Friday, October 17, 2014

Believe: It is Your Choice



“…oppressed people feel as if fate is against them.” – Wafa Sultan, author of A God Who Hates


Oppression is revealed to different people in different ways.  The author of the book A God Who Hates reveals the oppression she witnessed and experienced as a woman in a Middle Eastern country.

It can be argued that people with a mental illness diagnosis, history of substance abuse or handicap (physical, financial, etc.) are experiencing oppression on a daily basis.  The old, “damn if you do, damned if you don’t” mentality can sit in your mind on top of any chances for hope to dwell there too.

There is a hope that our lives can improve, that our loved ones will heal from sickness, our illnesses will disappear, our addictions and disorders will improve.  But one lesson I am currently embracing is this:  I have to believe “it” can happen. 

Uncovering the false statements of my lifelong social environments and interactions has revealed a bed of lies that have dominated my thinking and behavior for many decades.  These lies and false beliefs are being addressed, one at a time, in a variety of healthier environments such as 12-step programs, church, therapy and one-on-one conversations with healthier, more balanced individuals. 

I am realizing that many words of encouragement were heard by me negatively.  Now, with more emotional and mental stability, I am able to make clearer decisions about who I will believe and what I will believe.


I will believe the report of the Lord. 

God says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
God says I am the head and not the tail.
God says he has plans to prosper me and not to harm me.

In choosing to replace God’s Words and statements with the negative ones of old, I am equipping myself for a better day.  A brighter day.  The “woe is me” mentality is paused to consider something new.  I know I am not alone.

I often read some of the comments found on Facebook by mental health consumers and addicts around the globe.  We can be a pitiful lot.  Sometimes I wonder if anyone has heard of the Savior that can lead us into right thinking.  I suspect not. 

And with religion being such a “taboo” subject in so many arenas, what choice does a person really have?

Gratefully, 12-step programs, despite what critics say, are a great way for a person to create and build a relationship with a Power greater than themselves.  Since you get to name your Power, God is one of the names often chosen. 

In creating, building and sustaining the relationship with God, many people experience happier thoughts, brighter futures and a sense of peace within their soul.

Now, I am a third of fourth generation believer and I currently don’t have a whole lot of material things.  But one thing I can say, “I have peace.  I have a yearning to see a better future because I know God promises me more than what I currently can see today.”

Fate is against me.  I was against me.  When I cooperated with my own demons and refused to challenge my negative thoughts and behavior, I was at war with myself.  By slowly allowing other people to be used by God to encourage me and coach me and mentor me and pray for me, I am fighting myself less often and thinking negative less frequently.  I made a choice.

Will you?  Can you?  Choose to believe in the God that is greater than you and I.  Embrace God’s Word and what it says about you.

I don’t know who, if anyone, is reading my blog.  But I want, more than anything else in the world, is for the saddest, sickest people on earth to read these posts and feel hope, inspiration and a way out of their self-made or biological prisons. 


We do recover.  We do get better.  But we have to cooperate with God to reach that better place.  What choice will you make?