When Everything Is Breaking

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:14

What do you do when everything is breaking? In the year 1991 I found myself in that situation. For a few years prior to 1991 I knew my health was a mess. I just didn’t realize how bad it was until everything fell apart in 1991. I would come home from work completely exhausted, praying that the weekend would come soon so I could get the rest that never left me refreshed but helped me to survive another week of work. It would be awhile before I would be diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It was a diagnosis that basically meant “broken physical health”. Years later doctors uncovered several afflictions that were feeding it including Crohn’s Disease. 

But in 1991 I only knew I was physically exhausted. I continued to work well beyond my abilities. Indeed, I was only running on hard-headed stubbornness. But then came the unexpected mental breaking. I would be diagnosed with a Panic Disorder and Major Depression. And Satan, who never misses an opportunity, started assaulting me spiritually. I had one panic attack after another and Satan was trying to wear me down with his thought darts telling me I was not going to make it.

They swarmed around me like bees,

    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;

    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

 I was pushed back and about to fall,

    but the Lord helped me.

The Lord is my strength and my defense;

    he has become my salvation. 

I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

Psalm 118:12-14, 17

In my book about Chronic Illness I give more details regarding this period of my life, but the short story is I held on to verse 17 above, asked for prayer, and the Lord dramatically delivered me from my enemy. Then over time the Lord began to put me back together again. Despite health issues today, I am no longer broken and falling apart as I was back then and it is thanks to the Delivering Power of Jesus Christ!

If you are not a believer, I have no idea how you survive this life. And you ever find yourself in the situation I was in above–you are in serious trouble.

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? 1 Peter 4:18

I would not have survived without the Lord’s help. And that’s not the only time I wouldn’t have made it without Jesus. If you are not a believer–how are you going to survive the dark night of your soul when it comes? And if you are a believer, do not wait until the flood waters are up around your ears before you shake the dust off of your Bible and start reading it, or start working on a prayer life. When the fire grew hot around me I had my Bible in hand and knew how to pray, and also that I needed prayer warriors on the job helping me, and yet I barely survived it. 

The time to get right with God is now. The time to deepen your relationship with God is now. I thank God my sword was sharp (Bible) and my shield was up (Faith) when Satan’s arrows started flying around me and the ground was giving way beneath me. I don’t say that with pride, but with humility. For I had been learning to rely upon Jesus for a long time already. I was Born Again as a young teenager and had been reading my Bible even before that.

Do not wait until you are staring down death and destruction until you decide your eternal destiny. Do not wait until everything is breaking.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to be wise and understand it is often calmest before the storms in our lives. Help us not to become lethargic in our spiritual life. And help those who do not know You as Lord to realize now is the time to do so. Amen.