full of internal struggle.

I wish I had the answers to solve this overwhelming problem that can suck us dry and leave us for dead, but I don’t, at least not from this world. Our hope, our answers come from The One who made heaven and earth, and our very bodies, our very minds. He knows how disconnected they are. He feels the deep anguish. He hears the faint whispers. He sees the pain stained cheeks. He knows. We are not alone. He knows. We are not alone.

But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:4-8)

I know God can help. I know God will deliver us, maybe not this side of heaven, but He will deliver us. You are not alone friend. If you are the person experiencing such torturous thoughts or the loved one trying best to love them. You are not alone.