We sang a song called Fill Me Up in worship yesterday at church. As we were singing, some thoughts from a ladies conference I attended last year came to mind. The speaker talked about being a river of living water rather than a cistern of water. What is a cistern?

A cistern (Middle English cisterne, from Latin cisterna, from cista, “box”, from Greek κίστη kistē, “basket”) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings.

A cistern catches and contains rainwater. How does a cistern compare to a river? Both collect and contain water. What contrasts can be made between the two? A cistern is waterproof and fairly still except for when rain water is added. Because of this, the water in a cistern can often become stagnant. A river, however, is constantly moving. It collects rainwater also, but the river is always flowing. The river’s contents continually move and the water is constantly distributed to other locations. The water doesn’t ever sit long enough to become stagnant. The river water might flow to other bodies of water like oceans or lakes. At times, the river might flood or overflow onto nearby land. 

We can compare our lives to this. Water is refreshing and we have to have it to survive. Is your life more like a cistern or a river? What do we do with the “water” God provides (time, talents, and treasures/money)? Sometimes it can be easier to just store what we have, but is that what we were meant to do? I think God is pleased when we allow our resources (not just material or financial, but maybe time, spiritual gifts, fruit of the spirit, etc. which come from Him anyway) to flow out of us like a river. All that we are and have are given to us by God, not just to store up, but to share. I’ve always heard you can’t “out-give” God, meaning He will always bless you with more as you are obedient to share your gifts as He leads. Remember it doesn’t just mean material things. He will continually fill you up and meet your needs as you allow Him to move into your life and help you flow like a river. 

John 7:38

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Revelation 22:1

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Your friend,

Tiffany

Fill Me Up

(Jesus Culture)

You provide the fire

And I’ll provide the sacrifice

You provide the spirit

And I will open up inside

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up

Love of God overflow

Permeate all my soul

Love of God overflow

Permeate all my soul

Love of God overflow

Permeate all my soul

Love of God overflow

Permeate all my soul

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up, God

Fill me up

Apparently today is World Mental Health Day. One of the best articles I ever read was from a Guidepost a couple of years back. It was about Abraham Lincoln and his life long struggle with depression. Lincoln came from a very poor family. His mother died when he was only nine years old from a terrible illness. His only sister died giving birth to a stillborn child. He was suicidal more than once. When he was 32 he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would be not one happy face upon the earth.” At that time, there were no effective treatments, and Lincoln was subjected to starving, bleeding, dunking in icy water, swallowing mercury, applying mustard rubs that burned his skin raw. Of course all of those “treatments” left him worse. Because of Lincoln’s depression he learned coping skills, developed wisdom, and gained amazing strengths including humor, humility, dedication to a great cause, and dependence on God. Many researchers are grateful Lincoln was not cured, because he might not have ended up becoming the great leader he was!

(Abraham Lincoln: A Courage Born of Depression by Elizabeth Sherrill, Contributing Editor From Guideposts Posted on Feb 12, 2018)

Many thoughts come to mind when I think about mental health. Some are from observations and things I’ve read and some are from personal experience. It is my belief that a person’s mental health is not in a separate compartment from their physical and spiritual health. All three affect each other. If a person has a physical illness it can definitely negatively impact their mental health. If a person isn’t where they should be spiritually in their relationship with Jesus, it could definitely negatively impact their physical and mental well-being. All that being said, however, I have personally witnessed those with a mental illness being told that they have a spiritual problem and if they would just get their “heart right”, their mental health would be better. I’m sorry, but that’s kind of like a well meaning person telling someone with a broken arm to “get their heart right with God” and it will cause their arm to heal. Or if a person has cancer and they refuse treatment and just “try to get closer to God” to make the cancer go away. It makes no sense!! Now, is a mental problem a little more abstract and definitely not as obvious/concrete as a physical illness, absolutely. It may need treatment that is different than a physical illness. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real or should be written off as a symptom of not having enough faith. Also, I want to point out that I truly believe God can and does heal any of the three areas: physical, mental, spiritual. He uses many different methods of healing- doctors, medicine, prayer, counseling, etc. 

My takeaways are:

1. Pray for and don’t judge someone who is struggling mentally. Ask God for wisdom in what to say to them and  always treat that person the way you would want to be treated. We are called to love others, not judge or be condemning.
2. Be very careful before assuming a mental illness is a spiritual problem.
3. Don’t assume those with mental illnesses don’t have a purpose or can’t accomplish something great in their lives. (Examples: Abraham Lincoln, Charles Spurgeon, Mother Teresa)

Your friend,

Tiffany