The Family Room — Families Struggling with Mental Illness

Sacrifice of Praise

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name (Hebrews 13:15 AMP).

Do you know where your loved one is this Thanksgiving? If so, give a sacrifice of praise.

Is your loved one going to be the family for the celebration of Thanksgiving? If so, give a sacrifice of praise.

Does your loved one live well in recovery? If so, give a sacrifice of praise.

If your answer is no to these questions, give a sacrifice of praise.

Sometimes to praise God is a sacrifice. It is hard. To praise God when all nothing seems praiseworthy is a sacrifice.

Look up the definition of sacrifice. You will see terms like “the act of losing or surrendering,” “forfeit,” or “deliberately give up.” There are times when we need to give up and just give God praise.

Often I don’t feel like praising and thanking God, and those are the times I most need to. When I make a choice to praise rather than lament, I take the focus from me and put it on God.

As the writer of Hebrews tells us, our sacrifice of praise glorifies His name. It’s not a bandage on a wound. The worry and concern don’t magically disappear. Our sacrifice is not a way to pretend that all is well.
It is acknowledging God and His sovereignty over our lives and the lives of our ill loved ones.

Thank you, God, for knowing where our loved ones are.
Thank you, God, for providing for them.
Thank you, God, for being in control of the out-of-control.
We sacrifice to You our praises.

At the Top of A New Hill

“Blessed is a man who preservers under trial;” (James 1:12 NAS)

Walking is my second favorite exercise. I’m returning to walking daily since our local swimming pool is closing this winter (my favorite form of exercise).

My walking route is on the dirt road in front of our house, and is certainly not level. I go down first, up a little hill, down again, and so on. Each day, as I retrain my muscles, I’ve been adding a new uphill to the course.

Today, as I began to mount the new hill, I realized that my life is very much like my walking route – down and up, down and up. The up portions take more effort than the down.

This morning as I topped the new hill and turned to look at the return route, it looked like smooth sailing. Even though I knew there were hills to climb, the perspective of looking back didn’t show it.

As we move along in our journey with our mentally ill loved one, we encounter uphills and downhills. Going downhill is pleasurable, a relief. The uphill can seem never ending. When we get to the top though, we can look back and it doesn’t seem so bad after all.

We see once again that God has brought us to the top.

God Hears

O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you (Is. 30:19 NAS).

Praise the Lord!

Crying to God is often viewed as a depressing thing. We cry when we are sad, hurt, or in pain. Why is this particular verse so uplifting? Because God tells us that He hears and He answers our cries.

Part of that answer will come in eternity when there will be no more tears. Today that answer comes knowing that when I cry because my loved one is suffering in his mental illness, God hears. He is not deaf to my weeping and wailing.

Thank you, Lord for turning your ear to me, hearing me, and answering me.