Hope for Wholeness by Sharon L. Fawcett

Author:Sharon L. Fawcett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: spirituality, depression, mental illness, hope, recovery, mental health, mood disorders

When Fear Looms Larger Than Faith

As I worked through my depression and all that contributed to it, I discovered other lies that changed the course of my life, and who I became. I now see that all the lies I have confronted throughout my recovery share one thing in common: fear. When lies overshadow truth and our fear looms larger than our faith, there are consequences. I’ve found that they fall into three categories.

1. When we fear rather than trust, we suffer. I didn’t recognize the relationship between my lack of faith in God’s care and my depression until shortly after I was set free. Author Mike Yaconelli also reaped the negative repercussions of fear, spending much of his life suffering because he failed to trust in God’s infinite love. In Messy Spirituality, Mike tells about the day, when he was eleven years old, a lie was planted in his soul that led him to doubt God’s goodness.

Mike fell in love with a conga drum he saw in the window of a local store. After purchasing it with money from his savings, he brought it home and excitedly showed it to his father. Mike attributes his dad’s reaction to his being a very practical man who’d lived through the Depression. He asked Mike how much he paid for the drum and then demanded, “Take it back!”

Mike was stunned, but obedient, and when he took the drum back to the store the next morning, he walked away carrying something else: a very heavy burden and a lie. He explains:

For reasons I don’t really understand, the trauma of that experience burned itself deep into my soul. Emotionally, I was crushed, and every good experience since has been shadowed by the words “Take it back.” Buried in the back of my mind is the gnawing worry that my grace credit card is going to be cancelled. Parked somewhere in my subconscious is the belief that grace and forgiveness are lavish, unconditional, and limited.

Cross Jesus one too many times, fail too often, sin too much, and God will decide to take his love back. It is so bizarre, because I know Christ loves me, but I’m not sure he likes me, and I continually worry that God’s love will simply wear out. 105

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