Hey, y’all –
I recently read the following Scripture: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” -John 11:4 and I think that this should be the Scripture for anyone who has a mental illness or supports someone who does.
Bipolar disorder is like any physical sickness, except it doesn’t go away. But you do take medication for it, and after awhile, you do get better.
Now, I’m not condoning those who use their bipolar disorder as a sickness as an excuse for why they are the way they are or do what they do. There, I think we need to take responsibility, and can’t blame our disorder.
There’s another Scripture that I use for my bipolar disorder: “For I do not have the power of fear, but of power and of love and of a SOUND MIND.” (emphasis mine).
It’s interesting to see places in the Bible that can apply to mental illness.
To me it proves the Scripture that says, “God is concerned with ALL that concerns you.” (emphasis mine).
Another one is “Cast ALL your anxiety on the Lord, for he cares for you.” (emphasis mine).
There have been times when I’ve been very depressed, and my only solace came from the Bible. To read that God is as concerned with my bipolar disorder as I am, gave me comfort. As have those other Scriptures as well.
Too many people with bipolar disorder feel as if God has forsaken them in their “sickness,” but that just isn’t true. He said, “I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.” (emphasis mine). He is still with you, even through your disorder.
I don’t know why God allowed me to have bipolar disorder. I prayed for healing many times in the beginning, before I resigned myself to the fact that BP was going to remain “a thorn in my side.”
In the Bible, it says that Paul (one of the disciples of Jesus) had “a thorn in his side,” that he prayed three times for Jesus to remove it, but it never was. And Paul went on to be one of the greatest evangelists of all time.
The Bible also says that “ALL things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.” (emphasis mine). ALL things, even our bipolar disorder.
Without my BP, I don’t know that I would be the writer I am today – it was just a dream I had. But when I found www.bipolarcentral.com, BECAUSE of my bipolar disorder, I have seen my dream to fruition.
Why does God allow us to have bipolar disorder? I think many times it’s because “Anything that doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Of course, that one isn’t from the Bible, but the Bible does say “When I am weak, he is strong,” and “His strength is made perfect in my weakness.”
I know that my BP has definitely made me a stronger person, for what I have had to go through and what I have had to fight.
I know that my BP has made me a better person as well, because I am much more sympathetic to others with a mental illness or supporting someone who has a mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says that 1 in 4 people have a diagnosable mental illness, so that’s a lot of people to whom my heart goes out.
Hopefully, through my blog, the website and my newsletter articles, I’m helping some people if in no other way than to give them encouragement.
Since my best encouragement comes from the Bible, I wanted you to have that encouragement as well, and that’s why I wrote this post. There are many, many Christians that suffer from bipolar disorder, and in some cases, not much support from the church (some people have even had people try to case demons out of them). But the Bible is the truth. It is God’s written Word. I hope you have received some comfort from it.
Wishing you peace and stability,
Remember God loves you and so do I,
Michele
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