APRIL 18TH, 1932
APRIL 18TH, 1932
[p. 205] MY DEAR SISTER IN THE LORD, — ... I am truly sorry to hear of your friend who suffers in such a distressing way from a disordered nervous system. I know of no form of suffering which is more trying in its effects, as taking away for the time all enjoyment or consciousness of spiritual comfort. But I have known of severe cases of this kind of affliction who have, in time, emerged from it. To a very large extent the cause is purely physical, and everything that helps to build up and give tone to the nerves will tend to alleviate the distress.
There is no doubt that Satan takes advantage of such a condition to harass, but on the other hand there is the support of the intercession of Christ. It is well for a soul in such a condition to recognise that the thoughts and feelings which are so unhappy are manifestations of infirmity, which are a subject of divine compassion. It is true that the unbelief and naughtiness of the flesh come into evidence also — I mean inwardly and in thought — but the mind of the believer does not consent to such thoughts, or find any pleasure in them. On the contrary, as your friend knows well, they are a cause of profound distress. According to the inward man, which, through grace, takes sides with God, she judges these thoughts. In her true self she is not identified with them, but hates them. In her depressed nervous state she cannot rise above them, but this is a physical depression, and is as much an infirmity as if she had a stiff leg. To recognise that it is so is often a relief. Then confidence in God is not to be cast away; it is the true antidote against despair. The special exercises which accompany physical conditions, whether these conditions are hereditary, or otherwise brought about, have their place in the ways of God with us, and in the end all these ways will be justified. I would exhort your friend always to pray and not to faint, and to be assured that God hears every true cry of need. And she should encourage her heart to think of Christ as perfectly expressing the love of God to her, and as expressing, too, how she stands in divine favour through Him and in Him. The wreck and disorder which has left such marks on our outward man does not, and cannot, touch what is of God in Christ. The Spirit would make much of that to us, and give us to value more and more the blessed fact that God has in love given us a new Head. We are entitled to dwell on what is ours in Him. We value it all the more by learning what [p. 206] wretchedness is in ourselves. Then, on the physical side, we can count on mercy, and we shall prove that God’s loving-kindness endureth for ever.
With love in the Lord,
Yours affectionately in Him,
April 18th, 1932.