Compassionate Love: Displaying compassion for those who struggle with mental illness   (c) 2018 Nancy Virden, Always The Fight Ministries

In trying to regain mental health, often we try to get rid of our pasts. We see what is broken and try to throw it out. Perhaps we believe we can only begin again if we clear out the ruins. 

Our nation has many ruins right now  – natural disasters have flattened businesses and homes.  Social issues and crime have broken dreams, scattered families, and taken lives.  There is sorrow.  There is also a rallying cry.  Peppered throughout the news you will hear,  “we will begin again,  we will rebuild”.

Ancient Jerusalem suffered too.  Overtaken by a foreign army, houses and properties burned down, leaders were killed, and residents marched off as prisoners. It was disastrous.  I was glancing through the Bible book of Jeremiah which records this history, and ran across this sentence, “Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins.”  (Jeremiah 30:18)

That caught my breath for a moment because the promise God gave those people was not that he would sweep away all the ugly ruins and start over with an unscarred city. He gave value to what lay in the dust, a purpose for the pain.

My past with all its shame and despair is part of what made me who I am today.  Strengths grow out of weakness, change is born of necessity. By accepting brokenness and allowing it to teach me,  I found deep joy far surpassing the superficial.  I have been and continue to be rebuilt on my ruins.   

And so it is with you.  Whatever the crisis or struggle,  you can embrace your experiences. You can rebuild on your ruins of abuse, addiction, or mental health challenges.

In the next blog, I will give you several building blocks for doing just that.

Today’s Helpful Word

Jeremiah 30:18 

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ruins pic by TOME213 on rgbstock.com; glass floor pic by BABYKRUL