Recently it came to me again that the Lord’s plan in every way is perfect. I struggled for years as a youth and young adult, not understanding mental illness (happened within the family I grew up in). I didn’t want to understand. My approach was ‘snap out of it’… eat healthy, exercise, get enough rest and it will all take care of itself. Wrong! Such thinking is in error (see below). Also families often have wayward children and parents ‘beat themselves up’ wondering if they could have taught their children better.
I’ve come to the conclusion that such situations happen so that the Lord can teach lessons to individuals within the family and others close by, that they could not have learned in any other way. It sends us to our knees asking that they be cured. If we are really sincere in such prayers they become changed to ‘let me love and accept them as they are’ and not set up a ‘cold wall’ because they don’t take the well meaning counsel we might give. I find greater peace in praying for the them and letting the Lord’s will be done. Such an approach changes me, makes me more vulnerable to lessons the Lord would have me learn.
Recently a teacher in a Sunday class volunteered that his mom had been mentally ill and it caused him to chose a profession where he now counsels those who are mentally ill in an institution… and loves his profession. What lessons can I learn from those who become adversarial to me (and they have no idea they are).
Regarding wayward children; I remember hearing a Know Your Religion speaker in the 80’s, father of nine children, saying that at any given time he and his wife could count on a third of them not being ‘in harmony with the rest of the family’ (not unlike our pre-existent state where a third of our Heavenly Father’s children were cast down to the earth.
re: snap out of it… do the things that will make you healthy; It was decades before two people I know closely, struggling with mental health issues found the doctors who could treat them (the medical knowledge was not in place till then). One fought depression and found out all that was needed was to curb intake of sugar. The other was told that their body did not metabolize certain essential vitamins and minerals from normal food. Adjustments made secured secured normal health for both and they understand the need to watch their diet closely.
