Do you ever struggle with feelings that you can't quite find words to describe? And, if you could, you wouldn't be gutsy enough to share them with others because they just wouldn't understand? I've certainly been there...as recently as today.Sometimes we wonder if anyone else on the face of the earth could comprehend the complexities of our battles. Then, out of the blue, we discover that someone has actually written about the exact thing we're dealing with. Keeping those thoughts to ourselves for fear of being misrepresented or misunderstood can lead to dangerous introspection but at times we just can't get them out there.
A book I refer to time and time again is Bright Days, Dark Nights by Elizabeth Skoglund. I've mentioned it here in Pilgrim Scribblings several times. She skillfully uses the writings of the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, attempting to bring light to the dark subjects of depression, anxiety and loneliness among other things.
Skoglund quotes J. B. Phillips whose book Your God Is Too Small is a classic. Phillips uttered these words of confession, "The hardest thing of all to bear is what I can only describe as a nameless mental pain, which is, as far as I know, beyond the reach of any drug, and which I have tried in vain to describe to anyone."
He continues, "It would have been of inestimable comfort and encouragement to me in some of my darkest hours if I could have come across even one book written by someone who had experienced and survived the hellish torments of mind which can be produced. And, alas, I know very, very few clergy or ministers who would even know what the sufferer was talking about."
So we carry on, alone to a degree, but we know that God DOES understand the pain we bear. And so, again, we are forced (why does it have to come to that?) to cast our burden on the Lord knowing that He will sustain us and bring us out of that dark, hideous place. Rejoice that we know One who was there. He was the Man of Sorrows and he's very much acquainted with grief.
3 comments:
Dear David...Yes, the Lord certainly does understand David and so do we, your Pilgrim pal friends....Love Terry
Hi David! Your post speaks to my heart powerfully this morning. My mind has often gone through hellish torment as I wondered not only if anyone understood, but if they cared. This isn't a plea for sympathy, though. Because through these dark times I've learned more about Christ, the Man of Sorrows, and His love for me.
I'd love to read that book by Elizabeth Skoglund..and I am picky about what I read:-)
David, thank you for forwarding my link to Tim Challies. I had no idea until someone new visited my blog and said she found me there. Such a sweet surprise & blessing, just when I wonder if anything I write matters. (yes, we writers do wonder that:-)
God bless you, Pilgrim Dave. I tried to leave you a comment at your other blog but it kept erasing it, even after I filled in my name & URL.
I'm sick this weekend - my cold turned into chest stuff (bronchitis) so I'm a little achy and tired. My prayers for all of you, with love and joy.
~Vicki
J B phillips is right. Most preachers who sermonize on suffering don 't know whatthey are talking about . Its those who 've been there , who can really touch my heart.
I like to read this book too.
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