Rest on this: God is asking you to do something, but He is not asking you to do everything!

[Gottservant]

Hi there,

So yes, mental health (general struggles, whatever you want to call it) can be a tricky thing. One thing that is important, is that we do not trip ourselves up - that we do not create mental habits that are not ultimately helpful. You can criticise the Devil without authority all you like, but if you start to criticise yourself the same way, you are doing the Devil's work! It's important to build up strength slowly, and with a measure of anger rebuke the Devil, but you need to move house and start with a place that has godly features (within you, I mean, to begin with, anyway) - this means starting with scripture you can trust.

Read John, Jesus says quite plainly not even He tries to do everything He can for God - He says "I can't do anything without God" and "you can't do anything without Me". The point He is making is that rest is more important that all the works your soul can commit to. The problem is that some people commit more to God - or what used to be their 'god' - than can be reasonably expected. We are like Martha who would not stop working - when Mary waited on Jesus, Jesus recognised the good Mary was doing. Mary watched and waited. Mary was not trying to do everything she could for Jesus and Jesus was happy with that.

So what I am saying here, is that you need to address, going forward, what it is that is absolutely essential and what you can do without - while you keep your watch on Jesus. Jesus wants you to do greater, He will be with you in what you seek out and ask for, but He will not burden you above what you are able to bear. In principle if you are wearing the yoke He also wears, you are worthy of the work - but you will feel much better about it, if you don't wear it wishing you were in a different field to the one you are in! There is work for you to do now, but it may be as simple as separating what you are watching for, from what you are waiting for. (there is more I could say about this, but I will wait).

What I really want, is for you to say "yes, I'm going to watch and I'm going to just test being a little at rest". You don't need everything your mental health condition requires of someone in your position - it's your position relative to God that you should be worrying about (I say "worrying" but I don't actually mean worry, I mean "wait on instead of worrying"). Start to actually say "I am going to do less than is absolutely above and beyond what God is asking me to" - it will work (it's something you can practice - I'm talking to myself here, as much as anyone)! God does not expect you to do everything - stop playing with your mental health and start taking Jesus seriously (I mean seriously: set some time aside).

I'm trying to speak out of love, here. I have been on a massive rollercoaster, in terms of my mental health (I mean really, I have had dreams of going up and over hills, and crashing and what not) and it is with lots of practice that I say what I am saying about relaxing here. I don't mean wordless relaxation - just the flesh - I mean what actually is the "true bread" that Jesus said His Father gave. You need to enough to be almost full, but not quite even then... that's the point, even when you are eating, you are not supposed to be making portions the size of which leave you with nothing to eat later.

Boy it's tempting to keep righting here, I guess I have made my point - if God is happy that I got the message across, that's what I am happy with. As Jesus said "What I say to you, I say to everyone: "Watch"". Here's to watching!

 

[Jamdoc]

in another thread I was struggling with my inability to do works and not even knowing what God has called me to do, and what God told me was to remember Mephibosheth, Jonathan's lame son (I myself can be considered lame).
Was Mephibosheth expected to do anything for David's favor?
No.

2 Samuel 9

6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!
7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

In essence.. Mephibosheth probably thought that David, the enemy of his grandfather, who his grandfather (Saul) tried to kill, was going to kill him. David instead showed compassion and kindness.. and it was not even something Mephibosheth had earned, it was for the sake of another, to show the kindness of God through Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth even says as such that he doesn't deserve this kindness, why is the king offering to minister to him and provide for him when he can do nothing in return?

Now mind you later, Mephibosheth is not faithful to David when David has to go into hiding because of his son rebelling against him, so that can be a lesson to be learned too, that when you're shown unmerited favor by someone out of compassion... be loyal to them.

But this is in a way, a picture of the Gospel, especially to those of us who are broken, poor in spirit, and weak. That we do nothing to warrant favor from God, we don't deserve His mercy, or His kindness and can never do the work to repay Him back, but He promises, that we will eat at the king's table forever and ever, and not because of anything that we have done, but for His Son Jesus' sake.

Earlier today I said.. "Jesus got ripped off when He bought me with His blood".. in other words, I said "What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?"
and He said to remember Mephibosheth, who did nothing, and could do nothing, but for someone else's sake, the King would provide for him, minister to him, and restore all things to him.

So maybe you're broken, maybe you're poor in spirit, burdened by mental health issues, physical health issues, disability, weak, lame, blind. Maybe you cannot work for the Kingdom....
but maybe also that's not your purpose.
Maybe it is for others to show the kindness of God ministering to you, even if you can never do anything for them back, and, in heaven, maybe you're to eat bread at the king's table continually, without ever being able to do anything in return, to glorify God through the display of His own kindness in ministering to you.

... am I off base here am I wrong?
I just felt moved to remember Mephibosheth when I asked God what He wants me to do for Him. Because I'm just... terrible at witnessing.